Department Offers Weill Hall Subscription

August 20, 2012
Symphonic Wind Ensemble

Symphonic Wind Ensemble

The Department of Music will offer an eight-concert subscription package to its flagship ensembles, guest artists and faculty recital performances in Weill Hall. 

The fall season package includes four Faculty and Guest Artist recitals and four Major Ensemble concerts. Admission to all eight concerts is $96 General; $80 Faculty, Alumni and Staff; and $64 Seniors and Students. The single ticket price is $120/$96/$80. 

Tickets are on sale now. For info call the School of Performing Arts Box Office at 707-664-2353.  

Latin Band & Jazz Orchestra 
Thu, Oct. 18 – 7:30 p.m. 
Kendrick Freeman and Doug Leibinger, directors 
Be sure to catch this debut of SSU's two large jazz ensembles in the newly opened Weill Hall. The SSU Latin Band, led by percussionist Kendrick Freeman, will take you on a musical tour of the Caribbean and South America. The exciting 18-piece SSU Jazz Orchestra, directed by Doug Leibinger, will offer up the finest classic to modern big band repertoire. 

Chamber Singers and Symphonic Chorus
Songs of Peace and Thanksgiving
Sun, Oct. 21 – 4 p.m. 
Jenny Bent, conductor 
Join the Sonoma State University Symphonic Chorus, Chambers Singers, and Regional High School Honor Choir under the baton of Choral Activities Director Jenny Bent, for a gala choral event to benefit the Redwood Empire Food Bank. 

Symphonic Wind Ensemble 
Traveler
Wed, Oct. 24 – 7:30 p.m. 
Andy Collinsworth, conductor 
with the Santa Rosa Junior College Concert Band 
Joseph Perea, conductor
One night, two great wind bands! The program includes Ryan George’s new impressionist piece, Firefly, Darius Milhaud’s classic post-WWII Suite Française, David Maslanka’s Traveler, Michael Gandolfi’s exciting Vientos y Tangos, and John Philip Sousa’s march, The Pathfinder of Panama

Faculty Jazz Ensemble 
Thu, Nov. 8 - 7:30 p.m. 
Doug Leibinger, director 
The SSU faculty jazz ensemble is an assembly of some of the finest musicians in the bay area, including Kasey Knudsen, saxophone; Randy Vincent, guitar; George Marsh, drums; Cliff Hugo, bass; and Director of Jazz Studies, Doug Leibinger, trombone. The group uses improvisational games to bring a new level of thrilling spontaneity to their music. The future of jazz is now!!! 

Faculty Recital 
Laxmi G. Tewari - North Indian Vocalist 
Fri, Nov. 9 – 7:30 p.m. 
 “The most important thing about my music," says Pandit Laxmi Ganesh Tewari, "is how you feel when you listen to it." Dr. Tewari, a leading exponent of the Gwalior gharana tradition of Indian vocal music, sings Classical Hindustani songs accompanied by his ensemble playing tabla, tambura and harmonium. 

Guest Artist Recital
Mårten Falk, Classical Guitar  
Fri, Nov. 16 – 7:30 p.m. 
Swedish guitarist Mårten Falk has given more than 70 world premieres and composers from Sweden, Italy, Chile, Japan and Canada have dedicated guitar compositions to him. Says Sonoloco Record review: “Mårten Falk’s CD The Eclectric Experience is a major contribution to contemporary music.” 

Faculty Recital 
Navarro Chamber Players   
Sun, Nov. 18 – 4 p.m. 
Pianist Marilyn Thompson, Soprano Carol Menke and Friends 
A dynamic juxtaposition of vocal and instrumental chamber pieces including three Tangos by Brian S. Wilson and the Piano Quintet by Robert Schumann, "a fiendish pianistic challenge as well as a masterpiece of the genre" claims The Observer. Led by two icons of the North Bay chamber scene, Marilyn Thompson and Carol Menke.  

Symphonic Wind Ensemble - Collaborations 
Fri, Dec. 7 – 7:30 p.m. 
Andy Collinsworth, conductor 
with San Francisco State Unversity Wind Ensemble 
Martin Seggelke, conductor 
Featuring Otis Murphy, alto saxophone 
Many hands make light work! World-renowned saxophonist and clinician Otis Murphy joins the SSU and SFSU wind ensembles for Fantasia for Alto Saxophone (1983) by Claude T. Smith. The program also includes two classic pieces for band from the 1950s - Four Scottish Dances by Malcolm Arnold and Psalm for Band by Vincent Persichetti. 

Weill Hall, which opens to the public on Sept. 30, is acoustically designed to rival the world’s premier venues including Boston’s Symphony Hall and Vienna’s Musikverein.
It is located at the north entrance to Sonoma State University, near the intersection of Rohnert Park Expressway and Petaluma Hill Road. Park in Lots O and L. 

The Department of Music, located in the Green Music Center, presents weekly concerts, workshops and educational outreach. Call 707-664-2324  to learn more.