penguin CONCERTS by Nick Tisherman The Marriage of Figaro
MARCH 26 & 27, 8:00 PM, BROWN HALL WHAT IS IT? The Undergraduate Opera Studio has been working all year to perform this program of scenes from one of Mozart’s opera, The Marriage of Figaro. WHAT YOU’LL HEAR: Undergraduate vocalists who sound well beyond their years take on one of Mozart’s greatest operatic works. Student conductor Roberto Kalb will take the baton, with stage direction by Stephen Goldstein. WHY IT’S COOL: Under the direction of Michael Meraw, the Undergraduate Opera Studio, or UGOS, as the kids call it, is a unique part of NEC’s opera program because it gives younger vocalists opportunities to perform. There will be two different casts, so be sure to catch both performances. Opera was Mozart’s bread and butter, and no opera of his is more memorable.
Turkish Songs of Protest
MARCH 27, 8:00 PM, JORDAN HALL WHAT IS IT? Robert Labaree and The Dünya Ensemble perform music based on the poetry of Ottoman men and women who have questioned political and religious authority. WHAT YOU’LL HEAR: The exotic sounds of Turkish vocal music, accompanied by instruments like the çeng and ud. These songs speak out in a different way than the protest we know in American history. WHY IT’S COOL: The Dünya Ensemble will perform songs that “encompass classical compositions of the palace, blunt women's complaints from the countryside, songs which mingle the religious and the secular, songs which express longing and intimacy across ethnic and religious boundaries, 'blasphemous' songs by heterodox Muslims, open professions of erotic love (conventional and unconventional), and defenses of controversial practices like music and the drinking of alcohol.” –Robert Labaree
COURTESY JESSE COSTA/WBUR
NEC Philharmonia + Wilkins
MARCH 31, 8:00 PM, JORDAN HALL WHAT IS IT? Philharmonia takes the stage once more with conductor Christopher Wilkins. WHAT YOU’LL HEAR: Part of the Music: Truth to Power festival this year, this concert features the boundary-breaking The General Slocum and Yale-Princeton Football Game of Ives, Minsung Kim taking on Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 2, and Berlioz’ wild Symphonie Fantastique.
COURTESY AKRON SYMPHONY
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MARCH 13, 2014
WHY IT’S COOL: The programmatic story behind Symphonie Fantastique is a portrait of Berlioz’ own struggles as an artist. The music lets you get into the mind of an artist filled with imagination, passion, and despair, and Philharmonia is sure to play the stuffing out of it. Ives took subject matter from newspaper headlines to create the two pieces on this program. Finally, the cello concerto, haunting and exciting, calls for some incredibly virtuosic and expressive playing from the soloist.