Pomona College Music Department Announces the Spring 2023 Concert Series
Pomona College’s Department of Music spring 2023 concert series combines guest artists and guest ensembles as well as faculty performers and student ensembles in an exciting array of free chamber music and concert programs.
“We are thrilled to be able to continue offering a series of free concerts that includes music from a wide range of time periods and far-reaching places encompassing numerous cultures, musical languages and musical approaches. We hope community members from across the region will feel welcome in joining students, faculty and staff from the local colleges at our programs,” shares Alfred Cramer, chair of the music department.
The season opens Feb. 3 and Feb. 4 with the 31st annual Ussachevsky Memorial Festival of Electroacoustic Music directed by faculty composer Tom Flaherty, the John P. and Magdalena R. Dexter Professor of Music. This year’s festival offers two concerts with music by a broad range of contemporary composers who write works that meld sounds produced by humans and electronics. Performers include Stacey Fraser and Melissa Givens*, sopranos; Sarah Thornblade*, violin; Cynthia Fogg*, viola; Maggie Parkins*, cello; Rachel Beetz and Rachel Rudich* flutes; Stephen Klein*, euphonium; Alison Bjorkedal*, harp; and Nadia Shpachenko, piano.
On Feb. 11, guest pianist and recording artist William Chapman Nyaho performs music of Africa and the African diaspora. He will also be joined by pianist Genevieve Feiwen Lee* in works for two pianos and piano four-hands.
The department’s Fête musicale returns on Feb. 19, uniting several music department performance faculty members in a series of mini performances. The faculty members and program are still to be announced.
March concerts include a Bouquet of Solo and Chamber Music on Mar. 5, with soprano Melissa Givens* and friends in a program of music for soprano and bassoon, and songs from a variety of film scores; and A Celebration of Organ Traditions in Claremont on Mar. 26 with organists William Peterson* and Carey Robertson in solos and duets by Claremont-based composers William Blanchard, Joseph Clokey, Flaherty*, Wilbur Held, Karl Kohn*, Carl Parrish and Orpha Ochse.
April concerts include Sliding and Steeling on the 8th with Joti Rockwell* on pedal steel guitar joined by Sean Harrison, saxophone, and Cole Sainburg, bass, in a mixture of pedal steel guitar music, American roots music and Bach. On the 15th, the UCSB Middle East Ensemble—Scott Marcus, director—presents a program that celebrates music and dance from across the greater Middle East region.
Throughout the semester, Grammy®-nominated pianist Genevieve Feiwen Lee, the Everett S. Olive Professor of Music, presents a cycle of Beethoven’s violin sonatas. Joining her during the cycle are violinists Todor Pelev*, Sarah Thornblade* and Sara Parkins in programs both on the music department’s home series and on the Friday Noon Concert series. The opening concert is set for Jan. 27 and is the opening concert on the Friday Noon Concert Series, held in Scripps’ Balch Auditorium. Joining Lee is Pelev in a program that also includes music by Grażyna Bacewicz and Barbara Heller.
Also sprinkled around the semester are the department’s student ensembles—the Pomona College Orchestra, Choir, Glee Club, Band, Jazz Ensemble, Balinese Gamelan Ensemble and Afro-Cuban Music Ensemble—in concerts featuring music by Byrd, Chen Yi, Dvořák, Holst, Fanny Hensel Mendelssohn, Mozart and Florence Price, to name a few.
The spring 2023 concert season calendar is now available online, and can be picked up in Thatcher Music Building (340 N. College Ave.) on the campus of Pomona College.
All the department’s concerts are free and open to the public, thanks to generous donations by alumni and friends of the department.
COVID-19 safety protocols will be followed at all concerts. Visit bonaprinting.com/music-concert-safety-information for details.
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*Pomona College Department of Music faculty
PERFORMANCE VENUES
Thatcher Music Building – 340 N. College Ave, Claremont, 91711
Bridges Hall of Music – 150 E. 4th St., Claremont 91711
Friday Noon Concerts: Balch Auditorium – Scripps College, 1030 N. Columbia Ave., Claremont 91711
Spring 2023 Concert Schedule
February
31st Ussachevsky Memorial Festival of Electroacoustic Music
Music for humans and electronics • Tom Flaherty*, director
8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3
8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4
Lyman Hall, Thatcher Music Building
Music by Rachel Beetz, Elizabeth Brown, Liam Carey, Christopher Cerrone, Brett Copeland, Avner Finberg, Tom Flaherty, Bára Gísladóttir, Allison Loggins Hull, Natalie Joachim, Egbert Jan Louwerse, Wenbin Lyu, Missy Mazzoli, Jack Van Zandt
William Chapman Nyaho, piano and joined by Genevieve Feiwen Lee*, piano
8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11
Bridges Hall of Music
Music of Africa and the African diaspora by Margaret Bonds, Fred Onovwerosuoke, Oswald Russell, Hale Smith, and Joshua Uzoigwe plus music for two pianists by Eleanor Alberga, Bun-Ching Liam and Astor Piazzolla
Fête musicale
Program to be announced
3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 19
Bridges Hall of Music
Pomona College Orchestra
Eric Lindholm*, conductor
Hannah Caris ’23, flute winner of the 2022 PCO Concerto Competition
8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24
3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26
Bridges Hall of Music
Nicolai: Overture to The Merry Wives of Windsor
Dvořák: Symphony no. 7
Mozart: Flute Concerto no. 2
March
A Bouquet of Solo and Chamber Music with soprano Melissa Givens* and friends
3 p.m. Sunday, Mar. 5
Bridges Hall of Music
Music from film scores and more
Pomona College Jazz Ensemble
Barb Catlin*, director
4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Mar. 7
Lyman Hall, Thatcher Music Building
Afternoon of jazz favorites
Genevieve Feiwen Lee*, piano with Sarah Thornblade*, violin
8 p.m. Saturday, Mar. 25
Bridges Hall of Music
Beethoven Violin Sonata D Major, op 12, no. 1
and music by György Kurtág and Kaija Saariaho
A Celebration of Organ Traditions in Claremont with organists William Peterson* and Carey Robertson
3 p.m. Sunday, Mar. 26
Bridges Hall of Music
Music by Blanchard, Clokey, Flaherty*, Held, Kohn*, Parrish and Ochse
April
Sliding and Steeling with Joti Rockwell*, pedal steel guitar; Sean Harrison, saxophone; Cole Sainburg, bass
8 p.m., Saturday, April 8
Lyman Hall, Thatcher Music Building
Pedal steel guitar music, American roots music, and works by J. S. Bach
Pomona College Choir and Orchestra
Donna M. Di Grazia* & Eric Lindholm*, conductors; soloists tba
8 p.m. Friday, April 14
3 p.m. Sunday, April 16
Bridges Hall of Music
Price: Song of Hope
Hensel Mendelssohn: Hiob
Brahms: Schicksalslied
Haydn: Te Deum
UCSB Middle East Ensemble
Scott Marcus, director
8 p.m. Saturday, April 15
Lyman Hall, Thatcher Music Building
Music and dance from across the greater Middle East region
Pomona College Band
Graydon Beeks*, conductor
8 p.m. Friday, April 21
3 p.m., Sunday, April 23
Bridges Hall of Music
Music by William Byrd, Chen Yi, Flaherty*, Gustav Holst, Kohn* and others
Afro-Cuban Music Ensemble
Joe Addington*, director
8 p.m. Monday, April 24
Lyman Hall, Thatcher Music Building
Music from the Afro-Cuban Yoruba traditions
Pomona College Glee Club
Donna M. Di Grazia*, conductor
8 p.m. Thurs., April 27
1:30 p.m. Sat., April 29
Bridges Hall of Music
Choral selections for a spring tour to England and Scotland
Pomona College Jazz Ensemble
Barb Catlin*, director
8 p.m. Saturday, April 28
Bridges Hall of Music
Jazz favorites for Alumni Weekend
May
Giri Kusuma–Pomona College Balinese Gamelan Ensemble
Nyoman Wenten*, music director and Nanik Wenten, dance director
8 p.m. Monday, May 1
Bridges Hall of Music
Traditional and contemporary Balinese music and dance with guests