NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL in full swing!

Today is day three of the New Music Festival. The first two days of the festival have been terrific. On Wednesday, we were bombarded with percussionists beginning with guest artist Russell Hartenberger's percussion masterclass in the morning. The stage was freezing cold but the students still played very well and Russell's insight into the pieces and performing techniques was fascinating. He spent the rest of the day giving lessons to our students. Wednesday evening was the first concert and we had a record festival attendance. Russell introduced works by Steve Reich and John Cage. We heard fascinating stories about his role in the creation of the seminal Reich works Six Pianos/Marimbas and Music for Pieces of Wood. The students performed very well - great kick off to the festival.

I was pleased to see so many students and faculty at my lecture on "Metrical Processes in Rock Music" yesterday and I'm looking forward to Russell's lecture today. Last night's concert was another success. The faculty, students, and ensembles performed very well and we were treated to a wide variety of music from Prokofiev's 7th Sonata performed by Ron Tomarelli to Ives' "The Unanswered Question" to a very interesting piece for vibes, marimba, and darabuka by Ken Shorley. And the stage was nice and warm!

Tonight's concert looks very exciting with many of our faculty and guest performers taking the stage to perform works by Ferneyhough, Messiaen, Adams (John and John Luther), and faculty composer Derek Charke among others.

Check out the website for complete information about the festival.