KSC Faculty Composers Recital Showcases Recent Works
KEENE, N.H. 2/18/05 - Original compositions by Keene State College music faculty will be showcased in the fourth annual Faculty Composers Recital at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 9, in the Alumni Recital Hall of the Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond. This KSC Composers Recital features all original compositions, ranging from contemporary to classically inspired pieces, by music faculty Craig Sylvern, Christopher Swist, Ted Mann, José Lezcano, and emeritus professor William Pardus. Tickets are $7 for the general public and $5 for KSC students, senior citizens, and youth age 17 or younger. Call the box office at 603-358-2168.
Sylvern, who coordinated the recital, composed Games for Three Players for percussion trio. The KSC Percussion Ensemble will perform the New Hampshire premiere of this work. In addition to composing music, Sylvern, an associate professor at KSC and tenor saxophonist, has toured for many years with Keith Brion and his New Sousa Band.
Lezcano will perform two of his works: Antonia Zarate (from Three Goya Portraits) for solo guitar and Postcards for flute, bassoon, and guitar. Robin Matathias, flute, and Joy Flemming, bassoon, will join Lezcano in the second piece. Lezcano, who was the New Hampshire Music Teachers Association’s Composer of the Year in 2002, is a professor of music at Keene State, where he received the College’s Award for Distinction in Research and Scholarship in recognition of his activities as performer, scholar, and composer.
Mann’s “From Songs and Ballads of William Blake Book 1 and Book 2” will be performed by faculty members Diane Cushing, soprano, Joseph Darby, viola, Robin Matathias, flute, Sussan Henkel, oboe, and KSC music student Mike Konopka, percussion. Mann composed the songs for different instrumental combinations and voices based on the poetry of British artist William Blake (1757-1827). Mann, a guitar instructor at KSC, was named Composer of the Year in 2003 by the New Hampshire Music Teachers Association.
Swist’s Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello, written in 1998, will have its world premiere performed by KSC faculty artists George Loring, piano, and Marcia Lehninger, violin, and guest artist Perry Zimmerman, cello. In addition to composing, Swist teaches percussion at Keene State and performs with the New Britain Symphony, Waterbury Symphony, Steel Sunrise, Drumspeak, Lehninger- Swist Duo, Dance Connecticut, and Seven Angels Theater.
Pardus’s Suite for Woodwind Quintet, written in 2004, will be performed by Festival Chamber Music, a group that includes David Flemming, flute, Sussan Henkel, oboe, Mary Seaver, clarinet, Brian Coughlin, horn, and Joy Flemming, bassoon. Pardus, professor emeritus of music and former chairman of the KSC Music Department, was named Composer of the Year in 2001 by the New Hampshire Music Teachers Association.
Located off Wyman Way, the Redfern Arts Center is accessible to people with disabilities. To request accommodations for a disability, please call the box office, 603-358-2168, at least two weeks before the recital.
