School of Music
U N C G
UNCG Contemporary
Chamber Players
Monday, May 3, 2010
7:30 pm
Recital Hall, School of Music
Program
Stairways Skye van Duuren
Contemporary Chamber Players
Quartet, Op. 22 Anton Webern
I. Sehr massig (1883-1945)
II. Sehr schwungvoll
Marjorie Bagley, violin
Boja Kraguli, clarinet
Steven Stusek, tenor saxophone
James Douglass, piano
The Low Quartet Michael Gordon
(b. 1956)
arr. N. Strum
Nicole Strum, Jason Wallace, Drew Hays, Nick Pool – baritone saxophones
Under the Names of Sanders, Concerto for Clarinet Christopher Cody Curtis
Boja Kragulj, clarinet
Contemporary Chamber Players
Theme and Variations Yannan Li
Contemporary Chamber Players
Contemporary Chamber Players
conductor, Robert Gutter
Flute, Lindell Carter
Melodica, Nick Stubblefield
Clarinet 1, Boja Kraguli
Clarinet 2, Eric Bridges
Bass Clarinet, Christopher Curtis
Alto Saxophone 1, Steven Stusek
Alto Saxophone 2, Austin Glover
Baritone Saxophone, Mark Engebretson
Horn 1, Daniel Taber
Horn 2 and Trumpet, Skye van Duuren
Trombone 1, David Hewitt
Trombone 2, Amber Kocher
Piano and Celeste, Klye Blair, Carlos Fuentes
Electric Guitar, Travis Railsback
Electric Bass, Alejandro Rutty
Percussion, Andrew Weathers, Justin Barrett
Viola, Sarah Baugher
Cellos, Jonathan Stuart-Moore, Maeyln Cable
The UNCG Contemporary Chamber Players are grateful for the participation of this
eveningʼs soloist, guest and faculty performers:
Marjorie Bagley, violin
James Douglas, piano
Drew Hays, baritone saxophone
Boja Kragulj, clarinet
Nick Pool, baritone saxophone
Nicole Strum, baritone saxophone
Steve Stusek, saxophone
Jason Wallace, baritone saxophone
Skye van Duuren is a composer who works primarily with jazz and soundtrack music, with
influences ranging from his classical training to hard rock and pop music; recently he has
begun to delve into music for theater. He is currently a student of Mark Engebretson and
Alejandro Rutty at UNCG.
Stairways is somewhat of a jazz chart, a product of the composer's exploration of big band
arranging techniques, extended harmonies and klangfarbenmelodie or "tone color melody".
The main theme, presented each time by the alto saxophone, is framed and extrapolated
upon by the rest of the ensemble. It is nearly always accompanied by the recurring motive
of ascending rhythmic patterns, in turn presented by full ensemble sections featuring the
tone color melody.
Anton Webern was born in Vienna, Austria in 1883, and died in 1945 when he was
mistakenly shot by an American soldier in Salzburg. Webern attended Vienna University
from 1902, studying musicology with Guido Adler. Having studied composition under Arnold
Schoenberg, he is known as one of the main figures of the so-called “Second Viennese
School” of composers.
Like Schoenberg, Webernsʼ early works are in a late Romantic style, and also like his
mentor, Webern went through a period of “free atonality” in the early twentieth-century. His
later works are masterpieces using Schoenbergʼs method of composing with twelve tones,
and many of his works display ingenious explorations of twelve tone rows using internally
symmetrical structures.
Webernʼs Quartet for violin, tenor saxophone and piano, Op. 22 dates from 1928 and was
published in 1930. It is among the most original works he wrote during this period. The two
movements, Sehr massig and Sehr schwungvoll are brief and sparse, but at the same time
intensely packed with musical meaning, structure, and—unusual for Webern at this time—
freedom. The first movement most closely resembles a sonata form, while the second is
akin to a rondo.
Michael Gordonʼs music merges subtle rhythmic invention with incredible power
embodying, in the words of The New Yorkerʼs Alex Ross, “the fury of punk rock, the
nervous brilliance of free jazz and the intransigence of classical modernism.” Over the past
25 years, Gordon has produced a strikingly diverse body of work, ranging from large-scale
pieces for high-energy ensembles to major orchestral commissions to works conceived
specifically for the recording studio. Transcending categorization, this music represents the
collision of mysterious introspection and brutal directness. Born in Miami Beach in 1956,
Gordon holds a Bachelor of Arts from New York University and a Masters of Music from the
Yale School of Music. He is Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of the internationally-renowned
Bang on a Can Festival.
The Low Quartet is a celebration of the rich, low, reedy register of the bass instruments --
the register that usually carries the flow line that holds up the busier stuff on top. I thought it
was time to give them some action -- a clumsy, fast-moving, hard-driving dance, like fat
cows grooving. I wrote The Low Quartet for the low instruments of the world.
Cody Curtis is composer and singer/songwriter who is currently working on his Masters in
Composition at UNCG. He grew up in Memphis, TN and completed his undergraduate
degree, a BM in Music Theory, at Union University. In 2009, he won “Most Outstanding
Composition” at the Southern Chapter of the CMS conference for his work, Cosmusicos. He
is the composer-in-residence at Caldwell Academy and the music director at Shepherdʼs
Fellowship.
Under the Name of Sanders is a clarinet concerto, written specifically for Boja Kragulj.
This piece explores various realms of enchantment, from simple and romantic to complex
and experimental. It is dedicated to my wife, Melody.
Yannan Li is currently a second year DMA piano performance major at UNCG School of
Music, studying with Dr. Andrew Willis. She earned her Bachelorʼs degree of Music in
China and Masterʼs degree in piano performance from Syracuse University, NY, where she
studied with Dr. Fred Karpoff. Yannan was a prize winner in 2007 Empire State Competition
(New York Music Teachers Association Convention) and 2007 Thousand Island
International Competition. She was also a finalist in 2005 KAWAI Piano Competition in
Xiamen, China. Last May she performed with the UNCG Orchestra after winning the 2009
Concerto Competition. Yannan is very active in teaching, accompanying and piano
chamber music playing. This summer, she is going to have two solo recitals and one trio
concert in her hometown, Hangzhou, China.
Although a performance major, Yannan has always been interested in composition. She
enjoyed arranging music on the piano since very young age. In Syracuse she took
secondary composition study with Dr. Andrew Waggoner and wrote some short piano
works. Last year she studied orchestration with Dr. Mark Engebretson. The wind ensemble
and string orchestra works she wrote received affirming comments.
Theme and Variations, composed in spring, 2010, is conceived from one of Liʼs early
piano works dated back to spring, 2007. The nine-note theme (played by the clarinet solo)
is based on a counterpoint exercise given by her instructor, Dr. Waggoner. The piece is
comprised of a short theme (interlude) and five episodes in contrasting moods. The theme
(motif) is freely developed and represented in various manners, sometime as barely a light,
almost unrecognizable sketch. Eventually, it is built into a rhythmic and powerful tutti
followed by a surprisingly tranquillo ending.
