Acclaimed composers take part in New Music Ensemble concerts at ASU

WHAT: ASU New Music Ensemble Concerts

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. March 26; 5 p.m. March 27; 7:30 p.m. March 28

WHERE: Katzin Concert Hall, Music Building, 40 East Gammage Parkway, Tempe

TICKETS: Free admission, no tickets required; doors open 30 minutes prior to performance

INFORMATION: 480-965-TUNE (8863)

The School of Music in the Herberger College of Fine Arts at ASU hosts a joint guest residency by internationally renowned composers George Crumb and David Burge on March 26-29. The composers will lecture, rehearse with performers, and meet with faculty and student composers during their stay on campus.

The music of Crumb and Burge will be presented in a series of three concerts by the School of Music's New Music Ensemble, directed by Glenn Hackbarth. All concerts are free and open to the public, no tickets are required. Doors open 30 minutes before the performance.

"The Music of George Crumb" is at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday (March 26) in the Music Building's Katzin Concert Hall. The New Music Ensemble performs with guest artist David Burge. Selections include Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale) for electric flute, electric cello, and amplified piano; An Idyll for the Misbegotten (Images III) for amplified flute and three percussionists; and Night of the Four Moons for alto voice and chamber ensemble. Burge will perform his work, Makrokosmos, Volumes I + II for amplified piano, during the second half of the program.

"The Music of George Crumb and David Burge " is at 5 p.m. Wednesday (March 27) in the Music Building's Katzin Concert Hall. The New Music Ensemble and members of the graduate seminar in contemporary piano techniques will perform with guest faculty artist, Baruch Meir. Selections include three pieces by Crumb: Gnomic Variations for solo piano, A Little Suite for Christmas, A.D. 1979 for solo piano featuring Meir, The Sleeper for soprano and piano, and Four Nocturnes for Violin and Piano. The ensemble will also play Burge's 24 Preludes for solo piano.

"The Music of David Burge" is at 7:30 p.m. Thursday (March 28) in the Music Building's Evelyn Smith Music Theater. The New Music Ensemble will perform, accompanied by the choreography by Department of Dance faculty member Elina Mooney. Works to be performed include Go-Hyang (Ancestral Home) for solo piano, Sources III for clarinet and percussion, Sonata for Violin and Piano and Moku (Island) for dancers and three percussionists.

Pulitzer prize winner George Crumb has set most of his vocal compositions to the poetry of Federico Garcia Lorca. Crumb, who is the Annenberg Professor of Humanities at the University of Pennsylvania, has named Debussy, Mahler and Bartók as the principal influences on his music. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the Pulitzer Prize (for Echoes of Time and the River), 1968, the Koussevitzky Recording Award, 1971; and the National Institute of Arts and Letters grant, 1967.

Composer-pianist David Burge has been heard in concert throughout the world for more than 50 years. Well known as one of the outstanding proponents of the piano music of the 20th century, he has given more than a thousand concerts throughout the world. Burge has collaborated with the leading composers of our time, many of who have written music especially for him. The composer of more than 100 works, Burge is also the author of several hundred articles on a variety of musical subjects. He is the author of Twentieth-Century Piano Music (Schirmer Books, 1990), the definitive work on the subject. Currently composer-in-residence of the San Diego Ballet, his sixth ballet, Dances of Love and Laughter for piano and orchestra, was premiered in 2001 and will be repeated four times during the present season.

Music student Eric Schultz, who is a graduate student in composition at ASU, initiated the plan to bring Burge and Crumb to campus. Schultz is president of the Contemporary Music Society, a student organization at ASU with the purpose of promoting contemporary classical music. Through the leadership of Schultz, the organization secured grants from ASU and the City of Tempe. Additional funding was provided by the School of Music and the Arizona Commission on the Arts. All events are free and open to the public.

Media Contact:
Mary Brennan
480-965-3587
mary.brennan@asu.edu