This year the music department received the Dayton Artists-in-Residence grant, which brings creators, artists and performers to work with Conn music majors and students alike. The grant is rotated among five different departments: theater, studio art, music, dance and the onStage Performance Series.
For the fall, the Music Department decided to focus on early music (usually music of the Baroque period, from 1600 to 1750) because, as Department Chair Professor Margaret Thomas said, it is “programming we can’t otherwise do.” The department’s historical musicologists don’t often focus on the history and historically informed performances of early music. It is also, unlike something like music theory, more accessible and enjoyable to people who don’t have a background in music.
To this end, there are a number of concerts, master classes, lectures and demonstrations happening this year. The first event was a lecture on Sept. 10 by musicologist Professor Eric Rice from the University of Connecticut, titled “The Meaning and Purpose of ‘Historical Performance.’” This gave a foundation of the historical knowledge that was helpful for the rest of the events. Rice explained that historical performances aim to get as close as possible to the composer’s desired sound by performing the music just as the composer wrote it. Musicians learn historical performance, learn the performance practices used at the time a given work was composed (as every performer does), and play instruments that are replicas of those played at the time the piece was composed. As an example, Professor Rice noted that while Bach likely wrote his compositions for keyboard on a harpsichord, they’re played perhaps more often on the piano. Therefore, if you wanted to play a historically informed performance of Bach, you’d have to play it on the harpsichord. Sometimes, playing on a period instrument is significantly harder, not to mention different, than playing the same piece on a modern instrument, as instruments have progressed so much – becoming easier to play and more versatile – in the intervening centuries. It was a fascinating lecture about how the musician can, and often should, morph into a historian.
The Dublin Guitar Quartet, a classical guitar quartet devoted to new music will be performing on Oct. 25. This event is a perfect example of a program that wouldn’t be possible without the grant.
The more traditional concerts start on Nov. 1, with a performance that features works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Bach performed on period instruments. Think United States Civil War reenactment, but we’re reenacting music instead of battles. In November are concerts featuring the music of Vivaldi and Rebel. The Sebastian Chamber Players (a chamber ensemble that specializes in early music, led by Conn’s violin instructor, Daniel Lee) and members of the Connecticut College Orchestra will perform at all of these concerts. On Saturday, Nov. 23, the Sebastians will return, this time with TENET, a vocal ensemble based out of New York, that sings music from the Middle Ages to the present with one voice per part. The music of composer Henry Purcell will be featured in that concert.
There are also several lectures, masterclasses and demonstrations – more opportunities to hear period instruments. On Oct. 8, there is a lecture and demonstration on early string instruments by Lee and luthier Karl Dennis. On Oct. 15, you can hear Linda Skernick, the harpsichord instructor at Conn, give a masterclass. Continuing with keyboard instruments, on Nov. 1, there is a fortepiano (the piano of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries) masterclass with pianist and fortepianist Yi-heng Yang. On Nov. 5, there is a lecture on period wind instruments, with a demonstration on the Baroque oboe by Meg Owens, who is on the performance faculty at George Mason University in Virginia. Jolle Greenleaf, TENET’s Artistic Director, will also be giving a voice masterclass on the morning of her concert.
In the spring, the department’s focus will shift from early music to modern jazz, which is, as Professor Thomas notes, a style of jazz that “we don’t explore [at Conn] routinely.” We focus more on Dixieland and Big Band jazz, which excludes the jazz styles popular after the mid-1940s. On Mar. 28, bassist and composer Mario Pavone and his Orange Ensemble will perform, which is bound to be a great performance.
The most important part? None of these – including the lectures – are limited to music students. History buffs will find them interesting. Anyone who is interested in culture, or the soundscape of different time periods will, too. All of these events are open to the entire campus, and everyone is bound to find something appealing.
