Ongoing dispatches, tips, and project updates from UBC faculty and students during this period of social distancing and self-isolation. Have something you’d like to share? Email your submission to music.concerts@ubc.ca.
Jacob C. Seyer, guitar
Posted 26 November 2020
Alumnus Jacob Seyer has just released video recordings of guitar performances from his 2nd year graduate recital, filmed in the Roy Barnett Recital Hall five years ago. Check out his lovely YouTube playlist:
UBC Clarinet Choir
Posted 6 November 2020
Clarinets galore! The UBC Clarinet Choir, directed by Jose Franch-Ballester, presents a socially-distanced performance of Children’s March: “Over the hills and far away” by Percy Grainger (arr. Matt Johnston), with Rob Taylor directing.
Eb clarinet: Carlos Savall Guardiola
Bb clarinets: Jose Franch-Ballester (faculty), Marko Ivkovic, Felix Rowe, Yuri Kuriyama, Simon Proulx, Yukari Smith
Alto clarinet: Samuel He
Bass clarinet: Mo Yan
Contrabass clarinet: Elizabeth Forrest
See the music score here.
Soundings: Raven Chacon and Symphonic Wind Ensemble
Posted 23 October 2020
How can a score be a call and tool for decolonization?
Soundings: An Exhibition in Five Parts by the Belkin Gallery features newly commissioned scores, performances, videos, sculptures and sound by Indigenous and other artists who respond to this question.
On Thursday, October 8 at 4 pm, the socially-distanced UBC Symphonic Wind Ensemble performed American Ledger (No. 1) by Raven Chacon in front of Gerhard Class’s 1968 Tuning Fork sculpture. The conceptual graphic score is to be performed by “many players with sustaining and percussive instruments, voices, coins, axe and wood, a police whistle and the striking of a match.” Chacon invites any number of musicians with any number of non-musicians to perform the piece; instructions for performers can be found on the exterior of the Music Building as well as below and all are encouraged to perform the score.
You can watch the video performance on this page.
American Ledger (No. 1) by Raven Chacon
Tyler Duncan & Erika Switzer perform for Beethoven 250
Posted 22 October 2020
In celebration of Beethoven 250, Music on Main presents Tyler Duncan (baritone) & Erika Switzer (piano) in a beautiful performance of Beethoven’s iconic song cycle, An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98 at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.
Duncan and Switzer also talk about how they first met at UBC Music, their love for An die ferne Geliebte and how it has impacted their lives.
Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa performs composition by Jocelyn Morlock
Posted 21 October 2020
Pianist Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa (DMA’07) performs Phobos and Deimos, circling by Jocelyn Morlock, composed for the planet Mars in Iwaasa’s Cosmophony project.
“Mars has two moons, named after the twin brothers Phobos (fear) and Deimos (dread), who acted as charioteers for Mars in war. Heartfelt thanks to director John Spence Bolton of Opus 59 Films for this video that remarkably embodies Jocelyn’s work, portraying both the irregular orbits of the two moons, and the foreboding and terror of the myth.”
Mozart Serenade No. 3
Posted 20 October 2020
Students Kelly Li, Amanda Lawrence and Samuel He present a lovely arrangement of Mozart Serenade No. 3 for 2 flutes and clarinet to brighten up your day.
#SongsofComfort with President Santa Ono and Carlos Savall Guardiola
Posted 13 October 2020
President Santa Ono and DMA student Carlos Savall Guardiola perform Ave Maria (Méditation sur le Premier Prélude de Piano de S. Bach) by Charles Gounod, as part of the #SongsofComfort series.
J. Patrick Raftery on Vancouver Opera’s Offstage podcast
Posted 8 October 2020
Assistant Professor of Voice and Opera J. Patrick Raftery talks to Vancouver Opera’s Les Dala about his long and illustrious career as a baritone and tenor, which has included stops on some of the world’s biggest stages — from the Met to La Scala. Listen here.
New Röntgen CD by Mark Anderson and Michelle Mares
Posted 5 October 2020
We’re excited to announce the release of Julius Röntgen: Piano Music Vol. 5 – Music for 2 Pianosby Mark Anderson and Michelle Mares! Published by Nimbus Records, the recording offers an interconnected view of romantic and postromantic repertoire for two pianos. It is an exciting world debut of previously unpublished works by Julius Röntgen (1855-1932), revealing a mastery of composition in the 2-piano genre in which he is currently unknown.
Below is a gorgeous sample from the CD:
You can find the CD on the Nimbus website, Amazon Music or Presto Classical.
New episodes on the NoteWorthy podcast
Posted 1 October 2020
Looking for stories and inspiration from artists of all stages of life? Check out the latest episodes on the Noteworthy podcast, featuring alumni Timothy Benton Roark, Kathleen Allan, student Antony Knight and more.
NoteWorthy was created by Opera alumni Alireza Mojibian (MMus’17) and Duncan Watts-Grant (BMus’16) — based around conversations between musicians and the music they love to play and listen to. Join them each Tuesday evening for discussions with new artists about “how we are navigating life during the COVID-19 outbreak, how we are each pushing forward in our own way and how our love for music and the arts not only defines who we are but encourages us to be hopeful for a brighter future.”
Maggie Lu’s composition featured in TwoSet Violin video
Posted 30 September 2020
Congratulations to 17-year-old Composition student Maggie Lu, whose work Fantasia through the Eras was recently featured in a video by the popular Youtuber duo, TwoSet Violin! (starting at 3:51 in the video)
New Sonic Responses Videos
Posted 24 August 2020
Sonic Responses is a collaborative project between the Belkin Art Gallery and the UBC School of Music: led by Curator of Outdoor Art Barbara Cole, musicology professor David Metzer and DMA piano student Judith Valerie Engel. The project invited eight musicians to respond to the changed aural conditions of UBC’s outdoor spaces due to the pandemic.
Check out the latest videos featuring UBC Music students and faculty (click on images):
Dr. Valerie Whitney, horn
2020–21 Yulanda M. Faris Young Artists
Posted 10 August 2020
Luka Kawabata, Amy Seulky Lee and Ian Cleary
Congratulations to Luka Kawabata (BMus’18, MMus’20), Amy Seulky Lee (BMus’13) and Ian Cleary, who have been chosen as Yulanda M. Faris Young Artists at the Vancouver Opera this year!
The Yulanda M. Faris program engages, enriches, mentors and trains rising young Canadian opera artists — singers, pianists and stage directors — offering a bridge between formal academic educational programs and the professional world in a supportive and encouraging environment. Participants will have the opportunity to train with industry leaders through masterclasses, one-on-one coaching and performance opportunities as part of a residency program.
Read more
Moonlight in the Bronx
Posted 7 August 2020
Moonlight in the Bronx is a debut short film by Rita Costanzi, former harp instructor at UBC Music, that recently won the Hershey Felder Presents Arts Prize Competition. Costanzi wrote, directed and performed in this film, honouring Beethoven’s 250th birthday and her own experience living in New York during COVID-19. It tells the story of one woman’s personal experience, weaving together the universal timelessness of what it means to be an artist during challenging times.
Ron Cohen Mann listed to CBC’s “30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians under 30”
Posted 5 August 2020
Ron Cohen Mann (BMus’12), oboist and English hornist has been listed to CBC’s “30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians under 30” this year!
“I truly love what I do and wouldn’t trade it for anything,” says Cohen Mann. A graduate of Yale, Mannes College and UBC, he is currently based in Toronto, where he’s busy performing and teaching. Lately, he’s been creating fun tutorials on Instagram and YouTube, carving a space for himself as the Jonathan Van Ness of the oboe.”I hope that I can make a positive impact through these platforms.”
The soundtrack to our days in the cottage has developed a natural rhythm, though somewhat different now that I’m working from home. It should not have been a surprise to learn that on normal days when I would be driving to work in the early mornings, Don would be eating his breakfast with the stereo speakers cranked up, blasting something like Steely Dan’s “Goucho.”
Continue reading/listening on the High Notes blog.
