The final weeks of Autumn Quarter—and the calendar year 2021—provide ample opportunities for our students to present the results of their hard work in an array of concerts at Meany Hall and the Music Building between December 1 and 11.
The UW Percussion Ensemble (Bonnie Whiting, director) explores early and recent works for percussion ensemble on Wednesday, December 1, at Meany Hall, performing all three Constructions, by John Cage, written in the 1930s when the composer lived in Seattle, as well as brand new works for percussion ensemble from the Everybody Hits consortium.
That same evening In Brechemin Auditorium, students from the Jazz Studies program launch a two-night run of combo performances of original music and inspired cover arrangements (Wednesday, December 1 and Thursday, December 2). Hear more from Jazz Studies on Wednesday, December 8 in the Meany Studio Theater, with a concert by the UW Modern Band and UW Jazz faculty Cuong Vu (trumpet) and Ted Poor (drums).
UW Choirs shines bright in December with several Meany Hall performances. On Thursday, December 2, themes of freedom, peace, and love frames sets by the UW Chamber Singers (Geoffrey Boers, director), performing songs by Blake Henderson, Claudio Monteverdi, Samih Choukeirl, and Matthew Hazzard, and the University Chorale (Giselle Wyers, director), performing music by Johnny Clegg, Benjamin Britten, and Edward Elgar, as well as several pieces by Professor Wyers and a work by graduate conductor Alex Nguyen. On Monday, December 6, director Phyllis Byrdwell and the UW Gospel Choir bring expressions of the Gospel tradition to Meany Hall, with the group returning to the Meany main stage on Wednesday, December 8 as part of the popular annual Carolfest performance by six different UW choral ensembles.
Students and faculty of the UW Composition Studio present Chthonic collaborationists, a concert of pieces written by two or more composers, on Friday December 3 in Brechemin Auditorium. Along with works by UW student composers Ryan Carraher, Jay Rauch, Sophie Ma, Joe Krycia, Nick Polti, Sandesh Nagaraj, and Jonathan Rodriguez, program highlights include Composition chair Huck Hodge's work with visual artist Karen Yasinsky: Pools of shadow from an older sky, written in Italy during his residency as a recipient of the prestigious Rome Prize in Composition.
The Modern Music Ensemble (Cristina Valdés, director) performs music from the late 1950s to early 2000s in the group's December 6 Brechemin Auditorium concert, a program of music by Louis Andriessen, Sylvano Bussotti, Pauline Oliveros, Frederic Rzewski, and Julis Eastman.
The UW Wind Ensemble (Timothy Salzman, director) and the Symphonic Band (Shaun Day, director) present an end-of-quarter performance on Thursday, December 9 at Meany Hall, performing pieces by Giovanni Gabrieli, Yosuke Fukuda, Björk Guðmundsdóttir, Kevin McKee, Alex Shapiro, Frank McTee, and others. That same evening at Brechemin Auditorium, students of piano faculty Craig Sheppard, Robin McCabe, and Cristina Valdés perform works from the piano repertoire in the Autumn presentation of the Brechemin Piano Series.
Quarterly performances conclude on Friday, December 10 with the University Symphony (David Alexander Rahbee, director) presenting a concert of music by Marianne Martinez, Igor Stravinsky, Vaughan Williams, and Ludwig van Beethoven, and Saturday, December 11, with a program of music from the African-American roots tradition presented by Ethnomusicology Visiting Artist Benjamin Hunter and his UW students.
Visit our events calendar for a complete listing of all upcoming performances.