UW News

November 29, 2012

Arts Roundup: Music galore, plus ‘Pippin’ and choirs combine for holiday CarolFest

UW News

CarolFest 2012 school of music christmas show dec 5 2012

CaroFest 2012 will be Dec. 5 in Meany Hall.

Music — and musical theater — rule this packed week in UW arts as the holidays approach. Take your pick from choirs and choruses, jazz, percussion, world music and campus bands. Drama students offer the lively musical “Pippin” and the School of Music stages the classic opera “Die Fledermaus.”

The annual CarolFest kicks off the holiday season on Dec. 5, featuring the UW Chamber Singers, University Chorale, University Singers, Women’s Choir, the Men’s Glee Club and the powerful, 100-voice UW Gospel Choir, who also perform Dec. 3.

OK, the holiday season may now begin.

Jazz Innovations, II, 7:30 p.m., Nov. 29. Student jazz ensembles pay homage to icons of jazz and perform original compositions in this second of two consecutive evening performances in Brechemin Auditorium. Tickets $5, cash or check at the door. 206-685-8384.

The Undergraduate Theater Society presents “Pippin,” Nov. 29 through Dec. 9 in the Hutchinson Hall Cabaret Theater.

“Pippin,” Nov. 29-Dec. 9. The UW Undergraduate Theatre Society presents this 1972 musical and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (“Godspell”) that tells the story of a young man’s quest to find personal significance. An archetype of the everyman, Pippin yearns to discover the secret of true happiness, finding it in the simple joys he has discovered along the way. In the Cabaret Theatre in Hutchinson Hall Tickets $5-$10.

Opera Theater, 7:30 p.m., Nov. 30; 2 p.m., Dec. 2. Thomas Harper, associate professor of voice, directs students from the UW Opera Theater in two performances of Johann Strauss’s charming three-act operetta “Die Fledermaus.” The performance will be in English in the Meany Studio Theater. Tickets $10-$15. 206-543-4880.

Marie Louise Langlais: “Organists of the St. Clotilde Tradition,” 7:30 p.m., Nov. 30. Professor of organ and improvisation at the Paris Superior Conservatory and a former assistant at the Basilica of Sainte-Clotilde in Paris, Langlais shares her expertise on French organ music and especially on the Sainte Clotilde tradition in this free lecture in Brechemin Auditorium.

Colleen McElroy poetry reading "Here I Throw Down My Heart"

Colleen McElroy

Colleen McElroy poetry reading: “Here I Throw Down My Heart,” 7 p.m., Dec. 3. McElroy, professor emeritus of English and creative writing and the former editor in chief of the literary magazine Seattle Review, reads from her latest poetry collection. Free, at the University Bookstore. 206-634-3400.

Voice Division Recital, 7:30 p.m., Dec. 3. UW voice students of Thomas Harper, Kari Ragan and Giselle Wyers perform art songs and arias from around the world in the fall quarter divisional recital in Brechemin Auditorium. Tickets $5, cash or check at the door. 206-685-8384.

UW gospel choir, performing Dec 3 and 5 2012

The UW Gospel Choir will perform Dec. 3 and 5 (as part of CarolFest) in Meany Hall.School of Music

UW Gospel Choir, 7:30 p.m., Dec. 3. Phyllis Byrdwell leads the 100-voice gospel choir in songs of praise, jubilation and other expressions of the Gospel tradition. Program selections “Jesus Is A Rock (Spiritual),” “I Will Sing Praises,” “Worship the Lord/I Get Excited,” “Order My Steps,” “He Will Answer” and “African Noel.” Presented in Meany Hall. A School of Music alumna, Byrdwell is minister of music at Mount Zion Baptist Church of Seattle.  Tickets $10-$15. 206-543-4880.

UW Percussion Ensemble, 7:30 p.m., Dec. 4. The ensemble performs new works for percussion, including one by UW alumnus David Kechley, as well as Béla Bartok’s “Rumanian Folk Dances” arranged for three marimbas, vibraphone and xylophone. The ensemble is co-directed by Tom Collier, professor and director of percussion studies, and Andrew Angell of Edmonds Community College. Meany Studio Theatre. Tickets $10-$15.  206-543-4880.

Kedmon Mapana UW Ethnomusicology celebrates 50 years

Kedmon Mapana

Ethnomusicology 50th Anniversary Event, 7:30 p.m., Dec. 4. The School of Music Ethnomusicology program presents an evening of high-energy traditional and contemporary Wagogo music and dance from Tanzania, featuring visiting artist Kedmon Mapana and his students. These musical selections have rarely been performed outside the Dodoma region of Tanzania. Presented in Brechemin Auditorium. Tickets are $5, cash or check at the door. 206-685-8384.

CarolFest, 7:30 p.m., Dec. 5. The Chamber Singers, University Chorale, University Singers, Women’s Choir, Gospel Choir and UW Men’s Glee Club perform carols and seasonal music from around the world. Presented in Meany Hall. Tickets are $10-$15. 206-543-4880.

Studio Jazz Ensemble and Modern Band, 7:30 p.m., Dec. 5. The ensemble, led by Fred Radke, performs works by Bill Holman, Billy Strayhorn, Dizzy Gillespie, George Gershwin and Neil Bridge. The Modern Band, led by Cuong Vu and co-director Greg Sinibaldi, performs music by Sinibaldi, in the Meany Studio Theater. Tickets $10-$15. 206-543-4880.

Wind Ensemble, Symphonic and Campus bands, 7:30 p.m., Dec. 6. The bands will perform works for wind band ensemble in Meany Hall in a program titled “Transitions.” Selections include “Millennium Canons,” by Kevin Puts, “Urban Requiem” by Michael Colgrass, “Graceful Ghost” by William Bolcom and “Song of Threnos” by Alfred Reed.  Tickets $5-$10, 206-543-4880.

Next week:  The University Symphony, plus one.