Friday Music Series fall 2014

The Georgetown University Music Program’s Friday Music Series features acclaimed artists in free concerts on select Fridays at 1:15 p.m. in McNeir Hall.* (*unless otherwise indicated).
 


Friday, September 19, 2014 at 1:15 p.m.

Emma Boone, soprano
Zoe Novak, alto
Kelsey Kolasa, alto
Luke Schafer, tenor
Risa Browder, violin
Amy Domingues, cello
Jinsun Cho, harpsichord

Music as Cultural Mission: Explorations of Jesuit Practices

CO-PRESENTED WITH GU LIBRARY ASSOCIATES AND THE SPECIAL COLLECTIONS RESEARCH CENTER

The annual collaboration with Lauinger Library Special Collections will feature the presentation of the recently published volume Music as Cultural Mission: Explorations of Jesuit Practices in Italy and North America (St. Joseph University Press, 2014), co-edited by Professors Anna Harwell Celenza and Anthony DelDonna. The concert features music created in the environs of the Society of Jesus from 18th-century Naples and our own Georgetown University, including selections from Nicolo Ceva, Trionfo per l’Assunzione della Santissima Vergine (1705). 

McNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE


Friday, September 26, 2014 at 1:15 p.m.

Gamelan Raga Kusuma

The music program welcomes to the Hilltop the Gamelan Raga Kusuma from the University of Richmond and directed by Professor Andrew McGraw. The ensemble has worked with Balinese master artists, including I Gusti Putu Sudarta, I Madé Sidia, I Nyoman Saptanyana, Ida Ayu Candrawati and I Nyoman Suadin, among others. The ensemble includes bronze gongs, chimes, cymbals, metallophones, drums, fiddles and flutes and its seven-tone gamelan semara dana was made by Pande Madé Sukerta in 2005 and includes intricately carved teak cases illustrating the Hindu Ramayana epic. 

McNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE


Friday, October 3, 2014 at 1:15 p.m.

C Street Brass

The C Street Brass hails from Pittsburgh and is currently the ensemble in residence in the music program at Carnegie Mellon University. C Street Brass connects lovers of the arts from all walks of life around a unique and innovative concert experience. The group prides itself on being equally as comfortable in the sound world of baroque music as it is in dubstep. Through constant performance focused on discovery and growth, C Street Brass continues to expand the limits of what is possible with five brass instruments. 

McNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE


Friday, October 17, 2014 at 1:15 p.m.

Charles West, clarinet
Yin Zheng, piano

Yin Zheng is currently Assistant Professor of Piano and Keyboard Area Coordinator at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, and enjoys a vibrant career of performing and teaching. Her playing has been described as “an astonishing torrent of images, passages, and themes, amazing the audience with an unbelievable technical precision that was balanced by delicate melodic and dynamic nuances.” Charles West is an orchestral, chamber, and solo clarinetist and conductor performing throughout the United States, Europe, Latin America, Asia and Australia. Dr. West is presently Professor of Music and Coordinator of Winds & Percussion at Virginia Commonwealth University, and Artist-Clinician for the Buffet Crampon Corporation. 

McNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE


Friday, October 24, 2014 at 1:15 p.m.

Nadia Shpachenko-Gottesman, piano

Pianist Nadia Shpachenko-Gottesman has performed extensively in solo recitals and with orchestras in major venues across North America, Europe and Asia. She has been described by critics as a “truly inspiring and brilliant pianist…spellbinding in sensitivity and mastery of technique.” An enthusiastic promoter of contemporary music, she has given world and national premieres of dozens of piano, string piano and toy piano works by composers such as Elliott Carter, Henry Cowell, George Crumb, Tom Flaherty, Yury Ishchenko, Leon Kirchner, Dave Kopplin, James Matheson, Adam Schoenberg, Iannis Xenakis, Peter Yates, and others. 

McNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE


Friday, October 31, 2014 at 1:15 p.m.

Erin Driscoll, soprano

The Songs of Harold Arlen
Soprano Erin Driscoll makes her debut on the Friday Music Concert Series with the acclaimed cabaret, Erin Driscoll: Get Happy! The Songs of Harold Arlen. The program will feature the music of Arlen, who has been called one of the greatest American composers of the 20th Century. His compositions include the score for the 1939 classic film The Wizard of Oz as well as other well-known hits including “Let’s Fall in Love,” “It’s Only a Paper Moon,” and “Get Happy.” 

McNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE


Friday, November 7, 2014 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. 

DAHLGREN CHAPEL
FREE


Friday, November 14, 2014 at 1:15 p.m.

Big Chimney

Big Chimney is a modern string band based in the Washington Metropolitan area that draws on the musical traditions of rock, pop, and old-time music. The Georgetown University Music Program’s Friday Music Series features acclaimed artists in free concerts on Fridays at 1:15 p.m., on Georgetown’s main campus.

McNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE


Friday, November 21, 2014 at 1:15 p.m.

Richard Giarusso, baritone
Lura Johnson, piano

Music of fin-de-siecle Vienna
Pianist Lura Johnson has established herself as one of the Mid Atlantic’s most prominent ensemble pianists. Hailed as “brilliant” by the Washington Post, Ms. Johnson is celebrated for her passionate and insightful interpretations of the standard repertoire, and esteemed by colleagues for her uncommon sensitivity and skill as a collaborative partner. Richard Giarusso is a versatile musician with practical and scholarly experience in a wide range of repertoire. He currently serves on the musicology faculty at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. Dr. Giarusso maintains an active career as a singer and conductor throughout the Northeast. Their program will feature vocal and solo piano literature from turn-of-the-century Vienna, and is offered in conjunction with the PostClassical Ensemble’s 2014 Mahler Festival. 

McNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE


Friday, December 5, 2014 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

 

Past Performances