Empyrean Ensemble
Empyrean Ensemble
Mika Pelo, director
UC Davis Professor of Music
Peter Josheff, bass clarinet
Hrabba Atladottir, violin
Honoring Larry Austin—
Austin: Threnos for Bass Clarinet and Electronics
Austin: Redux for Violin and Electronics
Larry Austin was a faculty member in the music department at UC Davis between 1958–72 during some formative years for the department. Austin was an award-winning composer who founded SOURCE: Music of the Avant Garde and gained widespread recognition through a televised performance and recording of his Improvisations for Orchestra and Jazz Soloists by the New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein. Austin was also very well connected and was friends with some of the most important composers in those days. For example, he invited Karlheinz Stockhausen to teach at Davis while on sabbatical. Larry Austin was a very original composer, avoiding the current trends of his day, writing truly unique music. Austin taught for many years at the University of Northern Texas and passed away in 2018.
Preview of Taproot New Music Festival Participating Composers—
Inga Chinilina: Sky Everyday for Bass Clarinet
Yuting Tan: Moon on Water for Violin
Two young composers have been invited to write pieces for the Empyrean Ensemble for the Taproot New Music Festival in 2020: Inga Chinilina and Yuting Tan. At this concert we will hear two older (already written) pieces by these talented composers.
Empyrean’s Peter Josheff—
Peter Josheff: September for Violin (Hrabba Atladottir)
Free (a Shinkoskey Noon Concert)