Music Department Grows With The Green Music Center

2014-15 Calendar Includes Expanded Programs and Outreach
September 12, 2014
Lee Konitz

Lee Konitz

Sonoma State University’s Department of Music at the Green Music Center welcomes the community to its fall season of more than 30 performances in the flagship Weill Hall and newly opened Schroeder Recital Hall. 

CONCERTS

SSU Department of Music Fall Season highlights 
Schroeder Hall
Oct. 10, 7:30 p.m. William Kanengiser, classical guitar
Oct. 26, 2 p.m. Trio Navarro, resident piano trio
Nov. 25, 7:30 p.m. Trio Ariadne & Friends 

Joan and Sanford I. Weill Hall
Oct. 15, 7:30 p.m. SSU Jazz Orchestra & Jeff Denson Trio featuring Lee Konitz
Oct. 22, 7:30 p.m. SSU Symphonic Winds & USAF Band of the Golden West  
Oct. 24, 7:30 p.m. Anderson and Roe Piano Duo
Nov. 23, 2 p.m. SSU Symphonic Chorus Family Candlelight Concert

Tickets for all seats are priced at $8 and include parking. Special events including the Carnegie Hall-trained ensemble Trio Ariadne and the USAF Band of the Golden West are completely free of charge.  

Tickets are required for admission to all concerts, whether charged or not, and available online, by phone, or in person. For information call the university box office at 707-664-4246 or email tickets@sonoma.edu

EDUCATION
Jazz Forum turns five! 
Wednesdays at 1 p.m. in GMC 1029, SSU’s Jazz Forum brings jazz majors and guests to informal encounters with some of today’s leading artists working in a variety of styles. Upcoming forums include the Jeff Denson Trio with sax legend Lee Konitz on Oct. 15; “Renaissance man” saxophonist Dave Liebman on Oct. 29; and flugelhorn artist Dmitri Matheny on Nov. 5. Admission is free, however parking charges are in effect. Limited seating is available on a first-come, first serve basis. For information call 707-664-2324. 

Curriculum Expands
The Walford Recording Studio in Ives Hall has been newly renovated and updated with RedNet capability to record from Weill and Schroeder halls. The university’s School of Extended and International Education now offers a three-course sequence culminating in the Certificate in Audio and Recording Production.  

Orchestra Director Search 
A search for a full-time Director of Orchestral Studies is underway. The university has had an orchestra off and on since the mid 1970s. The new tenure-track hire will expand the current string orchestra into a full symphony orchestra.

OUTREACH
Festivals
Several hundred high school singers and instrumentalists from the North Bay area attend music department-hosted festivals and clinics. All rehearsals, performances and master classes are free and open to the public. This year’s festival dates are:

  • Oct. 17 – Jazz Day
  • Nov. 7 – Choral Festival
  • Jan. 30 – California Music Educators Association (CMEA) Jazz Festival
  • March 7 – CMEA Solo and Ensemble Festival
  • March 13-15 – Wind Band Festival
  • April 3-4 CMEA Choral Festival

Weill Hall Artists in Residence
Trio Ariadne – Carol McGonnell, clarinet; Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, cello; and Elizabeth Joy Roe, piano – return for a second year as artists-in-residence. As alumni of Carnegie Hall’s fellowship program, the trio work collaboratively among campus units to provide programs that enhance the educational mission of the university and to contribute to the stature of performing arts in the community. They perform several times during the year both as a trio and with special guests. All of their concerts are free. The trio’s  farewell performance on March 29 will feature Frederica von Stade, who The New York Times calls “one of America’s finest artists and singers,” in a performance of Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer. The concert takes place at 7:30 p.m. in Weill Hall.

The Sonoma State University music department is housed in the education wing of the Green Music Center located near the intersection of Petaluma Hill Road and Rohnert Park Expressway. Parking is available in lots L, M, N and O.  Visit our home page to receive a concert brochure or join the mailing list.