UNCW faculty to show off musical talents
By Bob Workmon, StarNews Correspondent
Published: Wednesday, October 6, 2010 • See the actual article online HERE.
The Wilmington Symphony Orchestra and its audiences have benefited on many
occasions from the ensemble’s proximity to and association with the University of
North Carolina Wilmington’s Department of Music.
But perhaps never to the extent planned for Saturday night at Kenan Auditorium,
when 10 members of the university’s music faculty will play pieces that range from
classical to contemporary, jazz to opera. Not that one necessarily needs a reason
to showcase so much talent, but WSO conductor Steven Errante said that the concert
program began to take shape when the North Carolina Music Teachers
Association
announced that UNCW’s Department of Music would host its annual meeting.
“Since this is the first time this event has been held in this end of the state, we
wanted to show off what UNCW has to offer,” Errante said.
Soloists includes percussionist John Rack, guitarist Robert Nathanson, pianist
Barry David Salwen, operatic bass Pawel Izdebski, soprano Nancy King and the
percussionist and composer Joe Chambers, UNCW’s Distinguished Professor of
Jazz who has played with many of the music’s legends.
“I like soloists to do music they’re passionate about,” Errante said. “The only
limitation we had this time was to choose excerpts rather than whole concertos
because we wanted to include as many faculty members as possible.”
Errante said that the program is arranged to create variety in tempo and style.
The program will include Nathanson in the elegiac slow movement from Joaquin
Rodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez,” Salwen in Gerald Finzi’s lush pastoral nocturne
titled “Eclogue” and Izdebski and King in opera excerpts by Giuseppe Verdi and Mozart.
If there is a piece de resistance it comes at the end of the concert when drummer
Joe Chambers takes the stage for “Gone” from Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess.” Chambers
re-arranged the arrangement as it were, adding orchestra parts that Errante said
don’t require improvisation in the string section, and giving accompanying jazz
faculty members a few solo opportunities.
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