Eric Owens Appointed Distinguished Visiting Artist
The acclaimed bass-baritone and opera star
Eric Owens will take on a new role in 2016-17 - that of distinguished visiting artist at the Peabody Conservatory. Critically acclaimed as "one of the greatest bass-baritones in the world" (
Bloomberg News) and "an American marvel" (
Chicago Sun Times), Mr. Owens will coach voice students and lead master classes over the course of multiple visits that includes 10 days on campus during the year. Currently the Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence for the New York Philharmonic, Mr. Owens has established a reputation as an esteemed interpreter of classic works and a champion of new music, equally at home in orchestral, recital, and operatic repertoire.
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FROM THE DEAN
You have heard me talk often about the Four Pillars driving Peabody's strategic agenda
: Excellence, Interdisciplinary Experiences, Innovation
, and Community Connectivity. These areas form the core of Peabody's work now and in the future. To focus for the moment on
excellence, most important in that equation is outstanding faculty and students,
and ensuring that we have an environment in which talent can flourish.
In just the past year, we've seen the appointment of Marin Alsop as director of graduate conducting at Peabody,
and the very recent announcements of renowned violinist Midori as well as
bass-
baritone Eric Owens, now one of the leading singers of his generation (and the lead feature of this edition of Peabody Notes), as distinguished visiting artists for the 2016-17 season. These appointments all paint a picture of
our commitment to excellence here at Peabody.
One further demonstration of this commitment is the acoustic refurbishing of
Miriam A. Friedberg
Concert Hall - entering its 15
0th year - in order to improve the on-stage experience of our performers as well as the listening experience for audiences. The project features in its first phase an expansion of the stage to be undertaken this summer under the direction of renowned acoustician Lawrence Kirkegaard, thanks to the generosity of a $500,000 gift from the France-Merrick Foundation.
More on all of this to come. For now, I hope you have a great summer!
Fred Bronstein, Dean
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ON STAGE / OFF CAMPUS
Ronaldo Rolim (BM '10, MM '11, AD '13, Piano) will perform works by Guarnieri, Chopin, Granados, and Villa-Lobos at the residence of the Brazilian ambassador in Washington, D.C., as part of The Embassy Series.
Several Peabody computer music students and alumni will have works featured on the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, as part of the New York Philharmonic's biennial, at National Sawdust in Brooklyn on June 5-7 and at the Abrons Arts Center on June 13-19. Featured works include QfefQ by Margaret Schedel (MM '01, Computer Music); IDB by master's student Tuo Wang; River by Wuan-chin Li (MM '99, Electronic/Computer Music), master's student Yi-an Huang, and Cheng-yen Yang; Innerhearing by master's student Weilu Ge; Carillon by Rob Hamilton (MM '04, Computer Music); Tres Gritos Para Mi Patria by Joshua Armenta (MM '14, Composition; MM '15, Computer Music) - performed by GPD student Eric Maul (BM '13, Flute); and The Laws of Nature by master's student Ian Clarke.
Eric Sweeney (MM '13, Voice) and Light Opera of New York will present "Kurt Weill on Broadway," featuring Michael Maliakel ('12, Voice) and singer Mary Testa at Feinstein's/54 Below in New York. The event features explorations of Weill's music, including Threepenny Opera, Lady in the Dark, Street Scene, and One Touch of Venus.
Wednesday, June 8, 7:00 pm
The Aspen Music Festival will premiere
bang Z by Thomas Kotcheff (
BM '10, Composition, Piano) at the
Whitney Museum of American Art's Susan and John Hess Theatre in New York. The program also features New York premieres of works by Stephen Stucky, Stephen Hartke, Nina Young, Christopher Stark, and Esa-Pekka Salonen performed by Aspen Music Festival and School's Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, tenor Spencer Lang, and conductor Timothy Weiss.
The Youngs and the Restless - a guitar quartet comprised of DMA candidate Nathan Cornelius, master's student Young Ik Jang, Young Jun Lim (
BM '16, Guitar), and Eric Meier (
BM '16, Guitar) - won the Guitar Foundation of America 2016 Guitar Ensemble Showcase Competition in the "University Small Ensemble" category. The winning quartet, directed by
Serap Bastepe-Gray (BM '96, MM '99, Guitar), will perform during the 2016 GFA Convention and Competition at Metropolitan State University in Denver, Colorado.
Peabody Events highlights select off-campus or live-streamed performances featuring Peabody performers. For other events, please visit our Peabody Institute Concerts Facebook page. For the complete weekly list of concerts at Peabody, subscribe to Events at Peabody at peabody.jhu.edu/news.
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ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENTS
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Michael Angelucci (
BM '03, MM '06, Piano) has won first prize in the 2016 Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition. Mr. Angelucci was selected as a winner from over 300 applicants in the college/professional division and was featured alongside fellow laureates in a recital at Carnegie-Weill Hall on May 22. This follows Mr. Angelucci's first place award in The American Prize competition last fall.
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Jenny Beck (
BM '08, Composition) has been chosen as one of six fellows to participate in the Copland House's CULTIVATE, its annual emerging composers institute. CULTIVATE, an all-scholarship intensive creative workshop and mentoring program, will take place June 6 through 12 at Aaron Copland's National Historic Landmark home in Cortlandt Manor, N.Y., and at the Merestead estate in nearby Mount Kisco. The six fellows will each create a new composition to be performed by the Music from Copland House ensemble on Sunday, June 12, on Copland House's mainstage performance series at Merestead.
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Zhangyi Chen (
MM '11, DMA '15, Composition; MM '15, Music Theory Pedagogy) had a premiere of his
Ethereal Symphony on May 24 in Berlin with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. The work was commissioned by the SSO for its five-city European tour. Mr. Chen was featured in a story by Singapore's
The Straits Times.
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Tristan Lane Clarke (
'12, Trumpet) won the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra's principal trumpet position. He currently holds the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra's second trumpet position. Mr. Clarke studied with Joe Burgstaller and Edward Hoffman.
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Ismar Gomes (
BM '09, MM '11 Cello) won a section cello position with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. Currently, Mr. Gomes is participating as a fellow with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, performs regularly with his duo, and is a regular substitute with many orchestras.
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RECENT RECORDINGS
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Naxos Records released a new CD in May featuring Rosemary Tuck (MM '86, Piano) performing with the English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Richard Bonynge. The CD features Carl Czerny's Grand Concerto in A minor, Grand Nocturne Brilliant, and Variations de Concert de l'Opera Le Siege de Corinthe. It was in the UK Specialist Classical Music Charts top 20 for the week of May 9.
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Devin Gray (
BM '06, Jazz Percussion) released a new CD,
Fashionable Pop Music, with Ryan Ferreira, Jonathan Goldberger, and Chris Tordini. Mr. Gray's band Dirigo Rataplan, comprised of Ellery Eskelin, tenor saxophone; Dave Ballou, trumpets; and faculty artist Michael Formanek, bass, has announced an
IBeam Brooklyn concert residency with concerts on June 17 and 18 and are preparing to record their second album together.
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Sunshine and Sorrow
Sunshine and Sorrow
: a new CD with music, words, piano, and direction by Chesley Kahmann ('58, Composition), was published by Orbiting Clef Productions, Inc. in May 2016, featuring 12 songs sung by The Interludes, Ms. Kahmann's long-time singing group with her son, Ames Parsons, on trumpet.
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