Performance at 2:00pm, repeated at 2:30pm. Please note that in
case of rain, the performance will move inside to the Shields
Library lobby, and will not be repeated at 2:30pm.
Program
The UC Davis Percussion Ensemble (Chris Froh, director) will
perform Jen Wang’s percussion quartet Renderings of Things We
Couldn’t Take Home (2009); this performance is coached by
graduate student composer Colin Minigan. The composer writes:
The primary sonic material of “Renderings” is bowed tremolo on
tam-tam (or other gong). Throughout the piece, the vibraphone
player chooses pitches that arise from the tremolos and plays
harmonies derived from those pitches, building a harmonic world
around starting pitches that will change from instrument to
instrument, performance to performance. I think of music as
often having a distinctive metabolism, an innate timing for
when musical events happen and how long listeners have to
absorb and make sense of them; “Renderings” arose because I
wanted to center the musical metabolism of the performers, and
create a loose framework within which performers have the
freedom and agency to explore sound in a way, and in a time,
that feels right for them.”
Free
Shields Library, One Shields Ave., UC Davis, Davis, CA
The Department of Music at UC Davis presents the Taproot
New Music Festival February 8–11, 2024, at the Ann E. Pitzer
Center at UC Davis.
Overview
The Taproot New Music Festival will take place on the campus
of the University of California, Davis, during the week of
February 5, 2024, and will culminate in performances at the end
of that week (February 8–11, 2024). Eight composers have been
chosen to participate in the festival: they’ll have new pieces
performed, and will participate in seminars and workshops
facilitated by the visiting artists and UC Davis composition
faculty. The festival will feature Splinter Reeds as a visiting
ensemble. UC Davis’s own Empyrean Ensemble will also join the
festival line-up.
Participating Composers
Dean Boursiquot
Stephen Ryan Jackson
Trey Makler
Kory Reeder
Phillip Sink
Shahrzad Talebi
Amber Vistein
Zoë Wallace
Featured Ensembles
Splinter
Reeds
Splinter Reeds is the West Coast’s first reed quintet, comprising
five innovative musicians with a shared passion for new music.
The ensemble is committed to presenting top tier performances of
today’s best contemporary composition, showcasing the vast
possibilities of the reed quintet, commissioning new works, and
collaborating with fellow musicians and artists.
Empyrean Ensemble
Sam Nichols, director
Prof. of Teaching, UC Davis Music Department
Matilda Hofman, conductor-in-residence
Continuing Lecturer, UC Davis Music Department
Ensemble-in-residence at UC Davis, the Empyrean Ensemble presents
engaging and eclectic programs, inviting audiences to experience
new musical sensations delivered with high artistry by its
extraordinary players—among the finest new music performers in
California.
Mission
The Taproot New Music Festival brings together a diverse group of
composers and performers, both local and visiting, and gives them
the chance to hear new work, and to make lasting connections. A
biennial festival at UC Davis, it features concerts and other
events, and also creates the opportunity for our students to work
alongside exceptional artists. Actively inclusive and
participatory, Taproot broadcasts a unique vision of how to
sustain a musical community.
