The University of Texas at San Antonio Department of Music proudly presents the 2009-2010 Monday Night Artist Series. This season we have five exciting concerts, including Kenny Barron, one of the most highly acclaimed jazz pianists in history, the multi-award winning guitarist Stephen Robinson, the uniquely versatile San Antonio Vocal Arts Ensemble, and more. All concerts take place in the acoustically superb UTSA Recital Hall on the 1604 campus. Our 500 seat recital hall is one of the finest sounding venues for chamber music and solo concerts in the region. Ticket prices are very reasonably priced at $10-20, with discounts available for students and seniors, so that everyone can enjoy this spectacular music on our campus. All concerts are free for UTSA students with current ID, although seating is limited and subject to availability. Tickets may be purchased online from our secure website, or by calling 210-458-5685.
Flurinet w/pianist James Helton
Monday, October 26, 7:30 PM
$10 general/$5 students/seniors
An innovative trio formed by clarinetist Elizabeth Crawford, flutist Mihoko Watanabe, and pianist James Helton, Flurinet brings a wealth of concert experience to the concert stage. The trio is based in Muncie, Indiana, where each member is on the faculty of Ball State University. Elizabeth Crawford is a veteran orchestral performer, having worked with the Indianapolis Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic and BBC Philharmonic in the United Kingdom, the Jacksonville Symphony where she was a member for ten years, and has performed at several important chamber music festivals. Ms. Crawford has performed in top recital halls including Carnegie, the Kennedy Center, and the Concertgebouw, and has extensive recording experience, including Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring with Robert Craft. Flutist Mihoko Watanabe, a native of Japan, is a celebrated and versatile international performer. She has completed successful tours of Japan, Israel and Canada as a recitalist, chamber musician, and concerto soloist. As an orchestral player, she has held principle flute positions in orchestras in North America. She was the winner of both the Japan Flute Association competition and the National Flute Association competition in the U.S. She also enthusiastically premiers new works for flute, and is devoted to the study of ethnomusicology, with a focus on Japanese traditional music. Pianist James Caton Helton maintains an active schedule as a solo/collaborative performer and as a teacher of master classes. He has performed throughout most of the United States and in the Czech Republic, Spain, and Thailand. He has had the pleasure of working with Pulitzer Prize winning composers George Crumb, William Bolcom, Lucas Foss and Joseph Schwantner in concerts broadcast over public radio and television. For New World Records, Helton collaborated with the Blair Woodwind Quintet on works by composer Michael Kurek (CD 80497-2). This disc achieved a place on the short list of Grammy nominations for its category in 1996.
Kenny Barron with Anne Drummond
Co sponsored by KRTU 91.7 FM
Monday, November 30, 7:30 PM
$20 general/$10 students/seniors
Pianist Kenny Barron, one of the most recorded and highly acclaimed musicians in jazz, returns to San Antonio with flutist Anne Drummond after his stunning solo performance in December 2007. Barron’s unmatched ability to mesmerize audiences with his elegant playing, sensitive melodies and infectious rhythms is what inspired The Los Angles Times to name him "one of the top jazz pianists in the world” and Jazz Weekly to call him “The most lyrical piano player of our time.” Born in 1943, by 1959 Kenny had worked with drummer Philly Joe Jones while still in high school. At age 19, Kenny moved to New York City and freelanced with Roy Haynes, Lee Morgan and James Moody, and landed a spot in Dizzy Gillespie’s historic band. It was in Dizzy’s band where Kenny developed an appreciation for Latin and Caribbean rhythms. After five years with Dizzy, Barron played with Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Turrentine, Milt Jackson, and Buddy Rich. Barron has since become one of most dominant voices in jazz, with nine GRAMMY nominations for his own recordings, and appearances on hundreds of jazz recordings with a who’s-who of jazz greats. One of these was a historically important duet recording with Stan Getz, People Time. This recording remains as a benchmark in the art of jazz duo performance. Barron consistently wins the jazz critics and readers polls, including Downbeat, Jazz Times and Jazziz magazines. In 2005 he was inducted into the American Jazz Hall of Fame and won a MAC Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a six-time recipient of Best Pianist by the Jazz Journalists Association and was as a finalist in the prestigious 2001 Jazz Par International Jazz Award. Seattle bred jazz flutist Anne Drummond transforms the flute’s sound and contemporizes its style with a fresh artistic outlook. In 1999, she moved to New York to study piano with Kenny Barron at the Manhattan School of Music. At one of her practice sessions with Barron, Anne brought along a flute she had just purchased. Unaware that she was fluent on the instrument, Barron asked her to play. He was so impressed that he asked her to join his group Canta Brasil. That band included the top-notch Brazilian group Trio da Paz. Subsequently, she has recorded with Barron and has been hailed by top jazz critics from the LA Times, Downbeat, Jazziz, and others.
www.kennybarron.com
www.annedrummond.com
SAVAE
Monday February 22, 7:30 PM
$10 general/$5 students/seniors
SAVAE (San Antonio Vocal Arts Ensemble) is a unique ancient world music ensemble that accompanies ancient vocal music on a diverse collection of early and traditional instruments from the Middle East, Europe, and North and South America. The group made its debut in 1989 at San Antonio's historic San Fernando Cathedral, presenting Latin American music from the colonial period. In the years that have followed SAVAE has made five recordings, and been heard on the soundtrack of a major Hollywood release, on television documentaries, and on National Public Radio broadcasts. SAVAE has toured throughout the United States: from New York to Seattle, and from Baton Rouge to Milwaukee. The International Baroque Festival of Bolivia presented SAVAE in its Misiones Chiquitos- series, marking the ensemble's foreign debut. With its home in the United States' most colorful Latino city, it is no surprise that SAVAE made its mark with unique recordings of ancient music from Latin America, including the Billboard magazine-charting Guadalupe: Virgen de los Indios. SAVAE's inventive approach to the fusion of pre-Colombian and European musical elements won the ensemble an invitation to record Academy Award-winning composer Todd Boekelheide's original score for the award-winning documentary, Discovering Dominga. SAVAE’s members are: Kathy Mayer, Tanya Moczygemba, Covita Moroney - (founder and manager), Christopher Moroney - (artistic director), Jody Noblett, Lee P’Pool, and Sonya Yamin.
Pendulum Percussion Duo
Monday March 22, 7:30 PM
$10 general/$5 students/seniors
The Pendulum Percussion Duo (Joseph Krygier and Susan Powell) has been performing since 1992. Their repertoire consists of a wide variety of styles and genres including world, ragtime, contemporary and electronic music, as well as original compositions. Pendulum has performed concerts at festivals, chamber music series, and on university campuses throughout the U.S. and Europe. These have included performances in Lithuania, Poland, Sweden, Prague, Mexico, and at leading universities including the Berklee College of Music and Florida State University.
http://percussion.osu.edu/Pendulum_Duo.html
Stephen Robinson
Monday, April 12, 7:30 PM
$10 general/$5 students/seniors
Acclaimed by the New York Times for his “effortless virtuosity”, classical guitarist Stephen Robinson performs and conducts masterclasses at leading music institutions and festivals wordwide. He has appeared as a soloist with leading orchestras, including the
Cincinnati Symphony and Boston Pops, and performs extensively throughout Florida as a member of the state’s Division of Cultural Affairs premier Arts on Tour roster. Robinson is an award winning recording artist. His many CDs for Clear Note, Centaur, and Lakeside records have received unanimous critical acclaim from several international publications. The late renowned guitarist Andres Segovia described him as a “magnificent guitarist, one of the most brilliant guitarists of our time.” Soundboard magazine said “Anyone who has not heard Robinson play is missing one of America’s great guitarists.” Robinson earned the first ever Doctorate in Guitar Performance at Florida State University, and is a Professor of Guitar at Stetson University, where he founded the guitar program in 1983.
