Donald’s list: Weekend choices (Jan. 19)

January 19, 2018

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Classical music lovers, this weekend is for you:

Faculty concert

How big is this year’s Fresno State faculty concert? There are so many performers they can come together as a symphony orchestra. Faculty members participating (in alphabetical order) are Rachel Aldrich, Teresa Beaman, Michael Chang, Andrew Quiring, Matthew Darling, Larry Gardner, Richard Giddens Jr., Thomas Hiebert, Ed Hull, Thomas Loewenheim, Aaron Marcus Luna, Nathan Sobieralski, Limor Toren-Immerman, and Andreas Werz. They’ll be joined by selected students.

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The concert will include Dvorak’s Carnival Overture, the Sextet from Mozart’s opera “Cosi fan tutte” featuring our voice faculty and two of their top students. The orchestra will close the concert with Gliere’s “The Red Poppy Suite.”

There’s an original piece on the program: Music composition professor Kenneth Froelich’s “Jefferson Rising,” which was composed as an “unofficial” overture to his opera “Jefferson,” to be completed in the fall of 2018. A description:

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Elements of big-band jazz, classic bluegrass, military fanfare, and folk music are all weaved together to create a tapestry of musical styles that represent both the time and the region. Operatic-like themes are interspersed throughout the piece, composed in a style similar to the arias found in the opera. Sonic elements, such as drums muted with towels, violins performed fiddle-style, and piano strings hit with mallets, are all used to further establish a folk-like sound not typically found in a standard orchestra.

It’s a busy January for Froelich, by the way. On Jan. 28, his piece “Spinning Yams” will be performed by the Fresno Philharmonic.

The Fresno State faculty concert concert serves as the Department of Music’s annual gala, and is sponsored by the College of Arts and Humanities. All the proceeds from this concert will go to the Department of Music Scholarship Fund.

Details: 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 20, Fresno State Concert Hall. $20 adults, $15 seniors, $10 students.

Fresno Pacific concert

Bethany Lynn Alvey, director of choral activities at Fresno Pacific University, learned that her former college voice teacher was planning to be in Fresno. So Alvey did what any lover of impressive vocals would do: She arranged to put on a concert.

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The featured performer is mezzo-soprano Leneida Crawford, who was Alvey’s undergraduate voice teacher at Towson University in Baltimore. Crawford has appeared in many prestigious recital halls across America, including Kennedy Center, Avery Fisher Hall and Carnegie Hall. Her program, which features a lineup of all American composers, includes an eclectic mix of pieces, from Francis Hopkinson’s 18th Century “My Days have been so Wondrous Free” to works by noted contemporary composers Jake Heggie and Ricky Ian Gordon.

Matthew Horton will be the accompanist.

There’s another local connection (and it’s a big one): Crawford received her master’s degree in voice at Fresno State.

Details: 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 21, Butler Church, 4884 E. Butler Ave., Fresno. Free.

‘Curtain Up’

The Fresno Community Concert Band’s traditional “Super Concert” — a nod to a certain football game this time of year blown out of all proportion — is titled “Curtain Up.” Here’s a description:

A super concert with music from Hollywood to Broadway and beyond! You won’t want to miss “Fandango” for trumpet, trombone and band by Joseph Turrin and music from your favorite movies and Broadway shows including “Silverado,” “Brigadoon,” “Star Trek,” “Lion King” and Moana.”

Featured soloists are Dan Peña on trumpet and Eric Sherbon on trombone. Guest artists are soprano Hanna York and tenor Brian Lummis.

Details: 3 and 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 21, Fresno City College Theatre. Admission is free, but tickets are required.

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