Blind music student Alex Krauth has perfect pitch and plenty of talent – great assets to bring to the KSC music program. But how was she going to get her music assignments in a format she could understand? Never fear, the Music Department, the Office of Disability Services, and the Center for Engagement Learning & Teaching (CELT) pooled their expertise to create music scores for her in braille.
The Keene State College Department of Music has given Mr. Rob Westerberg ’87 its Distinguished Alumni Award for 2009–10. Rob currently serves as the choral director at York High School in York, Maine, and is the director of the Portland Community Chorus. He earned a B.M. in Music Education at KSC and an M.M. in Choral Conducting from the U of Maine.
Rob will be back on campus on Thursday, November 4, 2010, and will receive the award at a Concert Band performance in the Redfern Arts Center Main Theatre at 7:30 p.m. If you know Rob, use the “comments” link to drop him a note of congratulations.
David Krakauer
As a leader of the new wave of contemporary klezmer, David Krakauer and his Acoustic Klezmer Project will hit the Redfern stage on Wednesday, January 27. The New York Times notes that the band “hurls the tradition of klezmer music into the rock era,” forging a unique new sound from the genres of world music and jazz, rock, funk, and hip-hop. The music is firmly rooted in traditional klezmer, while at the same time appealing to today’s rock and world music enthusiasts. Krakauer will also conduct a lecture demonstration on the history of klezmer and its influences on American music at 2 p.m. at the Redfern.
Tickets for the evening performance are available at the Redfern box office, 603-358-2168, where you can also view video clips from the season’s Visiting Artists repertoire.
It’s time once again for the annual MERRY TUBACHRISTMAS concert here at KSC, and the deep, resonant call is out for all professional and amateur tubists to join the band!
The Keene TUBACHRISTMAS orchestra (courtesy photo)
The concert will be held on Sunday, December 6, at 1 p.m. in the Mabel Brown Room of the L.P. Young Student Center. It’s free and open to the public. The performance will feature traditional Christmas carols especially arranged for TUBACHRISTMAS by American composer Alec Wilder.
Dr. Jim Chesebrough, band director at Keene State College, will direct the 19th Keene TUBACHRISTMAS. All area tuba, euphonium, and baritone horn players are invited to perform. Rehearsal will take place in the Mabel Brown Room at 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 6. Performers pay a $5 tax-deductible fee to the Harvey Phillips Foundation. For more information, please contact Dr. Chesebrough.
There’s great entertainment brewing at the Redfern this season. The Visiting Artists Series offers a wonderful variety of musical genres and features several new artists.
The series opens with a free preview of the entire season on Thursday, September 17, from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Redfern’s Alumni Recital Hall. The preview will include video excerpts from performances, and recordings of some of the music. (Call 603-358-2168 to reserve a seat.)
Here’s the line up:
Wednesday, September 30: Yeol Eum Son, the most recent Silver Medal 2009 winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
Wednesday, October 21: the Borealis Wind Quintet, which The New York Times described as “a polished, elegantly turned performance.”
Wednesday, January 27: David Krakauer and His Klezmer Madness!, an internationally acclaimed ensemble that hurls the tradition of Klezmer into the 21st century.
Wednesday, February 24: The Ethos Percussion Group, accomplished classical and world-music artists who marry global instruments and playing styles with the conventions of Western chamber music.
Wednesday, March 3: The Ying Quartet celebrates Robert Schuman’s 200th birthday.
Wednesday, March 10: Cathie Ryan, former lead singer of Cherish the Ladies, helps us celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
Tuesday, April 13: Philip Hamilton’s Voices, this nine-voice a cappella ensemble’s performance ranges from barbershop quartet to blues to miners’ songs.
Sunday, November 1: Cirque Mechanic, in its latest creation, Birdhouse Factory, a place where acrobatics and early 20th century machines come together. (3 p.m.; special school performance on Monday, November 2, at 10 a.m.)
Wednesday, April 14: The Acting Company’s Romeo and Juliet at the Colonial Theatre (7:30 p.m.; school performance at 9:30 a.m.)
Thursday, November 12: Avner the Eccentric, noted for his hilarious take-no-prisoners comedy.
Wednesday, October 7: Kate Weare Company; as Dance View Time noted, “… the heat came from the stage … you sense intelligence and the choreographer’s mind at work.”
Wednesday, February 17: Kinodance Company, which employs a passion for kinetic arts and a strong belief in interdisciplinary collaborations.
Tuesday, March 23: Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, featuring the largest repertoire from African American choreographers in the world.
Dr. Abigail Butler
Keene native and 1980 KSC grad Dr. Abigail Butler was back on campus on Saturday, May 2, to receive the College Music Department’s 2008–09 Distinguished Alumni Award during the KSC Concert Choir and Monadnock Chorus performance. Dr. Butler currently resides in Eastpointe, Mich.
Are you a classmate or friend of hers? Use the “Comments” link below to drop her a line.
The Keene State College Chamber Orchestra, conducted by KSC artist-in-residence Don Baldini, will perform A Celebration of American Composers on Friday, May 1, at 7:30 p.m. at the Redfern Arts Center.
You’ll hear Aaron Copeland’s film score for Our Town, and his “Fanfare for the Common Man,” plus John Philip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes,” Leroy Anderson’s “The Syncopated Clock,” Richard Rogers’ “Victory at Sea,” Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story, and Stephen Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns,” from the opera A Little Night Music.
Conductor Don Baldini will lead the Keene State College Jazz Ensemble in some of his favorite tunes on Wednesday, April 29, at 7:30 p.m. at the Redfern Arts Center.
Among those favorites will be the Gershwins’ “Strike Up the Band,” Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes,” Jimmy Webb’s “MacArthur Park,” and “La Fiesta” by Chick Corea. You’ll also hear tunes from such greats as Fats Waller, Gus Kahn, Chuck Mangione, and Neil Hefti.
Dr. Keith Brion portrays the March King, John Philip Sousa.
You gotta love the stirring marches of John Philip Sousa. And did you know that the March King brought his band to Keene on six occasions? Well, he’ll be back in the (re-enacted) flesh at the Redfern’s Main Theatre on Tuesday, April 7, at 7:30 p.m. Dr. Keith Brion, who portrays the band leader and is considered the greatest living authority on Sousa, will conduct the KSC Concert Band in an historically accurate recreation of a Sousa Band concert, just as you would have heard it 100 years ago, in honor of KSC’s Centennial Celebration.
Brion will be at the College for a week, speaking to classes on music history, conducting, and the theatre craft involved in depicting the on-stage persona.
The KSC Percussion Ensemble, directed by Christopher Swist, will join the KSC Saxophone Ensemble, directed by Craig Sylvern, for a spring performance on Thursday, April 2, at 7:45 p.m. in the Redfern’s Alumni Recital Hall. Among other great music, you’ll hear Edgar Varèse’s “Ionisation” (the first piece written for percussion ensemble) and the premier of “Three Sketches for Bass Clarinet and Percussion,” by KSC Professor Emeritus William Pardus.