NEWS

UNC music department to come together for Stravinsky celebration April 26 and 27

By BRIAN BEDSWORTH
UNC News Services

CHAPEL HILL -- The works and life of Igor Stravinsky, one of the most acclaimed composers of the 20th century, will be performed and discussed in two concerts and a daylong seminar April 26 and 27 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The UNC music department will showcase a variety of its talents in "Celebrating Stravinsky: a Festival on the Hill," honoring the Russian-born composer whose unconventional music once caused a riot at a Paris ballet.

"Stravinsky’s music fascinates people," said department chair James Ketch. "It fascinates performers, it fascinates scholars, and yet it has such an attractive quality to the public. I think it will resonate with everyone who attends."

The festival will start with a gala benefit concert for the department’s scholarship fund, at 8 p.m. April 26 in Hill Hall auditorium. Music faculty members will conduct three of the department’s performing groups, featuring faculty and about 200 undergraduates.

Michael Votta Jr. will conduct the UNC Wind Ensemble in "Symphonies of Winds"; Susan Klebanow will conduct the ensemble and the Carolina Choir in "Mass"; and Tonu Kalam will conduct the UNC Symphony Orchestra in "Petrouchka."

Tickets are $15 for the public, $10 for seniors and $5 for students at the Carolina Union box office, (919) 962-1449, open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, or at the concert. Donors of at least $250 will be invited to a pre-concert reception. For more information, call Ketch at (919) 962-1039.

April 27 events will be free and open to the public, beginning with an academic symposium from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Person Recital Hall. Music scholars from UNC, the University of California at San Diego and the University of Michigan will lead discussions about aspects of Stravinsky’s work.

At 8 p.m. April 27 in Hill, small groups, mostly faculty members but also some students, will perform chamber music selections including "Octet for Winds," "Dumbarton Oaks Concerto" and "Three Shakespeare Songs."

Throughout the weekend, Allen Anderson’s music composition students will perform their fanfares -- short, introductory pieces of music. Students wrote the selections based on Stravinsky’s methods of composition.

Stravinsky is widely considered to have been one of the most influential and innovative composers of contemporary music. Born outside St. Petersburg in 1882, he drew heavily on the region’s folk music for his complex arrangements. He made a name for himself by pairing folk-inspired melodies with his own unique, off-beat rhythms.

Stravinsky’s scores for Serge Diaghilev’s ballets made him famous, particularly "The Firebird" (1910). "The Rite of Spring," which caused the 1913 Paris riot, is one of his most well known pieces. It was later introduced to modern generations in Walt Disney’s "Fantasia." His other major works included "Oedipus Rex," "Symphony of Psalms" and "The Rake’s Progress," his only full-scale opera.

In 1939 Stravinsky fled Paris for the United States, where he continued his work. He died in New York in 1971.

The popularity of Stravinsky’s large orchestral arrangements fit perfectly with Ketch’s interest in creating an event fostering unprecedented collaboration among different parts of the music department that don’t always work together. The result will be a showcase of the best the department has to offer, he said: "I wanted to bring the gifts of the department to a wider recognition."

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(Bedsworth is a senior Spanish and journalism and mass communication major from Winston-Salem.)

Contact: James Ketch, (919) 962-1039