Eight composers from as close as Davis and as far away as Ankara,
Turkey have been invited to participate in the Taproot New Music Festival at UC Davis from Jan.
30 to Feb. 2. These composers will have their works
premiered by Quince Ensemble, Spektral Quartet, and the UC
Davis Empyrean Ensemble. Taproot grew out of a
composers workshop and performance festival started in 2010 and
held every two years. The goal of the festival is to bring
together a diverse group of composers to nurture musical and
professional development and relationships.
One of the most important priorities of the music department
today is establishing a fund to cover the otherwise out-of-pocket
expenses for individual music lesson instruction for UC Davis
students. These students gain necessary one-on-one instruction
from a career professional in their field and use those skills in
individual and group performances—including the UC Davis Symphony
Orchestra, Choruses, Percussion Ensemble, Baroque, Early Music,
and more. We seek everyone’s support in this endeavor.
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.
A collaboration between writer Cristina Fríes—alumna of UC
Davis’s Creative Writing program—and current doctoral candidate
in UC Davis’s music composition program will premiere Bones
of Girls in Sacramento January 24–25.
New Taproot music festival offers a lineup of new music groups
and commissioned works over four days. “The festival is
rooted in this place and produces unique works,” said Sam Nichols, festival coordinator, composer and
music department faculty member. “The different groups and people
come together and meet one another and share. We didn’t just want
groups parachuting in and performing what they might perform
elsewhere and then leave.”
Music major Matthew Rasmussen ‘20 will play the Weber
Bassoon Concerto with the Solano Symphony
Orchestra. He is one of three winners of the orchestra’s
2019 Young Artist’s Competition. Matthew is the
principal bassoonist in the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra and
studies with UC Davis Lecturer in Music David Granger.
New Taproot music festival offers a lineup of new music groups
and commissioned works over four days. “The festival is
rooted in this place and produces unique works,” said Sam Nichols, festival coordinator, composer and
music department faculty member. “The different groups and people
come together and meet one another and share. We didn’t just want
groups parachuting in and performing what they might perform
elsewhere and then leave.”
Christian Baldini, music director and
conductor
UC Davis Professor of Music
Ravel:Pavane pour une infante
défunte
The haegeum is a two-stringed fiddle
of Korea. The physical nature of the haegeum allows it to
produce a diverse variety of timbres making it a popular
instrument for court, folk, and contemporary music. It is even
being used in Korean pop music.
Jean Ahn:The Woven Silk for
Haegeum and Orchestra
with Soo Yeon Lyuh
Christian Baldini:Unequal
Freedom, an Exploratory Concerto for Haegeum,
Electronics, and Orchestra
with Soo Yeon Lyuh
Premiere
Lisa Coons:The Space Between
(2019)
with director and choreographer Mark DeChiazza
(West Coast Premiere; second performance of the work)
Composer Lisa Coons uses her own experience of social silencing
as a springboard for The Space Between, a fully staged,
choreographed work for Spektral Quartet that unravels the social
hierarchies of human interaction, and ultimately, invites
musicians to explore the roots and motives of communication
through the spectacle of music and theatre. Choreographed by
director and designer Mark DeChiazza, the work is seamlessly
interwoven in a style unique to Coons, and organically mixes
moments of improvisation with written material: a musical gesture
might be the start of a conversation between musicians that is
mirrored through physical movement. Or, a physical movement might
disrupt, provoke, or engage the music of another player. The
simple act of watching the violist of a string quartet cradle the
head of the cellist, or of one violinist muting the performance
of their fellow violinist is also shocking, and through the
unexpected drama created by physical interaction, Coons and
DeChiazza compel both the performers and the audience to consider
the ways in which we navigate communication, conflict, and
connection.
Steve Reich’sMusic for 18 Musicians
(1974–76)
with members of the Empyrean Ensemble
Hrabba Atladottir, violin
Michael Seth Orland, piano Hannah Addario-Berry,
cello
voices of the Quince Ensemble,
Liz Pearse | Kayleigh Butcher
Amanda DeBoer Bartlett | Carrie Henneman Shaw
UC Davis Lecturer in Music Chris Froh and
undergraduate percussion students,
marimbas, xylophones, and vibraphones,
UC Davis Lecturer in Music I-Hui Chen, piano,
with two
to-be-announced pianists,
UC Davis Lecturer in Music Ann
Lavin, clarinetist,
UC Davis Graduate Student in Music Joseph Vasinda,
clarinetist,
and Stephen Bingen,
audio engineer
