Written by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini later in his career, Gianni Schicchi is one of three one-act operas featured in Puccini's Il Trittico and was the only comedy he ever wrote.
The broad comedy is based on a greedy family trying to gain the assets of their dead relative, Buoso Donati, in mid-13th Century Florence. A local con artist, Gianni Schicchi, is solicited by the family to help secure their inheritance by making a new will. Schicchi’s daughter, Lauretta, wishes to marry Buoso’s nephew Rinuccio, but without a dowry the family will not allow such union. Through his own cunning, Gianni Schicchi turns the con into an advantage securing the majority of wealth for himself and a dowry for his daughter.
The one-act format is a delightful character study of Buoso Donati's family in their desperate and comical dealings with his death. Also featuring the familiar aria O mio babbino caro ("Oh my dear daddy"), sung by Schicchi's daughter Lauretta. This performance will be performed in English to best captivate the situational humor.
Admission to the production is $12, $11 for students with a valid MavCARD. Discount tickets are available online for University students. Advance purchase is strongly encouraged. Those who wish to purchase tickets online should go to www.mnsu.edu/music.
For more information, call the Performance Series office, (507) 389-5549. Those with a disability who need a reasonable accommodation may call (507) 389-2077 or 711 (MRS/TTY).
The University Orchestra provides a laboratory for the study of orchestral playing and a practical introduction to orchestral literature. Membership is open to university students regardless of their major. The ensemble is under the direction of Dr. Joseph Rodgers and performs music by varying composers written for both orchestra and chamber ensembles. Concert admission is $9; $7 for students with a valid MavCARD. Discount tickets are available online for University students. Advance purchase is strongly encouraged. Those who wish to purchase tickets online should go to www.mnsu.edu/music. For more information, call the Performance Series office, (507) 389-5549.
The focus of the big band ensembles is to provide students with experience in a jazz ensemble along with several performance opportunities. The jazz literature performed in the ensemble ranges from classic jazz charts to contemporary jazz. Auditions for the Jazz Mavericks are held at the beginning of each semester.
This big band concert can be characterized as a jazz/pop theme. The focus of this concert is on performing a wide variety of popular pieces and providing an opportunity for several students to solo.
Tunes programmed for the concert include Celtic Aire, by Fred Sturm, which combines a traditional Irish dance known as a Schottische with contemporary rock rhythms; Ran Kan Kan, a mambo composed by Tito Puente; Weather Report’s Birdland, a classic jazz fusion/rock piece; Soul Bagel, a gospel-flavored piece featuring music performance major Garrett Steinberg on trombone, and Sway, a popular piece by Michael Buble.
Concert admission is $9; $7 for students with a valid MavCARD. Discount tickets are available online for University students. Advance purchase is strongly encouraged. Those who wish to purchase tickets online should go to www.mnsu.edu/music. For more information, call the Performance Series office, (507) 389-5549.
The University Concert Bands consists of the Symphonic Band and the Concert Wind Ensemble, which are composed of university students, staff, and community members. Amy Roisum Foley directs both of these ensembles. In addition, Mrs. Dawn Punke, master's student, will be conducting both ensembles.
The Symphonic Band and Concert Wind Ensemble will be performing a concert titled Mostly Minnesota. The program is comprised of a diverse range of musical styles all closely linked to the state of Minnesota. Shelley Hanson will be featured as guest composer and conductor on three of her own works. The evening concert will present some of Minnesota’s best wind band music.
The Concert Wind Ensemble will feature guest artist Dr. Douglas Snapp on the wind band premier of Dean Sorensen’s Jazz Classics Medley and dancer, Kirsten Malcolm, on Dr. Timothy Mahr’s Scenes from a Life Danced.
Concert admission is $9; $7 for students with a valid MavCARD. Discount tickets are available online for University students. Advance purchase is strongly encouraged. Those who wish to purchase tickets online should go to www.mnsu.edu/music. For more information, call the Performance Series office, (507) 389-5549.
The Chamber Groups will perform on Monday, April 15, 2013 at 7:30 pm in the Elias J. Halling Recital Hall of the Earley Center for Performing Arts, 320 Maywood Ave.
A Little Chamber Music features college musicians in small ensembles featuring a wide range of musical styles and instruments.
Concert admission is $9; $7 for students with a valid MavCARD. Discount tickets are available online for University students. Advance purchase is strongly encouraged. Those who wish to purchase tickets online should go to www.mnsu.edu/music. For more information, call the Performance Series office, (507) 389-5549.
The formation of BeauSoleil, one of the best known and most highly respected Cajun bands in the world, is due to fiddler Michael Doucet's desire to keep the unique Southern Louisiana culture and music from extinction. But while BeauSoleil originated to help preserve his Cajun musical heritage, over the years it has also been known for its innovation. They are continually adding spice from other musical genres including jazz and Caribbean. In this way, BeauSoleil keeps the music vital and contemporary.
Beausoleil has won two Grammy Awards in the Zydeco/Cajun Music Album category as well as garnering ten additional Grammy nominations in that classification. Leader Michael Doucet was awarded the 2007 United States Artists Fellowship and 2005 National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts. The National awards recognize artistic excellence, cultural authenticity and an artist's contributions in the area of U.S. folk and traditional arts. Doucet was named a 2007 USA Collins Family Foundation Fellow and awarded a $50,000 grant by United States Artists, a public charity that supports and promotes the work of American artists.
Beausoleil is one of the most frequent guests on National Public Radio's legendary program, A Prairie Home Companion. Beausoleil performed during the halftime show at Super Bowl XXX in New Orleans. Festival performances include the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival; Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Washington DC; Voodoo Fest, New Orleans; Merlefest, NC; Houston International Festival; TD Canada Trust Toronto Jazz Festival; On The Waterfront Festival, IL; Narrows Festival of The Arts, MA; Chandler Jazz Festival, AZ and many more.
Concert admission is $25 in advance. Advance sales end on Tuesday, February 5 at 12:00 noon. Tickets are $30 after this time and date. Advance purchase is strongly encouraged. Those who wish to purchase tickets online should go to www.mnsu.edu/music. For more information, contact (507) 389-5549.
Tracy Silverman is considered one of the foremost electric violinists of our time. Silverman has a trademark sound, which is instantly recognizable. Lauded by the BBC as “the greatest living exponent of the electric violin,” Juilliard graduate Tracy Silverman has redefined the instrument with his instantly recognizable trademark sound with hints of Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Paige.
His groundbreaking work with the 6-string electric violin has forever transformed violin playing, utilizing looping techniques and an array of effect pedals.
Silverman was first violinist with the Turtle Island String Quartet for four years and has been featured as a violinist and record producer on CBS News Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood. He produced and appears on Jim Brickman 's hit "Simple Things" and "Lovesongs and Lullabies" CDs and on 2 of Jim's popular TV Specials. An international touring artist, in 1999 he was awarded Artist in Residence status by the city of Hamburg, Germany and is a frequent concert attraction in Brazil.
The Rhein Zeitung wrote "...technically brilliant to the fingertips, but overthrowing all the usual preconceived ideas". "Silverman is a fine, expressive player," said the London Guardian. The NY Times raved, "fleet agility and tangy expressivity, with wailing hints of Jimi Hendrix", the LA Times reported, "He was in constant melodic flow. Silverman is in a class of his own," and the Dallas Morning News said, "Tracy Silverman played as if he believed in every note." "Piercing and poignant" according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Concert admission is $12; $11 for students with a valid MavCARD. Discount tickets are available online for University students. Advance purchase is strongly encouraged. Those who wish to purchase tickets online should go to www.mnsu.edu/music. For more information, call the Performance Series office, (507) 389-5549.
The recital will be performed in Halling Recital Hall of the Earley Center for Performing Arts. Preston Duncan will be accompanied by pianist Ann DuHamel.
Dr. Preston Duncan regularly performs as orchestral member with The Minnesota Orchestra. Duncan has appeared as soloist on two Indianapolis Pops concerts with composer Marvin Hamlisch and performed as instrumental soloist with the Indianapolis Symphony for the Ameritech Yuletide Celebration.
A Yamaha Young Performing Artist, he has appeared as soloist in Paris, Berlin, Austria, Los Angeles, Chicago, Nashville, Boston, Costa Rica, and Taiwan. He has appeared as Concerto Soloist with La Grande Orchestre des Alpes de la Mer of Nice, the Muncie Symphony Orchestra, the Bowling Green State University Philharmonic, and the 98th Army Band stationed in Fort Rucker, Alabama.
Admission to the recital is $9, $7 for students with a valid MavCARD. Discount tickets are available online for University students. Advance purchase is strongly encouraged. Those who wish to purchase tickets online should go to www.mnsu.edu/music.
For more information, call the Performance Series office, (507) 389-5549. Those with a disability who need a reasonable accommodation may call (507) 389-2077 or 711 (MRS/TTY).
The Engelbert Humperdinck opera, based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, will be performed in Halling Recital Hall of the Earley Center for Performing Arts.
Sung in English and based on the Grimm fairy tale, this production focuses on what happens when reality and fantasy become entwined. The abusive stepmother, Gertrude forces Hansel and Gretel to beg on the street while their father is far away working to support the family. Fearing another beating from Gertrude they run away farther than ever before and get lost. As evening sets in they envision the story of a witch who lures children to her home with candy only to be turned into gingerbread cookies.
Admission to the production is $9, $7 for students with a valid MavCARD. Discount tickets are available online for University students. Advance purchase is strongly encouraged. Those who wish to purchase tickets online should go to www.mnsu.edu/music.
For more information, call the Performance Series office, (507) 389-5549. Those with a disability who need a reasonable accommodation may call (507) 389-2077 or 711 (MRS/TTY).
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