This weekend will be a busy one for the Hillsdale College Music department, with three performances involving a number of styles and groups scheduled to take place in Howard Music Building’s McNamara Rehearsal Hall. No tickets are required for any of the three events, which are free to any who wish to attend.
The Hillcats Faculty Jazz Ensemble will perform on April 10 at 8 p.m., the Percussion Ensemble will perform on April 11 at 8 p.m., and the Faculty Woodwind Quintet will perform at 3 p.m. on April 12.
The Hillcats Faculty Jazz Ensemble performance will include a number of original works as well as performances from jazz vocalist Sunny Wilkinson. Other members of the band include trumpet player Chris McCourry, Jonathon Gewirtz on saxophone, Lawrence Ochiltree on drums, bass player James Ball, and Arlene McDaniel on piano.
Each Hillcats performance is unique: most of what the audience hears is actually improvisation. Hillcats members will rely on sheet music for only a fraction of the performance.
The 16-member Percussion Ensemble is a diverse group, including freshmen and seniors, beginners and professionals, whose musical backgrounds vary from harp to rock drumming.
“It will be an extremely eclectic and exciting concert,” said Teacher of Music Stacey Jones, who organizes the ensemble. “Listeners can always expect to be surprised.”
The ensemble will perform “Ionization” by Edgar Varese. A unique piece at the time of its release in 1939, “Ionization” is considered the first musical piece to be written solely for percussion instruments.
“It was a groundbreaking and controversial composition in its time, and actually caused come audiences to riot,” Jones said. “Air raid sirens and anvils are among the 40 or more instruments played by 13 performers.”
Other pieces will include a drumming feature for a freshman trio and a lineup of trash cans.
“The performance’s loose theme is ‘musical sounds with trash’ — we will be performing on a variety of pieces of junk: metal, auto parts, trash cans, clay pots and other ‘found’ items that are not typically thought of as instruments,” Jones said.
The final concert of the weekend, the Faculty Woodwind Quintet, is composed of Jamie Wagner on the flute, Kaycee Ware-Thomas on the oboe, Andrew Sprung on the clarinet; Cindy Duda-Pant on the bassoon and Alan Taplin on the French horn.
The quintet will perform a number of pieces from Hungarian composer and teacher Ferenc Farkas, including his 1959 work “Early Hungarian Dances,” an arranged suite of five short Hungarian dances of the Baroque era.
Carl Nielsen’s Op. 43 will also be performed.
“Written in 1922, Op. 43 is a staple of the literature,” Sprung said. “It is one of the most widely performed woodwind quintets of the 20th century. With this work, Nielsen is credited with inaugurating a way of composing based upon the character of the individual instruments.”
“Three Stories,” a composition by Associate Professor of Music Mathew Fuerst, will also make its world premiere at the recital.
Each of the performances will be truly unique, both to each other as well as to their respective past performances. Whether you enjoy smooth jazz, the classic sound of a woodwind quintet, or the artful use of junk as a percussion instrument, the music department has certainly scheduled an entertaining weekend for any music lover.
