Friday Music Series 2015-2016 Archive

Fall 2015

The Georgetown University Music Program’s Friday Music Series features free concerts on select Fridays at 1:15 p.m. in McNeir Hall, New North Building, *unless otherwise indicated.

Friday, September 18, 2015, at 1:15 p.m.
Co-presented with GU Library Associates and the Special Collections Research Center

Rebecca Gates

Rebecca Gates is a US-based musician, curator, artist, and audio editor. She has released five albums, three as leader of the critically acclaimed group The Spinanes (Sub Pop), toured internationally, and appeared as a vocalist on numerous records by artists as wide-ranging as The Decemberists and Willie Nelson. Entertainment Weekly notes, “…she might just possess the sexiest voice in rock.”
McNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE


Friday, September 25, 2015, at 1:15 p.m.

New Orchestra of Washington

The New Orchestra of Washington makes music relevant to new generations of audiences through virtuosic performances representing diverse genres, with fresh interpretations of classic works. Unconstrained by the structure or repertoire of traditional orchestras, the DC-based ensemble was founded in 2012 and programs inspiring, memorable concerts that are neither strictly classical nor purely academic. The program includes the East Coast premiere of Georgetown University Music Program Prof. Joel Friedman’s When the World Disintegrates Before Your Eyes for solo viola, John B. Hedges’ Clarinet Sonatina “Gumbo” (2008), and Mozart’s “Kegelstatt” Trio in E-flat, K498. 

McNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE


Friday, October 2, 2015, at 1:15 p.m.

Mexico City Woodwind Quintet

Asako Arai, flute
Joseph Shalita, oboe
Fernando Domínguez, clarinet
Wendy Holdaway, bassoon
Paul Miller, horn

The Mexico City Woodwind Quintet is regarded as one of the most important chamber music groups in Mexico today. With four compact discs, the group is dedicated to promoting the composition and dissemination of contemporary works by Mexican and Latin American composers. The ensemble has performed at universities around the U.S. and presented Mexican music at the Mexican Consulate in New York and the Mexican Cultural Institute in the Mexican Embassy in Washington D.C. This program, Postcards from the Americas, includes the following and was made possible by a grant from “México en Escena,” Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes:  

Argentina: Milonga by Astor Piazzolla
México: Momo by Eugenio Toussaint
Costa Rica: Zachic II  by Alejandro Cardona
México: Juegos Nocturnos (Night Games) by Federico Ibarra
Brazil: Quinteto de Sopros by Marlos Nobre
Uruguay: In Heaven by Miguel del Aguila

McNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE


Friday, October 16, 2015 at 1:15 p.m.

Jinsun Cho, organ

Organist Jinsun Cho serves as the accompanist and assistant director of the Capitol Hill Chorale and the organist at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Annandale, VA. Dr. Cho has also served on the faculty of the organ department at the Catholic University of America; the church music department at Mokwon University, Yonsei University, and Seoul Jangsin University in Seoul, Korea; and is currently accompanist of the Georgetown University Chamber Singers.

*DAHLGREN CHAPEL
FREE


Friday, October 23, 2015, at 1:15 p.m.
Part of the Katrina@10 Symposium

Donald Harrison, Jr., saxophone

New Orleans native Donald Harrison, Jr. has performed with an array of distinguished musicians including Art Blakey, Roy Haynes, Lena Horne, Ron Carter, Terence Blanchard, Dr. John, Notorious B.I.G., the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and many more. He created Nouveau Swing, which merges modern dance music like R&B, hip-hop, soul, rock, and combines jazz with Afro-New Orleans traditional music, and serves as Big Chief of The Congo Square Nation Afro-New Orleans cultural group. An evacuee/survivor of Hurricane Katrina, he appeared in Spike Lee’s HBO documentary “When the Levees Broke,” and also appeared as himself in and co-wrote the soundtrack for Academy Award-winning director Jonathan Demme’s feature film, “Rachel’s Getting Married” starring Anne Hathaway and Debra Winger. He appears as himself in nine episodes of “Treme,” which chronicles aspects of his life and music with the two characters of Albert and Delmond Lambreaux. The New York Times has praised Harrison as “one of the most gifted young saxophonists playing jazz.”

This concert is part of the two-day Katrina@10 Symposium, led by the Director of the GU Film and Media Studies Program Prof. Bernard Cook, Symposium events also include a screening and discussion of Tia Lessin and Carl Deal’s film Trouble The Water (2008), and three panels–on Media and Memory, Public History, and Activism and Justice.

McNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE


Friday, October 30, 2015, at 1:15 p.m.

Grace Kim, piano

Praised by The Washington Post as a pianist whose playing is “rich with emotional contrasts,” Grace Eun Hae Kim has performed as recitalist and chamber musician in notable venues such as Alice Tully Hall and Juilliard Theater at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Steinway Hall. She has appeared as a soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra and won prizes in numerous competitions including the Minnesota International Piano E-Competition, Washington International Competition, William Kapell International Piano Competition, and Corpus Christi International Competition.

The program includes Scarlatti’s Sonata in E Major, K. 380, Sonata in B Minor, K. 87, and Sonata in C Major, K. 159; Beethoven’s 15 Variations and Fugue in E-flat Major, Op.35 “Eroica”; Scriabin’s Five Preludes, Op. 15; and Chopin’s Polonaise-Fantasy in A-flat Major, Op.61

McNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE


Friday, November 13, 2015 at 1:15 p.m.

Modern Musick

The early music ensemble Modern Musick continues its residency in the Music Program at Georgetown University. Led by Risa Browder (violin) and John Moran (cello), the ensemble focuses on diverse genres and composers from the early modern era, utilizing period instruments and performance practice techniques.

Risa Browder & Leslie Nero, violins
John Moran, violoncello
Dongsok Shin, harpsichord

Vivaldi’s Sonata à 3 in B-flat major, op. 1 no. 10 (RV 78); Sonata for violoncello & continuo in a minor (RV 44); and Sonata à 3 in d minor, op. 1 no 12 “La Folia” (RV 63); Michele Mascitti’s Sonata à 3 in g minor, op. 6 no. 15; Giovanni Benedetto Platti’s Sonata à 3 in D major; and Handel’s Sonata à 3 in g minor, op. 2 no. 6 (HWV 391)

*DAHLGREN CHAPEL
FREE


Friday, November 20, 2015, at 1:15 p.m.

William Sharp, baritone
Steven Mayer, piano

Charles Ives’ America:  Part One
A recital of songs by America’s supreme composer of art songs, featuring two celebrated Ives exponents. Sharp, “a sensitive and subtle singer who evokes the special character of every song that he sings” (New York Times) will perform the popular songs that inspired certain Ives songs. Mayer, praised by the New York Times for “piano playing at its most awesome,” will also perform “The Alcotts” from Ives’ “Concord Sonata” — an American masterpiece he has performed more than any other pianist. Presented by PostClassical Ensemble as part of a two-day Ives Celebration at Georgetown University. (Part two of Charles Ives’ America will be a ticketed GU Orchestra concert with guest artists Sharp and Mayer on November 22 at 5 p.m. in Gaston Hall.)
McNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE


Friday, December 4, 2015, at 1:15 p.m.

Annual Holiday Concert

The Georgetown University Jazz Ensemble, led by Prof. Aaron Broadus, presents a program of classic holiday standards.
McNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE

The Georgetown University Music Program’s Friday Music Series features free concerts on select Fridays at 1:15 p.m. in McNeir Hall, New North Building, *unless otherwise indicated.


Spring 2016

Friday, January 29, 2016 at 1:15 p.m.

Washington National Opera Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program

Kerriann Otaño, Ariana Wehr, sopranos
Aleksandra Romano, Daryl Freedman, mezzo-sopranos
Michael Brandenburg, tenor
Timothy Bruno, bass
Joel Ayau, pianist

Participants in this prestigious program perform arias and duets from popular operas, including Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Le Nozze di Figaro, Verdi’s Il Trovatore and Un Ballo in Maschera, and more.
MCNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE


Friday, February 5, 2016, at 1:15 p.m.

Modern Musick
with Georgetown University Chamber Singers

Early music in conjunction with Jesuit Heritage Week. 
*DAHLGREN CHAPEL
FREE


Friday, February 19, 2016, at 1:15 p.m.

Char Prescott, cello & Ryo Yanagitani, piano

Cellist Char Prescott has performed all over the U.S., including Tanglewood Music Center, the John F. Kennedy Center, and Carnegie Hall, and was featured as a soloist for the World Trade Center September 11th Memorial in 2009. Canadian pianist Ryo Yanagitani has won the gold medal at the 10th San Antonio International Piano Competition and the grand prize of the Hugo Kauder International Piano Competition and has made concerto appearances with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Metropolitan Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and more. 
MCNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE


Friday, February 26, 2016, at 1:15 p.m.

Aaron Broadus, trumpet, and Lura Johnson, piano

Aaron Broadus (Band Leader) is a professor of music at Georgetown University and has performed in DC venues including Blues Alley, The Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, and The Howard Theater. He has performed with artists Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Lalah Hathaway, The Temptations, Pattie LaBelle, George Duke, and Kirk Whalum. Pianist Lura Johnson is a Steinway Artist and the recent Second Prizewinner, as a member of Duo Baltinati, of the 2015 International Johannes Brahms Competition Chamber Music Division. Hailed as “brilliant” by the Washington Post, she is the Principal Pianist of the Delaware Symphony and has collaborated extensively in orchestral performances and recordings with Yo Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Midori, Leila Josefowicz, and Jean-Yves Thibaudet. 
MCNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE


Friday, March 18, 2016, at 1:15 p.m.

Russell Weismann, organ

The program includes works by J.S. Bach, Felix Mendelssohn, George Shearing, and John Cook. Acclaimed for his musicianship as an organist and conductor as well as for his academic pursuits in the field of Sacred Music, Russell Weismann serves as Dean of the American Guild of Organists’ chapter in the District of Columbia and has served on the national board. He is currently the Director of Music at St. Jane Frances de Chantal Parish in Bethesda, Maryland, and an Adjunct Professor of Music at George Mason University. Russell has been featured on American Public Media’s Pipedreams and was among a select few organists chosen to play a recital on the Rubenstein organ at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts during its inaugural year. 
DAHLGREN CHAPEL
FREE


Friday, April 1, 2016 at 1:15 p.m.

Harbert/Hamley Guitar duo

Ben Harbert (Los Angeles Electric 8) and Chris Hamley (Alarms and Controls, Circus Lupus) adapt 20th-century art music to electric guitars. The program includes “Mouvements Perpêtuels” by Francis Poulenc, “Les tierces alternees” by Claude Debussy, “Three Canons for Two Guitars” by Wayne Siegel, and “Guitar Phase” by Steve Reich. 

MCNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE


Friday, April 8, 2016, at 1:15 p.m.

Ralitza Patcheva, piano
Nikolai Popov, flute
Vasily Popov, cello

The program includes Carl Maria von Weber’s Trio for Flute, Piano, and Cello in G minor, Op. 63; Heitor Villa-Lobos’ Assobio a Jato (The Jet Whistle) for Flute and Cello, W 493; and fragments from Sergei Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet (arranged for flute, cello, and piano by the performers). Bulgarian pianist Ralitza Patcheva has presented recitals at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Phillips Collection, the Aldeburgh Festival in England, the Washington International Piano Series and Festival, as well as many of the concert halls in Italy, Germany, Russia, and the U.S. She is on the faculties of the Catholic University of America and Levine School of Music. She holds the Associate Chair of the Chamber Music Program at Levine Music. Ralitza is also the Associate Artistic Director of the Bulgarian Music Society in Washington DC.  Nikolai Popov has been the solo flutist of the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra in Moscow since 2012 and from 2002-2011, was the soloist of the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra. Russian cellist Vasily Popov was an associate principal cello with the Soloists of St. Petersburg chamber ensemble and cello section St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra and currently serves as the Levine School of Music’s associate chair of Chamber Music and artistic director and conductor of the Levine Chamber Orchestras. 

MCNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE


Friday, April 15, 2016, at 1:15 p.m.

Bernard Herrmann
Interplay: Part One
Part of the PostClassical Ensemble’s festival Bernard Herrmann: Screen, Stage, and Radio

This program includes a world-premiere reconstruction of the classic Norman Corwin/Bernard Herrmann radio play “Untitled,” with live actors and GU Orchestra conducted by Professor Angel Gil-Ordóñez. The event is part of a multi-day festival presented by PostClassical Ensemble in collaboration with the American Film Institute, the National Gallery of Art, & Georgetown University. A towering figure in 20th-century American music, Bernard Herrmann (1911-1975) is best known as an outstanding film composer (Citizen Kane, Vertigo, North by Northwest, etc.), but he was also America’s foremost radio composer, and conductor of a radio orchestra – William Paley’s CBS Symphony – that boldly promoted new and unfamiliar music. Part two of the event, also in Georgetown’s McNeir Hall, begins at 7:30 p.m.
MCNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE


Friday, April 22, 2016, at 1:15 p.m.

John Kamitsuka, piano

Praised in the New York Times as “a great communicator” whose playing is “fresh, crisp, fluent,” pianist John Kamitsuka performs regularly throughout the United States, South America, Europe and Japan.  He has played at prominent New York City venues such as Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, the 92nd Street Y, and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. This program features J.S. Bach’s monumental “Goldberg” Variations.
MCNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE