Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Music Anna Maria Busse Berger
was awarded the Edward A. Dickson Emeritus Award by the Emeriti
Association and Vice Provost of Academic Affairs, UC Davis. The
award will augment Busse Berger’s research project on music in
Moravian mission stations from 1732–1950.
There is important
information—particularly for first-year music students—to
read through regarding Music 6 (Theory) and Music 16
(Musicianship), including placement.
One of UC Davis’s highest priorities is the safety of its
students and all members of its community. UC Davis
prohibits all forms of sexual harassment and sexual violence,
including sexual assault, dating and domestic violence, and
stalking. Such conduct violates University policy and may
violate California law.
Professor Kurt Rohde—a musician who plays viola, teaches, and
composes—received a 2024 commission from the Serge
Koussevitzky Foundation in memory of Andrew W. Imbrie
(1921–2007) to write a new work for Brightwork New Music.
In 2023 Professor Mika Pelo was selected for a composer residency
by the Peterson-Berger Foundation at Sommarhagen, the home of
the late Swedish composer Wilhelm Peterson-Berger. As part of the
residency, Pelo composed a new
work, Akvareller (“Watercolors”).
Within the gold-tinged choirbooks of fifteenth-century Europe, a
bawdy song about genitalia is perhaps the last thing one might
expect to find. Yet L’ami Baudichon (“the
friend Baudichon”), whose text leaves little to the imagination,
shows up as the basis for an early mass by Josquin des Prez. The
song’s presence in sacred polyphony has long puzzled
musicologists. Whatever the song is doing in Josquin’s mass, it
also appears in other contexts: combinative songs, theater
pieces, poetry, and literature. This paper examines the song’s
varied uses in early French theater, focusing on its appearances
in a morality play about blasphemy and a ribald farce.
This paper examines the song’s varied uses in early French
theater, focusing on its appearances in a morality play about
blasphemy and a ribald farce. In “Les
Blasphemateurs,” L’ami Baudichon appears
alongside other popular tunes in a scene of transgressive
revelry, while in “Le Farce des Enfants de Borgneux,” it
functions as a euphemistic reference to sexual activity. These
theatrical appearances provide valuable context for understanding
how popular songs functioned in late-medieval culture,
particularly during a period when they began to play an
increasingly important role in polyphonic compositions. Turning a
spotlight on the non-musical sources for these tunes offers new
perspectives on the relationship between popular song, theatrical
performance, and transgressive speech in late-medieval France.
Andy McKee is among the world’s finest acoustic guitarists. His
youthful energy and attention to song structure and
melodic content elevates him above the rest. He entertains
both the eye and the ear as he magically transforms the steel
string guitar into a full orchestra via his use of altered
tunings, tapping, partial capos, percussive hits and a
signature two-handed technique.
Program
To be announced from the stage.
Free
This Shinkoskey Noon Concert is made possible with support
from the Joy S. Shinkoskey Series of Noon Concert Endowment.
UC Davis Symphony Orchestra
Christian Baldini, music director and conductor
San Francisco Opera Center
Carrie-Ann Matheson, artistic director
Since its inception in 2010, Rising Stars of Opera has featured
vocal artistry, stirring arias and a glimpse at the opera stars
of tomorrow; and every ticket has been free to the public
thanks to Barbara K. Jackson.
Rising Stars of Opera features several singers from the highly
regarded San Francisco Opera Center performing a wide range of
great arias with full orchestral accompaniment from our own UC
Davis Symphony Orchestra.
Empyrean Ensemble
Sam Nichols, director • Matilda Hofman, resident conductor
Musicians Playing
Tod Brody, flute*
Peter Josheff, clarinet*
Michael Seth Orland, piano*
Chris Froh, percussion*
Hrabba Atladottir, violin*
Thalia Moore, cello*
