Empyrean Ensemble Celebrates 21 Years with 21 Premieres
For the past 20 years, Empyrean Ensemble has introduced Northern California audiences to the finest new works and 20th-century classics, energizing listeners with engaging, thought-provoking, eclectic performances. This year, UC Davis’ professional ensemble-in-residence will present 21 premieres for its 21st season, starting with the annual Fault Lines concert on Sunday, Nov. 16, 7 p.m., in the Studio Theatre of the Robert and Magrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. A pre-concert talk, “Demystifying the Music,” will take place at 6 p.m.
Tickets are $18 for adults and $9 for students and children. Purchase tickets online at MondaviArts.org, through the Mondavi Center ticket office at 530-754-2787 or 866-754-2787 (toll-free), or at the door. Accommodations for persons with disabilities are available upon request.
Fault Lines traditionally showcases new works by California composers, especially those with unique ties to the region. The 2008 concert will present works by Bruce Bennett, Beth Custer and Gloria Justen, Bay Area composers all. Empyrean will also feature two important Bay Area composers who have worked to mentor the contemporary music community: Olly Wilson, UC Berkeley professor emeritus and Academy of Arts and Letters member, and Wayne Peterson, San Francisco State University professor emeritus and 1992 Pulitzer Prize winner in music. Empyrean will juxtapose these local composers against the not-so-local master of 20th-century avant-garde composition, Igor Stravinksy; the ensemble will perform his seldom-heard “Elégie” for solo viola.
• Empyrean Ensemble: Fault Lines
• Sun., Nov. 16, 7 p.m.
• Studio Theatre, Mondavi Center
• $18 adults; $9 students, children
• 530-754-2787
866-754-2787 (toll-free)
MondaviArts.org
This season Empyrean Ensemble welcomes a new core player to its roster: Icelandic violinist Hrabba Atladottir, who has worked with numerous orchestras and ensembles, including the Metropolitan Opera, the New Jersey Symphony, Ensemble Sospeso and Either/Or, and has toured with Nigel Kennedy and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Empyrean is directed by composers Kurt Rohde and Laurie San Martin. While Rohde is in Rome throughout 2008–09 on fellowship for winning the prestigious Rome Prize, Mika Pelo, UC Davis’ newest faculty composer, will direct with San Martin.
For more Empyrean information, call 530-752-4492 or visit music.ucdavis.edu/empyrean.
For a complete schedule of Empyrean performances, please read on:
• Sun., Nov. 16, 7 p.m., Studio Theatre, Mondavi Center
Empyrean Ensemble: Fault Lines—New Works by California Composers
Contemporary chamber works by Olly Wilson, Bruce Bennett, Beth Custer, Wayne Peterson
and Gloria Justen, plus Stravinsky's “Elégie.”
• Sun., Jan. 25, 7 p.m., Studio Theatre, Mondavi Center
Empyrean Ensemble: Americana—American Themes in Music and Film
New works by Pablo Ortiz (accompanying early American silent film), Benjamin Boone,
Robin Estrada, Derek Keller and Aaron Travers. Also Charles Ives’ “Largo” and Pablo Ortiz’ arrangement of “Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean.”
• Sun., March 15, 7 p.m., Studio Theatre, Mondavi Center
Empyrean Ensemble: Hot Off the Press—All New Works by American Composers
New works by Mario Davidovsky, Sara Doncaster, Ed Martin, Petros Ovsepyan and Mika Pelo.
• Mon., June 1, 7 p.m., Studio Theatre, Mondavi Center
Empyrean Ensemble: New Music from Davis—Graduate Student Composers
New works written expressly for Empyrean by UC Davis graduate student composers
Hendel Almetus, An Tan, Ching-Yi Wang, Ben Irwin, Sue-Hye Kim, Garrett Shatzer
and Davide Verotta.
For a complete schedule of UC Davis Department of Music events, to request a season brochure, or to join the department mailing list, call 530-752-7896 or visit music.ucdavis.edu/events.