Hamilton College will host the Region 2 Conference of the Society of Composers (SCI) on Friday and Saturday, November 10-11. The SCI is a professional society dedicated to the promotion of composition, performance, understanding and dissemination of new and contemporary music. Members include composers and performers both in and outside of academia interested in addressing concerns for national and regional support for the creation of fresh music.
During the two-day conference there will be five concerts of new music. All concerts will be in Wellin Hall in the Schambach Center and are free of charge and open to the public.
The first concert, on Friday at 4 p.m. will be a concert of music created or performed with computers. Composers from Ithaca, Oneonta, Queens, NY, and Maine will be represented. Two of the works will include video projections, and one of these multi-media works will feature a live performance by student flutist Mary Beth Day '07 and student clarinetist Kara Novak '08.
The second concert, on Friday at 8 p.m. will include a work by Colgate composer Mark Volker for flute, played by Laura Campbell, and sounds generated by a computer that is listening and responding to the flutist. The program will also include several works performed by the Hamilton College Choir and the College Hill Singers, directed by Professor of Music G. Roberts Kolb.
One of these choral performances will be the world premiere of a new work by Professor of Music Samuel Pellman. This work, titled Kyrie, contrasts the prayerful singing of the choir with digitally manipulated clips of hate speech, including several utterances recorded on or shortly after 9/11/2001. The concert will also feature Hamilton College faculty performers Colleen Roberts Pellman, piano, and Florent Renard-Payen, cello. In addition to the Volker and Pellman compositions there will be music by composers from Brooklyn, New Jersey, and Philadelphia.
The third concert, on Saturday at 1:30 p.m., will feature chamber music performed by musicians from the Syracuse Society for New Music, including Hamilton College music faculty members Sar-Shalom Strong, piano, Vladimir Pritsker, violin, Linda Greene, flute, and others. Two of the works will be conducted by Assistant Professor of Music Heather Buchman. Composers from Ohio, Schenectady, Rochester, Buffalo, and Manhattan will be represented. One of the works will be a piano trio composed by Nikolas Allen, who grew up in Clinton and is now pursing graduate study of musical composition at Indiana University.
The fourth concert, on Saturday at 3:30 p.m., is also a concert of chamber music. Featured performers include the Clinton String Quartet and soprano Lauralyn Kolb, a member of the Hamilton College music faculty, with pianist Tina Toglia. A set of piano pieces on the program will be performed by Michael Simonelli '07 and Kyle Hung '10. Composers from Port Jefferson, Georgia, Forest Hills, Potsdam, and New Jersey will hear their works perfomed on this concert.
The final concert, on Saturday at 8 p.m., will include works by composers from Clinton, Oneonta, Brockport, Kingston, Saratoga Springs, and Tennessee. A new work, entitled "Saxsation," by Associate Professor of Music Michael E. ("Doctuh") Woods will be featured on the program and will be performed by Monk Rowe, a member of the Hamilton College music faculty, and Katie Berlent '08, Jennifer Orbaker '07, Leah Delany '08, and Grant Zubritsky '07. A troupe of dancers from the SUNY Brockport Department of Dance will perform in another work. Members of the Hamilton College Jazz Ensemble will be joined by the Saratoga Springs combo Jazzage for another performance. The concert will also include performances by the internationally-acclaimed violinist Rolf Schulte.
During the two-day conference there will be five concerts of new music. All concerts will be in Wellin Hall in the Schambach Center and are free of charge and open to the public.
The first concert, on Friday at 4 p.m. will be a concert of music created or performed with computers. Composers from Ithaca, Oneonta, Queens, NY, and Maine will be represented. Two of the works will include video projections, and one of these multi-media works will feature a live performance by student flutist Mary Beth Day '07 and student clarinetist Kara Novak '08.
The second concert, on Friday at 8 p.m. will include a work by Colgate composer Mark Volker for flute, played by Laura Campbell, and sounds generated by a computer that is listening and responding to the flutist. The program will also include several works performed by the Hamilton College Choir and the College Hill Singers, directed by Professor of Music G. Roberts Kolb.
One of these choral performances will be the world premiere of a new work by Professor of Music Samuel Pellman. This work, titled Kyrie, contrasts the prayerful singing of the choir with digitally manipulated clips of hate speech, including several utterances recorded on or shortly after 9/11/2001. The concert will also feature Hamilton College faculty performers Colleen Roberts Pellman, piano, and Florent Renard-Payen, cello. In addition to the Volker and Pellman compositions there will be music by composers from Brooklyn, New Jersey, and Philadelphia.
The third concert, on Saturday at 1:30 p.m., will feature chamber music performed by musicians from the Syracuse Society for New Music, including Hamilton College music faculty members Sar-Shalom Strong, piano, Vladimir Pritsker, violin, Linda Greene, flute, and others. Two of the works will be conducted by Assistant Professor of Music Heather Buchman. Composers from Ohio, Schenectady, Rochester, Buffalo, and Manhattan will be represented. One of the works will be a piano trio composed by Nikolas Allen, who grew up in Clinton and is now pursing graduate study of musical composition at Indiana University.
The fourth concert, on Saturday at 3:30 p.m., is also a concert of chamber music. Featured performers include the Clinton String Quartet and soprano Lauralyn Kolb, a member of the Hamilton College music faculty, with pianist Tina Toglia. A set of piano pieces on the program will be performed by Michael Simonelli '07 and Kyle Hung '10. Composers from Port Jefferson, Georgia, Forest Hills, Potsdam, and New Jersey will hear their works perfomed on this concert.
The final concert, on Saturday at 8 p.m., will include works by composers from Clinton, Oneonta, Brockport, Kingston, Saratoga Springs, and Tennessee. A new work, entitled "Saxsation," by Associate Professor of Music Michael E. ("Doctuh") Woods will be featured on the program and will be performed by Monk Rowe, a member of the Hamilton College music faculty, and Katie Berlent '08, Jennifer Orbaker '07, Leah Delany '08, and Grant Zubritsky '07. A troupe of dancers from the SUNY Brockport Department of Dance will perform in another work. Members of the Hamilton College Jazz Ensemble will be joined by the Saratoga Springs combo Jazzage for another performance. The concert will also include performances by the internationally-acclaimed violinist Rolf Schulte.
