UC Santa Barbara Department of Music Presents Virtual Winter Concert Series

The UC Santa Barbara Department of Music will present a virtual Winter Concert Series including performances by the UCSB Chamber Players, UCSB Lumina, UCSB Cello Squad, UCSB Gospel Choir, UCSB Ensemble for Contemporary Music, and a special Corwin Chair Series concert featuring works by Corwin Chair of Composition João Pedro Oliveira and Emeritus Corwin Chair of Composition Clarence Barlow. All performances will be free and open to the public and will be released as YouTube Premieres via the Department of Music’s YouTube channel beginning on Thursday, March 11, 2021 and ending on Thursday, March 18, 2021.

Directed by Jonathan Moerschel, the UCSB Chamber Players will present a virtual concert on Thursday, March 11, 2021 at 6 pm PST. The program will include works by Claude Debussy, Elena Ruehr, Johann Joseph Fux, Scott Joplin, Jennifer Higdon, Roger Chapman, Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Paul Hindemith, and Jessie Montgomery. The event will feature performances by students from the UC Santa Barbara Chamber Music Program, including students from the Young Artists String Quartet.

The Department of Music will present a virtual Corwin Chair Series Concert, "Synchresis - the Alchemy of Visual Music," on Friday, March 12, 2021 at 6 pm PST. The program will investigate the various potential fusions between sound and the moving image in “Synchresis." Listeners will be guided through the merger of diverse visual and musical universes and engage their imaginations through the works of Corwin Chair of Composition João Pedro Oliveira and Emeritus Corwin Chair of Composition Clarence Barlow, as well as Elsa Justel, Chikashi Miyama, Francis Dhomont, Jorge Sad Levi, Dennis H. Miller, and Alejandro Casales.

Directed by Graduate Teaching Assistant David Lozano Torres and accompanied by graduate pianist Pinshu Yu, UCSB Lumina (formerly the UCSB Women’s Chorus) will present a virtual mini-concert, “A Life of Peace,” on Monday, March 15, 2021 from 6-6:15 pm PST. “Nothing can bring peace to the heart, mind, and soul like music can,” noted Torres of the program. “This new year has brought about many trials and opposition in all aspects of life. Finding a moment of stillness in a world that is constantly moving, busy, and noisy, can be crucial. Experience the ability to find peace and purpose through harsh winter climate and troubles in the world in Winters Cold by Michael John Trotta. Afterwards, escape into the soothing, ponderous tune painted by the peaceful sonorities of Dan Forrest's Shalom. Accompanying the music is an array of stunning video and artwork that will take you on a journey of awe-inspiring moments in nature.”

Directed by Professor Jennifer Kloetzel, members of the UCSB Cello Squad will present a "Beethoven CellObration!" on Tuesday, March 16, 2021 at 6 pm PST. This special event will celebrate Beethoven's 250th Birthday and showcase movements from his piano and cello works, performed by members of Professor Jennifer Kloetzel's cello studio. For this project, five UC Santa Barbara cellists studied one of Ludwig van Beethoven's works and were asked to describe the overall feeling or emotion of their chosen work. For this virtual performance, the UCSB Cello Squad commissioned artist Tyler Scrivner to create background images related to their descriptions and the cellists recorded their pieces with these designs as backdrops. “Since we are doing virtual performances these days, I decided that creating an interdisciplinary experience would be a fun and educational way to push everyone to explore music a little deeper,” noted Professor Kloetzel of the virtual collaboration.

Directed by Victor Bell, the UCSB Gospel Choir will present a virtual event titled, "The Virtual Gospel. An infusion of gospel music, gospel music history, and gospel testimonies," on Wednesday, March 17, 2021 at 6 pm PST. The production will feature special guests and UC Santa Barbara alumni Daniel Ozan and Rhiann Joshua.

Directed by Dr. Sarah Gibson, the UCSB Ensemble for Contemporary Music will present "A Journey Through the Impossible" on Thursday, March 18, 2021 at 6 pm PST. Opening with works by Julius Eastman, Dai Fujikura, and John Cage, the Ensemble for Contemporary Music performers will explore a variety of ways to make music through distance and precision. The centerpiece of the program will be the premiere of six new student works written to accompany Georges Méliès' seminal silent film, Le Voyage à travers l'impossible. Dr. Sarah Gibson noted that “in every piece, there lies a journey, whether it is from the earth to the sun, or simply an act of self-discovery.”

More Information

Learn more about each virtual concert at music.ucsb.edu/news.

About the UC Santa Barbara Department of Music

From an institution that began life dedicated to training the next generation of music educators, to what is now a multi-faceted department with a fully established research and professional graduate program with degrees in composition, ethnomusicology, musicology, music theory, and performance, the UC Santa Barbara Department of Music has produced many hundreds of graduates who have distinguished themselves both nationally and internationally. Alumni have gone on to teach on faculties of major colleges and universities in the United States and abroad, or in outstanding secondary school positions. Many graduates of the program have published extensively and become widely renowned, prize-winning scholars, while others are award-winning and frequently performed composers writing for television and film. Alumni are also establishing fine reputations as conductors of orchestras, opera, and choruses. Graduates of the instrumental programs have gone on to solo and orchestral careers with leading orchestras, and graduates of the voice program can be heard in opera companies around the world.
With over 150 events presented annually, the UC Santa Barbara Department of Music offers something for every music lover. The department boasts 26 unique performing ensembles, each with a quarterly concert calendar. Chamber music, large ensembles, opera, contemporary groups, world music, and jazz ensembles make up the department’s rich performance calendar, along with lectures, master classes, and presentations from the ethnomusicology, musicology, theory, and composition programs. For a complete listing of performances and lectures for the quarter, please visit the UC Santa Barbara Department of Music website at music.ucsb.edu.

For additional information, photos, or to request an interview with an artist, please contact Adriane Cleary at adrianecleary@ucsb.edu (remote work number available upon request).

To sign up for the Department of Music’s newsletter, please visit eepurl.com/dcrvRr. Follow the Department of Music on Facebook (@UCSBDepartmentofMusic), Twitter (@UCSBMusicDept), and Instagram (@ucsbmusicdept).

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