THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS NEW MUSIC ENSEMBLE

Wednesday, April 25, 7:30 PM Bates Recital Hall

DIRECTOR

Dan Welcher VISITING COMPOSER

David Gompper CLARINET SOLOIST

Jonathan Gunn

This concert will last approximately two hours with one intermission

PROGRAM

Keith Allegretti

Elegy and Tarantella (2018)

(b. 1989) Russell Pinkston

Off Leash—A Celebration of Life with Dogs (2016)

(b. 1949)

Little Dog

On the Trail Home Alone Eddie and Thelma Sleeping Dogs At the Beach Old Friend Letting Go Remembering

Intermission

David Gompper

Butterfly Dance (2001)

(b. 1954) David Gompper

Traceur II (2016)

Jonathan Gunn, clarinet

PLEASE SILENCE YOUR ELECTRONIC DEVICES

ABOUT THE PROGRAM Elegy and Tarantella Keith Allegretti Born: 1989, Santa Fe, New Mexico Composed: 2018 Premiered: Tonight’s performance is the premiere Duration: 9 minutes Instrumentation: flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, trumpet, trombone, percussion, piano, violins, viola, cello, bass A native of Santa Fe, New Mexico, Keith Allegretti is a composer and pianist who enjoys working comfortably in many genres, including chamber, orchestral, vocal, and electronic music, and even musical theater. His music has been performed in Santa Fe, Houston, Berlin, Ann Arbor, New York and elsewhere by professional and amateur ensembles, including Santa Fe New Music, Quartetto Indaco, the Rice University Chorale, the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, Circuit Bridges, and the Santa Fe Community Orchestra. From the composer: While composing Elegy and Tarantella, I began to conceive of an extramusical connection between two seemingly unrelated genres. Elegies, typically sung or played at funerals, have potentially grotesque associations, simply through their reference to the dead. The Tarantella, meanwhile, similarly confronts our morbid fascination with the macabre, as this frenzied, ritualistic dance was traditionally associated tarantism in 15th to 17th century Italy, a psychological condition of “dancing mania” believed to arise from the bites of spiders. Elegy and Tarantella juxtaposes these two musical sections of wildly different moods: a slow, flowing, dirge-like opening followed by an extended, energetic dance. The transition between the two is gradual and seamless, so that the listener cannot tell precisely when one ends and the other begins, effectively creating a single accelerating trajectory from beginning to end.

Off Leash Russell Pinkston Born: January 1, 1949, Brooklyn, New York Composed: 2016—commissioned by Texas Performing Arts and The University of Texas New Music Ensemble Premiered: September 9, 2016 in McCullough Theatre at The University of Texas at Austin by the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble Duration: 25 minutes Instrumentation: flute, clarinet, vibraphone, percussion, piano, violins, viola, cello, double bass Russell Pinkston is a composer, teacher, and sound designer who currently lives in Austin, Texas. He has composed music in a wide variety of styles and genres, from choral, chamber, and symphonic works, to electronic music for modern dance. In recent years, he has specialized in writing interactive compositions for acoustic instruments and electronic sounds, and he has developed a number of software tools for real-time audio processing and score following. About Off Leash, the composer writes: In her book Dog Songs, the poet Mary Oliver writes, “of all the sights I love in this world—and there are plenty—very near the top of the list is this one: dogs without leashes.” It is a sight that I love, as well. Dogs are always in the moment, experiencing life in a way that most of us haven’t been able to do since we were very young, if ever. And when they are off leash, able to run and play and explore the world without the usual restraints we impose on them, we get to see dogs as the free spirits they truly are, and that we might like to be. They hurl themselves headlong into life, completely comfortable in their own skin, unconcerned with the past or the future, holding nothing back, running until they drop with exhaustion, then getting up and running some more. When writing these pieces, I wanted to capture a few classic dog behaviors, as well as some memories I have of specific dogs I have known—their unique personalities, the arcs of their lives from beginning to end, and some of the feelings I have had while sharing all that with them. I hope this music will evoke similar images and memories in the minds of other dog lovers, and remind them of the many great joys of sharing life with dogs.

Butterfly Dance David Gompper Composed: 2001 Premiere: Moscow on April, 24, 2001 in Rachmaninoff Hall at the Moscow Conservatory of Music by the ensemble Studio New Music, Vladimir Tarnopolski, director Estimated duration: 9 minutes Instrumentation: for clarinet, violin, viola, cello and piano From the composer: This is work is based on an American Hopi Indian tune of the same name (recorded in the 1950s on Canyon Records CR-7053), and consists of two parts: the first as a preparation although aesthetically removed but motivically based on the second part, a more straightforward rendition of the tune itself. The idea was to suggest an experience, as a non-native American, witnessing an Indian dance, outside, in a semi-circle, at dusk. For only with time and patience does one find they enter into the dynamic and rhythmic pacing of the celebratory dance.

Traceur II David Gompper Born: 1954, San Diego, California Composed: August 31, 2016. Recorded January 17, 2017 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Cadogan Hall, Emmanuel Siffert conductor, Michael Norsworthy, soloist. Premiere: The premiere of Traceur II (sinfonietta version) took place at Boston Conservatory, Doug Perkins, conductor, on February 9, 2018, and tonight’s concert Duration: 22 minutes Instrumentation: flute, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, French horn, trumpet, trombone, glockenspiel, vibraphone, percussion, celesta, piano, solo clarinet, violins, viola, cello, bass From the composer: This composition, an orchestrated expansion of Traceur for clarinet and piano, is based on a series of sketches that were generated at the MacDowell Artist Colony in New Hampshire in December and January of 2013-2014, ideas generated from the descending order of fractions (1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, etc.) that create interesting symmetrical properties (the Farey series). While this trench work served as a somewhat obtuse structural foundation, the surface and expression of the music is very much related to the experience—mostly imagined—of the art of Parkour, and the person known as a traceur, who as a skilled runner and jumper often performs acrobatic feats of flight (always choreographed). This work is about the idea of tracing a path, a person trying to run as fast as possible into (but not around) rails and obstacles with minimal energy and without slowing down. This work was made possible by a grant from the Fromm Music Foundation.

ABOUT JONATHAN GUNN Jonathan Gunn is a versatile artist with a varied career as an educator, soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral performer. Currently, Mr. Gunn serves as the assistant professor of clarinet at the Butler School of Music at The University of Texas at Austin. Appointed by Maestro Paavo Järvi to the position of associate principal and E-flat clarinet of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in 2004, Mr. Gunn served as principal clarinet from 2011 to 2016 before joining the faculty at the Butler School of Music. Prior to joining the Cincinnati Symphony, he was the principal clarinetist of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, and has performed as guest principal clarinet with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on multiple occasions and has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh, and Colorado Symphony Orchestras. Committed to the education of the next generation of clarinetists, Mr. Gunn gives master classes and recitals around the country, and has served on the faculties of the Buffet-Crampon Summer Academy, the Aria International Summer Academy and the National Youth Orchestra of the USA. Prior to joining the faculty at The University of Texas, he served on the faculties of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Indiana-Purdue University Fort Wayne, Goshen College, Andrews University and Seton Hill University. Born in Sheffield, England, Mr. Gunn started his musical career playing violin and piano and began studying the clarinet after moving to the United States at age eleven. He received a bachelor of music from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and a master of music from the Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University. Jonathan is married to Jennifer Gunn, who plays piccolo and flute with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Gunn is a D’Addario artist and musician advisor, a Buffet Group USA Performing Artist and plays exclusively on Buffet-Crampon clarinets.

ABOUT DAVID GOMPPER David Gompper has lived and worked professionally as a pianist, a conductor, and a composer in New York, San Diego, London, Nigeria, Michigan, Texas and Iowa. He studied at the Royal College of Music in London with Jeremy Dale Roberts, Humphrey Searle and pianist Phyllis Sellick. After teaching in Nigeria, he received his doctorate at the University of Michigan, taught at the University of Texas, Arlington, and since 1991 has been Professor of Composition and Director of the Center for New Music at the University of Iowa. In 2002-2003 Gompper was in Russia as a Fulbright Scholar, teaching, performing and conducting at the Moscow Conservatory. In 2009 he received an Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York City. Gompper’s compositions have been performed in such venues as Carnegie, Lincoln Center and Merkin Halls (New York), Wigmore Hall (London), Konzerthaus (Vienna) and the Bolshoi Hall (Moscow). Wolfgang David and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra recorded his Violin Concerto for a Naxos CD, and his song cycle The Animals, based on the poetry of Marvin Bell, was released on an Albany disc in June 2012. His Double Concerto, written for Wolfgang David, violin and Timothy Gill, cello and Principal of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO), was premiered in March 2013. He received a 2013 Fromm Commission to write a Clarinet Concerto for Michael Norsworthy and BMOP (Boston Modern Orchestra Project), Gil Rose, director, which will be premiered in the spring of 2016. During the fall of 2014, he completed a work for clarinet and piano called Traceur, which was recorded with Michael Norsworthy for a CD to be released fall of 2015. Finally, he is working on a Cello Concerto to be premiered in the fall of 2016, and recorded by the RPO in January of 2017.

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS NEW MUSIC ENSEMBLE

FLUTE

TRUMPET

VIOLIN

Zach Warren

Matthew Harper

Sara Sasaki

OBOE

TROMBONE

Madison Pregler

Eric Gomez

Sean Riley VIOLA

Ruben Balboa CLARINET

PERCUSSION

Nick Brown

Kellen King

CELLO

Jordan Walsh

Kelvin Lee

BASS CLARINET

Gilbert Garcia

Josh Barker

DOUBLE BASS PIANO

BASSOON/CONTRABASSOON

Timothy George

Katia Osorio

Andrew Q Langman

FRENCH HORN

CELESTE

Ash Fulkerson

Andrew Q Langman

James Tabata ASSIST. DIRECTOR

Alex Johnson

UPCOMING BUTLER OPERA CENTER PRODUCTION

Falstaff

Friday, April 27, 7:30 PM

by Guiseppe Verdi

Sunday, April 29, 4:00 PM

CONDUCTOR

All performances in

Kelly Kuo

McCullough Theatre

DIRECTOR

Robert DeSimone

ABOUT THE OPERA

Falstaff revolves around the farcical (and generally thwarted) efforts of the “fat knight,” Sir John Falstaff, to seduce two married women to gain access to their husbands’ wealth. Shining with originality and composed when Verdi was nearly 80, this opera is proof that age took nothing from the master.

TICKETS

QUESTIONS?

music.utexas.edu/concerts

[email protected]

UPCOMING SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CONCERT

The University of Texas Symphony Orchestra Monday, April 30, 7:30 PM Bates Recital Hall

CONDUCTOR

W.A. Mozart

Gerhardt Zimmermann

Symphony No. 40 in G minor

SAXOPHONE SOLOIST

Henri Tomasi

Calvin Wong

Concerto for Alto Saxophone Edward Elgar “Nimrod” from Enigma Variations Hector Berlioz Rákóczi March

TICKETS

QUESTIONS?

music.utexas.edu/concerts

[email protected]

UPCOMING CONCERTS AND EVENTS

The University of Texas Butler Collage Series Thursday, April 26, 7:30 PM Recital Studio, MRH 2.608

The University of Texas Wind Ensemble Sunday, April 29, 4:00 PM Bates Recital Hall

The University of Texas Harp Ensemble Sunday, April 29, 7:30 PM Bates Recital Hall

The University of Texas Symphony Orchestra Monday, April 30, 7:30 PM Bates Recital Hall

SPONSORED BY

For more information about Butler School of Music concerts and events, visit our online calendar at music.utexas.edu/calendar. Become a member of The Butler Society and help us successfully launch tomorrow’s brightest performers, teachers, composers and scholars. Make a gift today at music.utexas.edu/giving

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN • COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS

SARAH AND ERNEST BUTLER SCHOOL OF MUSIC

Douglas Dempster, Dean

Mary Ellen Poole, Director