In the spirit of armchair travelers everywhere, the Voyager Ensemble explores a new culture each year by combining standard repertoire along with contemporary works by composers from the region. This year’s concert focuses on Puerto Rico with directors Airi Yoshioka (violin) and David Yang (viola) joined by eminent Puerto Rican musicians José Miguel Cueto (violin) and Kelvin Diaz Inoa (cello).
Join us for Infinite Transformations, a multimedia, transdisciplinary installation presented in conjunction with performances by Baltimore Dance Project on February 9 and 10. Conceived by Foad Hamidi (assistant professor of information systems) and Linda Dusman (professor of music) and created as part of an Imaging Research Center (IRC) Faculty Fellowship, the project brings together the fields of bio art, audio design, and visualizations, with a creative team involving Lee Boot, Ryan Zuber, and Alan Wonneberger, and with choreography by Carol Hess.
The Annual Daphne Harrison Lecture, part of the Spring 2024 Humanities Forum, features Naomi André, who will speak on Opera’s New Realism: Expanding Narratives and Representation. As opera begins to cater to more diverse audiences, performances today frequently embrace a broader mission that engages social justice in the movements around #MeToo, Queer and Trans spectrums, and Black Lives Matter. The event will also feature the UMBC Jubilee Singers under the direction of Janice Jackson.
Explore a mix of classical, contemporary, jazz, and tango works of huge emotional breadth written for clarinet, horn, and bassoon. Performers include UMBC clarinet professor Natalie Groom and guest collaborators Kat Robinson (horn) and Qun Ren (bassoon). Hear world premieres and commissions designed as “flex” chamber music (chamber music that can be played by many combinations of instruments) and crafted with meaningful messages.
Join us for a special performance of choro, Brazil’s first native music, featuring musicians Pablo Regis (cavaquinho), Felipe Garibaldi (guitar), Andy Connell (saxophone & clarinet), and André Coelho (percussion). Choro is the foundation of globally popular Brazilian music genres like bossa nova, samba, Brazilian jazz, and more. The performance will focus on repertoire from Brazilian musical traditions alongside contemporary innovations by some of Brazil’s most renowned musicians and composers.
Argentinian cellist Juan Sebastián Delgado, faculty fellow for diversity in the arts, will present on "Finding your own artistic voice: challenges, perspectives, and creativity."
The Baltimore Classical Guitar Society presents multiple Grammy winner Sharon Isbin. Acclaimed as “the pre-eminent guitarist of our time,” Isbin was named Musical America’s Instrumentalist of the Year, the first guitarist in their 59-year award history. In celebration of Leo Brouwer’s 85th birthday Isbin’s program will include selections from each of his three major stylistic periods.
Join us for Pianorama, a keyboard spectacular featuring UMBC faculty Hui-Chuan Chen, Teodora Adzharova, and Audrey Andrist performing works for two pianos and piano four hands by John Corigliano, Francis Poulenc, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Antonín Dvořák, joined by UMBC student pianists Ida Dierker and Grace Kang.
Celebrating the international exchange program between UMBC’s Department of Music and the Conservatorio “G. Nicolini” in Piacenza, Italy, UMBC welcomes Professor Riccardo Dapelo for lectures, concerts, and masterclasses. This event, “Soundscape as Composition,” features performances of Dapelo's compositions Sul Cuore Della Terra and Plume di Cielo su Ali Luce for audio fixed media and video.
Celebrating the international exchange program between UMBC’s Department of Music and the Conservatorio “G. Nicolini” in Piacenza, Italy, UMBC welcomes Professor Riccardo Dapelo for lectures, concerts, and masterclasses. This event, “Gravitational Harmony," features RUCKUS, the UMBC faculty new music ensemble, with performances of works by Dapelo and others.
The UMBC Jazz Ensemble, directed by Matt Belzer, is joined by guest artist and multi-instrumentalist Aurora Nealand for a fabulous evening of jazz.