Alumnus Gabriel José Bolaños (Ph.D., composition, ‘15) is
the recipient of the 2022 Suzanne and Lee Ettelson
Composer’s Award for his work nosotros hemos puesto los
muertos for bass flute, violin, cello, and double
bass.
The UC Davis Symphony Orchestra will premiere two works,
including one responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and a
much-loved symphony by Antonín Dvořák for its concert on March 5.
The concert takes place at 7 p.m. at the Robert and Margrit
Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.
Pierpaolo Polzonetti, Jan and Beta Popper Professor of Music, has
been receiving media attention for his new book Feasting
and Fasting in Opera: From Renaissance Banquets to the
Callas Diet (University of Chicago Press, 2021). Recently he
discussed the book on BBC Radio’s “Music Matters: Art centres,
Giovanni Antonini, Opera and Food.”
Tiara Abraham, 16, a senior at UC Davis, majoring in vocal
performance at the Department of Music, has received a 2022
YoungArts award in Classical
Voice.
The Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA) has announced that
alumna Angelica
Cortez (B.A., music, ‘12) has been named executive
director of the organization.
An excerpt called “Gaia|Gyre|Siren” from Newtown Odyssey,
the site-specific opera composed by Professor Kurt Rohde,
was recently performed. In conjunction with the performance,
Rohde and his collaborators were interviewed
for Urban
Omnibus, a publication of the Architectural League of
New York.
Ryan Suleiman (PhD, composition, ‘20) has
joined the faculty at Boston’s Berklee College of Music. As
part-time assistant professor in the composition department,
he will be teaching classes on harmony and counterpoint.
UC Davis music faculty, lecturers, and graduate composer
alumni will participate in this year’s virtual Festival
of New American Music, taking place at Sacramento State
University’s School of Music, Nov. 7–14.
Laura Rose Schwartz (B.A., music, ‘13) will have a new work,
Figment, performed by the Camellia Symphony Orchestra on
Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m. in Sacramento. Conducted by Christian
Baldini, UC Davis professor of music and music director and
conductor of the Camellia Symphony Orchestra, Schwartz’s
composition was commissioned by the orchestra.
Pierpaolo Polzonetti, the Jan and
Beta Popper Professor of Music at UC Davis, has published a new
book, Feasting
and Fasting in Opera: From Renaissance Banquets to the Callas
Diet, with the University of Chicago
Press. Feasting and Fasting in Opera moves
chronologically from around 1480 to the middle of the nineteenth
century, when [Richard] Wagner’s operatic reforms banished
refreshments during the performance and mandated a darkened
auditorium
Juan Diego Díaz, assistant professor of music, will discuss his
book Africanness in Action: Essentialism and Musical
Imaginations of Africa in Brazil as part of the series
Conversations
with Latin American Authors. The event will be livestreamed
on Nov. 11 at 3:30 p.m.
Professor Laurie San Martin’s Zepplin will
have its New York premiere on October 27 at the National Opera
Center in Manhattan. The performance will be performed live as
well as livestreamed beginning at 7:30 p.m. (EST)/4:30 p.m (PST).
For live stream access, visit the National Opera
Center YouTube Channel.
Professor Christian Baldini, music director and conductor of the
UC Davis Symphony Orchestra, conducts the Camellia Symphony
Orchestra on Sept. 25. The program is titled “Endless Melodies”
and features Se fue Mendoza, a new work by Juan
Diego Díaz, assistant professor of music.
The editors of Solar Journal recently interviewed
Professor Kurt Rohde who discussed his collaborative project with
artist Marie Lorenz and writer Dana Spiotta. Their new
piece, Newtown Odyssey, a floating opera on the
Newtown Creek, addresses environmental catastrophe and justice.
“Songs of Dionysus, for Two Horns and Electronics,” a world
premiere by graduate student in composition Aida Shirazi, will be performed by
InterMusic SF grant recipient, Medius Terra Horn Duo on
Sept. 19 at Central Stage in Richmond. The performance
begins at 4 p.m.
UC Davis alumna Jessica
Bejarano (M.A., music, ‘08) recently was elected as a
board member of the Association of California Symphony Orchestras
(ACSO) for a three-year term.
Commissioned works for string quartets by Professor Kurt
Rohde and lecturer and alum Christopher Castro (PhD, composition,
‘18) have been awarded grants by the Chamber
Music America (CMA) Classical
Commissioning program. The grants
support professional U.S.-based ensembles and presenters for
the creation and performance of classical contemporary chamber
works by American composers.
The renowned conductor Michael Morgan has died
at the age of 63 from complications arising from a kidney
transplant a few short months ago. Maestro Morgan guest conducted
the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra several times, the most recent of
which was a concert featuring Saint-Saëns’s “Organ” Symphony in
2018.
