FALL SEASON
SEP. 14
Zen Sound, Suspended Time
James Nyoraku Schlefer, shakuhachi
Monday, Sept. 14, 7:30 p.m.
Lorimer Chapel
(Funded in part by the Freda M. Charles Music Fund)
Originally the instrument of Zen monks, the Japanese
transverse bamboo flute (shakuhachi) has captivated the
minds and hearts of listeners for centuries. Remarkably
simple in design, it takes years to master. The sound is
sensual and capable of great emotional depth. Shakuhachi
grand master James Nyoraku Schlefer is a virtuoso
performer of traditional and contemporary shakuhachi
music and a composer of new music for Japanese and
Western instruments.
OCT. 24
The Department of Music Presents
DEC. 11
NOV. 19
OCT. 31
NOV. 7
Colby Symphony Orchestra, Eric Thomas,
guest conductor
Saturday, Oct. 24, 7:30 p.m.
Lorimer Chapel
NOV. 14
Colby College Chorale and Chamber Singers,
Shannon Chase, director
Saturday, Oct. 31, 3:30 p.m.
Lorimer Chapel
Old Love & New Love
Michael Winther with Kimberly Grigsby
Saturday, Oct. 31, 9 p.m.
Page Commons, Cotter Union
(Funded by the Robert J. Strider Concert Fund, with
additional funding from the Office of Alumni Relations
and the Theater and Dance Department) A “first-rate
singer of unusual refinement” with “a voice that traverses
genres” (New York Times), Broadway singer/actor Michael
Winther joins forces with Broadway musical director and
For up-to-date information
on performances, go to
colby.edu/artsatcolby or
colby.edu/musicdept
OCT. 25
pianist Kimberly Grigsby for an evening of well-known
standards and some lesser-known, newer love songs by
top emerging theater composers and lyricists. “Mr. Winther
stakes out the most fertile artistic territory in American
music: the high ground where show tunes, art songs and the
singer-songwriter tradition merge.”(Stephen Holden, New
York Times)
All Hallow’s Day Concert
The Colby College Chorale and Chamber Singers perform
a festive program of music evocative of the season and in
celebration of Family Homecoming Weekend.
OCT. 31
OCT. 24
A Little Something for Everyone!
The first orchestra concert of the season, conducted by Eric
Thomas, director of Colby’s Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band,
includes Soren Nyhus’s “Bittersweet Victory” (2014), written
for the Noteflight video game composition competition;
Geraldine Green’s jovial (and slightly mischievous) Bass
Clarinet Concerto (1992), performed by Emily Berry ’16;
Marianne Martinez’s Sinfonia in C (1770); and Howard
Hanson’s lush and expressive Symphony no. 2, the
Romantic (1930).
OCT. 31
SEP. 14
Photo by: Jeff Earickson
2015-16 Concert Series
NOV. 7
DEC. 54
NOV. 14
Colby Jazz Band, Eric Thomas, conductor
Saturday, Nov. 14, 7:30 p.m.
Given Auditorium, Bixler Art and Music Center
DEC. 5
John Coltrane’s “Lady Bird” draws on Tadd Dameron’s
composition by the same name and foreshadows the
famous Coltrane changes. Freddie Hubbard’s cool hard bop
chart “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming” is a jazz rendition of
the classic 16th-century hymn. Patty Darling’s “Idioteque”
is a big-band arrangement of Radiohead’s hit. But Duke
Ellington’s Such Sweet Thunder suite and Denis DiBlasio’s
“Strong Like Bull!” are all their own.
Five Degrees of Increasing Separation
Colby Wind Ensemble, Eric Thomas, conductor
Saturday, Nov. 7, 7:30 p.m.
Lorimer Chapel
Germaine Tailleferre (Overture for Orchestra) and Darius
Milhaud (West Point Suite) were members of “Les Six”—
French composers reacting to Wagner’s bombast and
Debussy’s overt sensuality. Milhauds’ suite and William
Grant Still’s “To You, America” were both commissioned for
the West Point sesquicentennial. Still and Vincent Persichetti
(Symphony for Band) both received Peabody Conservatory
honorary doctorates in 1974. None has a connection with
West Coast composer Julie Giroux (Culloden), but her
composition, based on Scottish folk tunes, was too perfect
to pass up.
Cover Me … or Not!
NOV. 19
If Music Be the Food of Love, Sing On!
Collegium Chamber Singers and Players,
Timothy Burris, director
Thursday, Nov. 19, 7:30 p.m.
Lorimer Chapel
The Colby Collegium Chamber Singers and Players explore
music of 17th-century England. The late Renaissance and
early Baroque in England produced a rich repertoire of both
choral and instrumental works that celebrate the human in
nature and the nature of being human. The program includes
works by Henry Purcell, Matthew Locke, and John Wilbye.
OCT. 31
A Little More Something for Everyone!
Colby Symphony Orchestra, Janna Hymes,
guest conductor
Saturday, Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m.
Lorimer Chapel
Janna Hymes is the music director of Maine Pro Musica
and the Williamsburg (Va.) Sinfonia. A much sought-after
conductor in the United States and abroad, maestra Hymes
offers an eclectic program that includes the Shostakovitch
Ballet Suite no. 1; Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, featuring
Colby Applied Music Associate Eric Thomas as soloist; and
Beethoven’s Symphony no. 2 in D Major.
DEC. 11
DEC. 12
46th Annual Service of Carols and Lights
Friday, Dec. 11, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 12, 3:30 and 7 p.m.
Lorimer Chapel
A Colby tradition since 1971, the service includes readings,
carol singing by candlelight, and the sounds of the Nickerson
Carillon. Colby music ensembles provide a festive evening of
traditional and contemporary seasonal music from around
the world.
2015-16 Concert Series
SPRING SEASON
FEB. 6
Ameranouche
Saturday, Feb. 6, 7:30 p.m.
Lorimer Chapel
(Funded in part by the Hazel Hoyt Witherell Memorial
Concert Fund)
The award-winning trio Ameranouche plays acoustic Gypsyinspired music mixing flamenco, bebop, and jazz swing.
Whether playing a 1930 musette waltz or an Andalusianinspired original tune, Ameranouche’s Gypsy flamenco swing
style is always fresh, virtuosic, and totally enjoyable.
FEB. 14
New for 2015-16:
Music in the Museum
An Evening of Gypsy Jazz
FEB.
APR.144
MAR. 5
FEB. 6
OCT. 8
APR. 2
Ensalada
Sunday, Feb. 14, 3 p.m.
Lorimer Chapel
MAR. 5
NOV. 11
APR. 30
APR. 9
The Department of Music Presents
Where Artistry Resides
Colby Wind Ensemble, Eric Thomas, conductor
Saturday, April 2, 7:30 p.m.
Lorimer Chapel
A composer’s inspiration can come from anything or
anywhere: baseball (Carolyn Bremer’s “Early Light”), ribbons
and word substitution (Joan Tower’s “Fascinating Ribbons”),
the ferocity of nature (Percy Grainger’s “Hill Songs 1 and
2”), Genghis Khan (Julie Giroux’s “Khan”), devotional
paintings (Vaclav Nelhybel’s “Trittico”). Five programmatic
journeys promise a wide-ranging, magical ride.
Maine Saxophone Project
Saturday, April 9, 7:30 p.m.
Lorimer Chapel
APR. 23
(Funded in part by the Ermanno Comparetti Concert Fund)
The Maine Saxophone Project started at the University of
Southern Maine in 2006 and hasn’t stopped growing. The
combo has roots in a Charlie Parker tribute band formed
by Med Flory and Buddy Clark in 1972, which featured
harmonized arrangements of Parker’s music. M.S.P. has
expanded beyond Parker’s compositions to perform
arrangements that explore new styles and colors.
Three staples of uniquely Russian classical music are
featured: from Mikhail Glinka, early-19th-century father
of the Russian orchestral style, his rousing opera overture
Ruslan and Lyudmila; from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, late19th-century romantic and master melodist, his Symphony
no. 2, The Little Russian; from Aram Khachaturian, Sovietendorsed, then condemned, then endorsed again, his
Masquerade suite of five dances.
APR. 2
APR. 9
APR. 23
APR. 16
Stylin’!
Colby Jazz Band, Eric Thomas, conductor
Saturday, April 16, 7:30 p.m.
Given Auditorium, Bixler Art and Music Center
The Jazz Band’s final concert this season features idiomatic
examples of various classic jazz styles. Gordon Goodwin’s
“Race to the Bridge” has a harmonic scheme based on what
jazz players call “rhythm changes.” Bob Minzer’s “Ouro Preto”
is built on different Brazilian grooves, and “Swangalang,” his
wonderful hybrid of jazz and blues styles, is referred to as
a swinger. Michael Philip Mossman’s “Tanganova” draws on
classic tango rhythms. Topping it off, the band adds a touch
of R&B from Earth, Wind & Fire
In Spring Time, the Only Pretty Ring Time!
Collegium Chamber Singers and Players,
Timothy Burris, director
Saturday, April 23, 2016 7:30 p.m.
Lorimer Chapel
The Colby Collegium Chamber Singers and Players celebrate
nature’s renewal with music of spring. Instrumental excerpts
from “Le Journal du Printemps” by Johann Caspar Ferdinand
Fischer, as well as songs and madrigals of spring by
Francesca Caccini, Thomas Morley, Clément Janequin, and
Claudio Monteverdi.
APR. 30
MAY 1
Ola Gjeilo’s Sunrise Mass
Colby College Chorale and Colby-Kennebec Choral
Society, Shannon Chase, conductor;
Colby Symphony Orchestra, Janna Hymes,
guest conductor
Saturday, April 30, and Sunday, May 1, 7:30 p.m.
Lorimer Chapel
In an annual spring tradition these three large ensembles
once again join forces. This year they present Sunrise
Mass by Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo (b. 1978), an
elegant and dramatic work for choir and string orchestra
that boasts cinematic sweep and rich, emotional content.
Continuing another Music at Colby tradition, the program
will also include a performance by the winner of the Music
Department’s annual student concerto competition.
The Andre Segovia Continuum
Mark Leighton, Guitar
Wednesday, Nov. 11, noon
William D. Adams Gallery, Museum Lobby
Music composed for, transcribed by, or reintroduced into the
repertoire by Segovia during a career that spanned nearly
the entire 20th century. Compositions by J.S. Bach, Isaac
Albéniz, Heitor Villa-Lobos, and Francisco Tárrega.
FEB. 25
From Russia with Love
Colby Symphony Orchestra, Janna Hymes,
guest conductor
Saturday, March 5, 7:30 p.m.
Lorimer Chapel
APR. 16
Wednesday, Oct. 8, noon
Lower Jetté Gallery
Heidi Powell (baroque violin), Timothy Burris (lute and
theorbo), and Raffael Scheck (baroque cello) perform music
by Bach, Corelli, Handel, and Pasqualino de Marzis.
Renaissance and Baroque Traditions
of Improvisation
(Funded in part by the Ermanno Comparetti Concert Fund)
Though often associated only with jazz, a rich tradition of
instrumental improvisation flourished in “classical music”
throughout Europe from the late 15th century through the
mid-18th century. Ensalada presents a rich and varied
program of examples of these traditions of melodic, harmonic,
and rhythmic improvisation.
Members of BOOM (Baroque Orchestra of Maine)
Poetry and Lyric: 20th-Century Song
Shannon M. Chase, mezzo-soprano;
Yuri Lily Funahashi, piano
Thursday, Feb. 25, noon
Lower Jetté Gallery
Shannon M. Chase, choral conductor and applied
music associate in voice, joins forces with pianist
Yuri Lily Funahashi.
MAR. 10
Trancing in the Palace
Kabbalah, Altered States, and Morton Feldman’s
Palais de Mari (1986)
Thursday, March 10, 7 p.m.
Paul J. Schupf Wing for the Works of Alex Katz
Morton Feldman (1926-1987) was a central figure in the socalled New York School of American painters and musicians
of the 1940s-70s. Associate Professor Emerita Ursula
Reidel (German), Associate Professor Steven Nuss (music),
and pianist Nathan Trivers perform and discuss Feldman’s
last work for piano. They suggest that Palais de Mari is the
product the composer’s intense engagement with aspects of
Kabbalistic thought and devotional practices.
For up-to-date information
up-to-date information
onFor
performances,
go to
on
performances,
go or
to
colby.edu/artsatcolby
colby.edu/artsatcolby
colby.edu/musicdept or
colby.edu/musicdept