UCSB Department of Music Presents Fifth Annual “Montage”

Source: UC Santa Barbara

The UC Santa Barbara Department of Music will present “Montage” on Sunday, November 11, 2018 at 7 pm at Trinity Episcopal Church in downtown Santa Barbara. Curated by UCSB Professor of Flute Jill Felber, the department’s fifth annual showcase concert will feature back-to-back performances by outstanding faculty, students, and alumni from the UCSB Department of Music. Faculty artists include soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian, tenor Benjamin Brecher, violinist Ertan Torgul, violist Jonathan Moerschel, cellist Jennifer Kloetzel, and pianists John Ballerino, Natasha Kislenko, and Robert Koenig. Tabla player Shashank Aswathanarayana, members of Jennifer Kloetzel’s cello studio, and the UCSB Young Artists String Quartet will round out the roster of student performers. Additionally, UCSB alumni from the Department of Music’s Resident Ensemble, the Now Hear Ensemble, will present excerpts from a work by UCSB Composition alumnus Federico Llach.

“Think of this event as a ‘celebration of genres’ for the Department of Music,” said Professor Felber. “The depth and breadth of talent in the department is increasing every year, and this annual event showcases that in an incredibly creative way. With several recent additions to the Chamber Music and Vocal faculties, we are delighted to highlight those two programs in this year’s production.”

Two major developments for the Chamber Music Program are the addition of violinist Ertan Torgul and the appointment of cellist Jennifer Kloetzel as Assistant Professor and Area Head of the Strings Program. In the first of several faculty chamber music performances slated for this year, Ms. Kloetzel and Mr. Torgul will join violist Jonathan Moerschel and pianist Robert Koenig for the thrilling first movement of Antonín Dvořák’s Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 87. Longtime members of the Department of Music Voice Program faculty, tenor Benjamin Brecher and pianist John Ballerino will present charming excerpts from operettas by Franz Lehár, including “Wie eine Rosenknospe” from Die lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow) and an English rendition of “Das Lied des Arthur” from the rarely performed Die Juxheirat (The Mock Marriage). Two of the department’s more recent additions, soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian and violist Jonathan Moerschel, will take the stage with pianist Natasha Kislenko for two songs from Dvořák’s endearing Cigánské Melodie (Gypsy Songs), Op. 55—Má píseň zas mi láskou zní (My song sounds of love) and Když mne stará matka zpívat (Songs my mother taught me). Natasha Kislenko will play a set of solo piano transcriptions by Sergei Rachmaninoff, including Modest Mussorgsky’s energetic Gopak (Hopak), Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s haunting Lullaby, and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s crowd-pleasing Flight of the Bumblebee.

Undergraduate and graduate students from the Department of Music will also take a turn in the spotlight. Violinists Sara Bashore and Kristina Tsanova, violist Besnik Yzeiri, and cellist Chenoa Orme-Stone of the department’s graduate scholarship string quartet, the UCSB Young Artists String Quartet, will present the dramatic opening movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quartet in C Minor, Op. 18, No. 4, “Allegro ma non tanto.” Students from Jennifer Kloetzel’s cello studio will perform Friedrich Grützmacher’s arrangement of Richard Wagner’s magnificent “Feierliches Stück” from Lohengrin for cello octet. Shashank Aswathanarayana, a student in the UCSB Media Arts and Technology program and a member of the UCSB Middle East and Music of India ensembles, will play a traditional Indian tabla solo infused with his own improvisations. UCSB alumni from the UCSB Department of Music’s Resident Ensemble, the Now Hear Ensemble, will perform excerpts from UCSB Composition alumnus Federico Llach’s contemporary work, Perishable Music.

TICKETS

Admission is free (no reservation required)

EVENT LISTING

Montage

Sunday, November 11, 2018, 7 pm

Trinity Episcopal Church (1500 State St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101)

Artistic Director

Jill Felber

UCSB Faculty Performers

Isabel Bayrakdarian, soprano

Benjamin Brecher, tenor

Ertan Torgul, violin

Jonathan Moerschel, viola

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello

John Ballerino, piano

Natasha Kislenko, piano

Robert Koenig, piano

UCSB Student and Alumni Performers

Shashank Aswathanarayana, tabla

UCSB Cello Octet

UCSB Young Artists String Quartet

Now Hear Ensemble (UCSB alumni)

Program

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN | String Quartet in C Minor, Op. 18, No. 4 (Allegro ma non tanto)

Federico LLACH | Perishable Music (excerpts)

Antonín DVOŘÁK | Cigánské Melodie (Gypsy Songs), Op. 55 (numbers 1 and 4)

Richard WAGNER | “Feierliches Stück” from Lohengrin for cello ensemble (arr. Grützmacher)

Modest MUSSORGSKY | Gopak (Hopak) (trans. Rachmaninoff)

Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY | Lullaby (trans. Rachmaninoff)

Nikolai RIMSKY-KORSAKOV | Flight of the Bumblebee (trans. Rachmaninoff)

TRADITIONAL | Indian tabla solo

Franz LEHÁR | “Das Lied des Arthur” (sung in English) from The Mock Marriage

Franz LEHÁR | “Wie eine Rosenknospe” from The Merry Widow

Federico LLACH | Perishable Music (excerpts)

Antonín DVOŘÁK | Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 87 (Allegro con fuoco)

MORE INFORMATION

More information is available at music.ucsb.edu/montage.

ABOUT THE UC SANTA BARBARA DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC

From an institution that began life dedicated to training the next generation of music educators, to what is now a multi-faceted department with a fully established research and professional graduate program with degrees in composition, ethnomusicology, musicology, music theory, and performance, the UC Santa Barbara Department of Music has produced many hundreds of graduates who have distinguished themselves both nationally and internationally. Alumni have gone on to teach on faculties of major colleges and universities in the United States and abroad, or in outstanding secondary school positions. Many graduates of the program have published extensively and become widely renowned, prize-winning scholars, while others are award-winning and frequently performed composers writing for television and film. Alumni are also establishing fine reputations as conductors of orchestras, opera, and choruses. Graduates of the instrumental programs have gone on to solo and orchestral careers with leading orchestras, and graduates of the voice program can be heard in opera companies around the world.

With over 150 events presented annually, the UC Santa Barbara Department of Music offers something for every music lover. The department boasts 26 unique performing ensembles, each with a quarterly concert calendar. Chamber music, large ensembles, opera, contemporary groups, world music, and jazz ensembles make up the department’s rich performance calendar, along with lectures, master classes, and presentations from the ethnomusicology, musicology, theory, and composition programs. For a complete listing of performances and lectures for the quarter, please visit the UC Santa Barbara Department of Music website at music.ucsb.edu.