Arts faculty member Nicholas DeMaison (at center stage) is the conductor for the Rensselaer Choir and Rensselaer Orchestra.
The Department of the Arts has announced Spring Music Days 2016, a series of performances by students and faculty. The series consists of 10 performances and workshops over three weeks, including performing ensembles led by arts faculty: Roots of Africa Music Ensemble (led by Ade Knowles), Rensselaer Orchestra, Rensselaer Concert Choir, and a variety of chamber ensembles (led by Nicholas DeMaison), a concert of music by Dean Mary Simoni, and the “workshopping” of a new opera by Rensselaer faculty member Pauline Oliveros. The series wraps up with a “Day of Deep Listening at EMPAC,” led by Tomie Hahn and presented by the Center for Deep Listening. All events are free and open to the public.
The Department of the Arts is generally considered to be the first integrated electronic arts program within a research university in the United States. Founded in 1972, the department initiated the inclusion of electronic media in 1981. The department features an integrated and multidisciplinary approach to the arts with a focus on the use of experimental and electronic media in artistic creation and performance. The work of the department’s distinguished faculty and alumni is represented internationally in museums, galleries, festivals, publications, and performances.
The complete list of Spring Music Days events is as follows:
April 13
Roots of Africa Music Ensemble
Led by Ade Knowles
Commons Dining Hall
Rensselaer campus
5:45 p.m.
April 20
Chamber Music Marathon
Students in the chamber music program present an evening of works for small ensembles
Chapel + Cultural Center
2125 Burdett Ave., Troy
7 p.m.
April 29
Rensselaer Orchestra Lunchtime Concert
Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 (“Pastoral”)
Eli Greenhoe: Going By (premiere of a new work)
Nicholas DeMaison, conductor
EMPAC Concert Hall
12:30 p.m.
April 30
Roots of Africa Music Ensemble
Led by Ade Knowles
Nine Steps Away to Africa Market Store
199 River St., Troy
11:00 a.m.
Rensselaer Concert Choir With the Rensselaer Orchestra
Josquin des Prez: Motets & Chansons
Bach: Cantata No. 4—“Christ lag in Todes Banden”
Nicholas DeMaison, conductor
Chapel + Cultural Center
2125 Burdett Ave., Troy
7:30 p.m.
May 3
Romantic music for large and small ensembles
Nielsen: Suite for String Orchestra, op. 1
Strauss: Serenade for 13 winds, op. 7
Grieg: String Quartet in g minor, op. 27
Schumann: String Quartet in a minor, op. 41
Chapel + Cultural Center
2125 Burdett Ave., Troy
7:30 p.m.
May 4
The Nubian Word for Flowers
A new opera by Pauline Oliveros & Ione
Scenes of the multimedia work-in-progress presented in workshop featuring members of International Contemporary Ensemble
Nicholas DeMaison, conductor
CRAIVE LAB at Rensselaer Technology Park
250 Jordan Road, North Greenbush
Time TBA
May 4
Roots of Africa Music Ensemble
Led by Ade Knowles, with Partial Credit a cappella ensemble
EMPAC Theater
7 p.m.
A Day of Deep Listening at EMPAC
Led by Tomie Hahn
EMPAC Studio 2
10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Specific program tbd
May 6
Music of Mary Simoni
With Mary Simoni, Kim Dolanski, and students in the chamber music program, featuring Simoni’s electro-acoustic chamber music
In partnership with the Rensselaer Club
Chapel + Cultural Center
2125 Burdett Ave., Troy
5 p.m.
For press and academic inquiries, contact Beth Dennis, dennib@rpi.edu; (518) 276-4778.