The UMBC Department of Music presents its spring 2005 season, featuring an array of contemporary classical music concerts by renowned artists, including classical guitarist Stephen Marchionda, Ruckus (the contemporary music ensemble in residence at UMBC), the Callithumpian Consort (featuring a performance of Miss Donnithorne’s Maggot by Peter Maxwell Davies), the Damocles Trio and other performers.

February 9
Duo Ego
8 pm, Fine Arts Recital Hall
Free admission
Public information: 410-455-ARTS

Duo Ego, featuring the unusual ensemble of singer Monica Danielsson and percussionist Per Sjögren, has, in fewer than four years, established itself as one of the leading contemporary music ensembles in Scandinavia. A number of composers have written for the duo, which will present the world premiere of a new work by Magnus Lindborg at Stockholm New Music in February 2005. Their program will include Forever and Sunsmell by John Cage, Tranquil by Pär Lindgren, Aspects of Humanity by Fredrik Österling, A day goes by by Karin Rehnqvist, La fraîcheur de la dernière vêprée by Viktor Varela, and Breath by Stuart Saunders Smith. (Photo: Uristin Lidell.)

February 20
Franklin Cox, cello
3 pm, Fine Arts Recital Hall
$7 general admission, $3 seniors, free for students, free with a UMBC ID.
Tickets are available through MissionTix at www.missiontix.com or 410-752-8950 and at the door immediately prior to the concert.
Public information: 410-455-ARTS.

Cellist Franklin Cox’s program will include J.S. Bach’s Cello Suite No. 4 in E-flat (BWV 1010), works by Wolfram Schurig, Ignacio Baca-Lobera, Nicola Sani and a new work by Franklin Cox. Franklin Cox has performed in numerous festivals and new music ensembles, including the Indiana University New Music Ensemble, the Group for Contemporary Music, and SONOR, as well as at the 1980 and 1982 Spoleto Festivals, the 1983 Banff Summer Chamber Music Festival, the Xenakis Festival and Darmstadt Revisited Festival at UCSD, and at the Darmstadt Festival since 1988, where he received a special citation for cello performance in 1990. He received a Bachelor of Music degree in composition from Indiana University, a Master of Arts degree in composition from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in composition at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Cox studied with Brian Ferneyhough, Roger Reynolds, Joji Yuasa, Steven Suber, Fred Fox, Harvey Sollberger, Fred Lerdahl, and Jack Beeson. He received an Alice M. Ditson Scholarship and Dissertation Fellowship at Columbia University, Regent’s Fellowship and a Dissertation Research Fellowship for Outstanding Research at UCSD, a full scholarship to the 1990 June in Buffalo Festival, and full scholarships for the 1988 and 1992 Darmstadt Festivals. He was awarded a Stipendium Fellowship at the 1990 Darmstadt Festival, won 2nd prize in the Los Angeles Arts Commission competition in the spring of 1991, and was co-winner of the Kranichsteiner Musikpreis (highest award for composition) in the 1992 Darmstadt Festival. (Photo: Richard Anderson.)

February 24
two percussion ensemble
8 pm, Fine Arts Recital Hall
Free admission
Public information: 410-455-ARTS

The “two” percussion group, a duo committed to the advancement of new music through performance, education, and experimentation, was founded in 1998 by Chris Leonard and Dale Speicher, both founding members of the seminal percussion group trio algetic. The music of two invites listeners to investigate the boundaries of complexity and sonority by exploring the world outside of driving repetitive rhythms and, instead, diving into a world of polytonality and polyrhythmic structures. two actively commissions new music for percussion from forward thinking composers throughout the world. Their program will include All that is Left and Polka in Treblinka by Stuart Saunders Smith, Pairs by Christian Wolff, bicoastal by Roger Zahab, Duo for Marimba and Vibraphone by Gitta Steiner, Verhälthis (ähneln..) by Franklin Cox, and a new work by Tom Baker.

February 26
Stephen Marchionda, guitar
7:30 pm, Fine Arts Recital Hall
$7 general admission, $3 seniors, free for students, free with a UMBC ID.
Tickets are available through MissionTix at www.missiontix.com or 410-752-8950 and at the door immediately prior to the concert.
(A 3 pm masterclass, Fine Arts Recital Hall, is free.)
Public information: 410-455-ARTS.

Renowned guitarist Stephen Marchionda renowned guitarist Stephen Marchionda. His program will include the regional premiere of the Tango from Sophie’s Choice by Nicholas Maw, as well as Maw’s monumental work for solo guitar, Music of Memory, and works by John Dowland and Joaquín Rodrigo. Stephen Marchionda has emerged as a unique presence on the international concert scene. His performances are characterized by flair, technical facility and musical individuality. The American Record Guide says, “...he turns in vibrant performances...energetic and vital, with a great sense of momentum and flow...cohesive and highly charged.” He has recently been featured in New York City at Weill Recital Hall/Carnegie Hall (the Aranjuez Series), where Soundboard magazine wrote that “imbued with depth and passion, Marchionda played engagingly and with a sense of drama...deftly played.” He has appeared at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Aspen Music Festival, the Cleveland and San Diego Museums of Art, the Cleveland Institute, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and numerous universities. A strong advocate of contemporary music, Mr. Marchionda is top prize winner at several international competitions, including the Guitar Foundation of America’s International Solo, the Segovia International, and the Manuel de Falla. A graduate of Yale University’s School of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music, he was affiliated with the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1991, where he received classes with the celebrated guitarist Julian Bream, who called him a “strong, spirited performer.”

March 3
The Damocles Trio
8 pm, Fine Arts Recital Hall
$7 general admission, $3 seniors, free for students, free with a UMBC ID.
Tickets are available through MissionTix at www.missiontix.com or 410-752-8950 and at the door immediately prior to the concert.
Public information: 410-455-ARTS.

The energetic Damocles Trio will perform the Brahms Trio No. 2 in C Major, Op. 87; Joaquín Turina’s Trio No. 2 in B Minor, Op. 76; and Ravel’s Trio in A Minor. The Damocles Trio has performed throughout the United States, appearing numerous times at Alice Tully Hall in New York City, and completed highly successful tours of Switzerland in 1999 and 2001. Commenting on a performance in Interlaken, the Oberländisches Tagblatt wrote, “The members of this international trio were perfectly attuned to each other and interpreted the magnificent work with great expressiveness” and a critic from the Zürichsee Zeitung enthused, “The three artists did justice to the great work of Beethoven with perfect harmony, courtly elegance...subtle coloration, and great virtuosity.” The ensemble was founded in 1996 by pianist Adam Kent, violinist Airi Yoshioka, and cellist Sibylle Johner, all accomplished soloists in their own right. Mr. Kent won top prizes in the American Pianists Association Fellowship, Simone Belsky Music, Thomas Richner Foundation, Juilliard Concerto, and Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin competitions and is also a recipient of the Arthur Rubinstein Prize and the Harold Bauer Award. Ms. Yoshioka was a winner of The Juilliard School’s concerto competition, concertmaster and soloist with the Manhattan Virtuosi, concertmaster at the Aspen Music Festival, and concertmaster and soloist with The New Juilliard Ensemble. She is now on the faculty of UMBC. Ms. Johner was a winner of both the Drake and Zurich Conservatory soloist competitions and received the Dienemann, Ernst Göhner, and Eubie Blake Scholarship awards. The three musicians met in the doctoral program at The Juilliard School, where they were awarded a Maxwell and Muriel Gluck Fellowship for the 1998/99 academic year and coached with Felix Galimir, Jerome Lowenthal, and Stephen Clapp. The only piano trio to advance to the finals of the 2002 International Concert Artists Guild Competition, the Damocles Trio has been featured frequently on Robert Sherman’s Young Artists Showcase on WQXR radio. (Photo: Michael Dames.)

April 3
Troy King, guitar
3 pm, Fine Arts Recital Hall
$7 general admission, $3 seniors, free for students, free with a UMBC ID.
Tickets are available through MissionTix at www.missiontix.com or 410-752-8950 and at the door immediately prior to the concert.
Public information: 410-455-ARTS

Guitarist Troy King presents a program of works by Augustin Barrios, Sylvius Leopold Weiss, Manuel Ponce, Jorge Morel, and Radames Gnattali. With a reputation as an inspired, technically refined performer, Troy King is recognized as a guitarist who brings an intense, passionate commitment to his art, and who is able to emotionally connect with audiences. He holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music as a scholarship student of John Holmquist, and a Master’s Degree from the University of Denver, where he was the teaching assistant to Ricardo Iznaola. Additional instruction includes private study in England with composer/guitarist Gilbert Biberian, and a long list of masterclasses with many of today’s most notable guitarists. King has performed concerts across the United States and Europe. He has been heard on the BBC and National Public Radio. His varied programs include beloved guitar masterworks as well as important and exciting contemporary offerings, such as Ricardo Iznaola’s Three Little Tales, which he premiered in 1997. Notable festival appearances have included guest artist recitals at the Charlton Kings International Guitar Festival (England), the Portland Guitar Festival (Oregon), and at the Summer Guitar Workshop (New Mexico). After giving what Soundboard Magazine described as “a fiery performance,” King won First Prize at the Portland Guitar Festival International Guitar Competition. Other accomplishments include winning First Prize at the Lamont Chamber Music Competition and being selected as a Finalist in the Manuel Ponce International Guitar Competition in Mexico City. (Photo credit: Tanya Gerodette.)

April 12
Ruckus, the professional contemporary music ensemble in residence at UMBC
8 pm, Fine Arts Recital Hall
$7 general admission, $3 seniors, free for students, free with a UMBC ID.
Tickets are available through MissionTix at www.missiontix.com or 410-752-8950 and at the door immediately prior to the concert.
Public information: 410-455-ARTS.

Ruckus, the professional contemporary music ensemble in residence at UMBC, will perform Elliott Carter’s Triple Duo, James Erber’s The Ray and its Shadow, a new work by Anneliese Wiebel, a work by Mark Osborn, and so, between and e,nm by Thomas DeLio. The ensemble features flutist Lisa Cella, cellist Franklin Cox, percussionist Tom Goldstein, clarinetist E. Michael Richards, pianist Kazuko Tanosaki and violinist Airi Yoshioka. Founded in 2000 to promote the performance of contemporary chamber music, Ruckus has performed at the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institution, and at universities throughout the East Coast. (Photo: Richard Anderson.)

April 14
The Callithumpian Consort
8 pm, Fine Arts Recital Hall
Free admission
Public information: 410-455-ARTS

The Callithumpian Consort hails from New England Conservatory and is directed by noted pianist Stephen Drury. The ensemble’s program will feature Miss Donnithorne’s Maggot, a music-theatre work by Peter Maxwell Davies. The Callithumpian Consort was created in the belief that new music should be an exciting adventure shared by performers and listeners alike, and that brand new masterpieces of our day are beautiful, sensuous, challenging, delightful, provocative, and a unique joy. The Consort is flexible in size and makeup, in some cases performing as a full chamber orchestra. Its members pursue parallel solo and orchestral careers as well. Each musician is a soloist, enabling the group to tackle unusual repertoire in non-standard ensembles, or to take part in experimental projects. The Consort’s repertoire encompasses a huge stylistic spectrum, from the classics of the last 100 years to works of the avant-garde and experimental jazz and rock. Active commissioning and recording of new works is crucial to the ensemble’s mission, and the group has worked with composers John Cage, Lee Hyla, John Zorn, Michael Finnissy, Franco Donatoni, Lukas Foss, Christian Wolff and many others. Its recordings are available on Tzadik and Mode records.

April 21
Marc Ponthus, piano
8 pm, Fine Arts Recital Hall
Free admission
Public information: 410-455-ARTS

Pianist Marc Ponthus presents a performance of the Second and Third Piano Sonatas by Pierre Boulez. The only pianist to have performed the complete solo piano work of Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen, Ponthus’s solo performances with the BBC in London have been broadcast on numerous occasions. The New York Times wrote, “Mr. Ponthus’s virtuosity is hair-raising, like beams of electricity shooting from a Frankenstein machine...a kind of priest channeling spirits in an arcane rite, hurling himself at the keyboard...until the whole instrument shook.” The Washington Post’s Joseph McLellan said, “Ponthus has a technique and a musical sensitivity that simply brush technical obstacles aside.”

February 16
Studio 508, the Department of Music’s recording studio and black box performance space, celebrates its re-opening with updated equipment and renovations. The public is invited to an Open House event with surround sound experiences—ranging from the music of Roger Reynolds to The Beatles—and a reception.
5 pm, Studio 508, Fine Arts Building. Admission is free. 410-455-ARTS.

March 6
The UMBC Symphony Orchestra, directed by Wayne Cameron, will feature the winners of the High School Concerto Competition and the Department of Music Concerto Competition in a program that will include Mozart’s Symphony No. 29.
3 pm, Fine Arts Recital Hall. Admission is free. 410-455-ARTS.

April 2
The Vocal Arts Ensemble under the direction of David Smith, presenting an Opera Gala that will feature a wonderful evening of scenes from Carmen, La Bohème, Così Fan Tutti, The Marriage of Figaro, Elixir of Love, A Hand of Bridge, and The Gondoliers.
7 pm, Fine Arts Recital Hall. Admission is free. 410-455-ARTS.

April 28
The UMBC Jazz Ensemble directed by Jari Villanueva.
8 pm, Fine Arts Recital Hall. Admission is free. 410-455-ARTS.

May 1
The UMBC Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Wayne Cameron. The program will feature the London Suite by Eric Coates; the Richard Strauss Oboe Concerto with guest oboist Lori Guess; and a Gloria for choir and orchestra by Antonio Vivaldi.
3 pm, Fine Arts Recital Hall. Admission is free. 410-455-ARTS.

May 5
The UMBC Wind Ensemble directed by Jari Villanueva.
8 pm, Fine Arts Recital Hall. Admission is free. 410-455-ARTS.

May 6
The UMBC Jazz Combo directed by Rick Hannah.
4 pm, the Commons Cabaret. Admission is free. 410-455-ARTS.

May 7
The Jubilee Singers directed by Janice Jackson.
7 pm, Fine Arts Recital Hall. Admission is free. 410-455-ARTS.

May 8
The Collegium Musicum directed by Joseph Morin, a performance ensemble dedicated to exploring and performing vocal and instrumental music from European Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods, sampling musical repertoires created between 800 and 1750.
4 pm, St. John’s Episcopal Church, 9120 Frederick Road, Ellicott City. Admission is free. 410-455-ARTS.

May 9
The UMBC Chamber Players directed by E. Michael Richards.
8 pm, Fine Arts Recital Hall. Admission is free. 410-455-ARTS.

May 10
The UMBC Percussion Ensemble directed by Tom Goldstein. The ensemble is adventurous in its programming, with a repertoire that includes graphic-notation pieces, improvisational works, and theatre, as well as works by important early percussion composers such as Alan Hovhaness, John Cage and Carlos Chavez.
8 pm, Fine Arts Recital Hall. Admission is free. 410-455-ARTS.

May 14
The Maryland Camerata directed by David Smith.
8 pm, Fine Arts Recital Hall. Admission is free. 410-455-ARTS.

May 16
The UMBC Classical Guitar Ensemble directed by Troy King.
8 pm, Fine Arts Recital Hall. Admission is free. 410-455-ARTS.

May 17
Department of Music Honors Recital.
8 pm, Fine Arts Recital Hall. Admission is free. 410-455-ARTS.

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