Now in its 19th year, the Faculty Gala is the traditional signal that the university concert season has started. And while many of the year’s offerings will focus on students, the Aug. 26, 8 p.m., kick-off is a showcase just for faculty artists – more than 30 will perform in various combinations.
Audience members can expect:
- Michael Tunnell and Herbert Koerselman, trumpet; Bruce Heim, horn; Brett Shuster, trombone; and Jack Ashworth, organ, will echo the sounds first heard at the majestic St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice on the Margaret Comstock stage as they play “Canzon Septimi toni No. 2” written in 1597 by the Italian composer Giovanni Gabrelli.
- Mike Tracy’s tenor saxophone rendition of the Jerome Kern standard “All the Things You Are.”
- Edith Davis Tidwell and Emily Albrink, both sopranos; Andrey Walstrom, mezzo-soprano; and David George, piano, performance of the Act III trio from the 1911 comic opera “Der Rosenkavalier ‘Marie Therese!…Hab mirs gelobt.” Albrink and Walstrom will be performing in their first faculty gala this year.
- Composer-in-residence Steve Rouse’s world premiere of “Big Fiddle Dances, Mvt. 1 ‘Earth Dance’.” Paul York, cello, and Sidney King, bass, will perform the piece.
- Performances of music by Brahms, Liszt, Paganini, Schumann, Strauss and others.
“The audience should look forward to outstanding performances by a talented and enthusiastic faculty,” said Christopher Doane, dean of the School of Music. “The gala continues to be a great way to introduce the performance season for the School of Music.”
Gist Piano Center sponsors the event. There is no admission charge, but people are encouraged to make a donation to the music student scholarship program, Doane said.
After the concert, there will be a reception on the steps of the Bickel Terrace outside the School of Music.