Contact Us

Department of Music

University of Wyoming

1000 E. University Ave., Dept. 3037

Laramie, WY 82071

Phone: (307) 766-5242

Fax: (307) 766-5326

Email: musicdpt@uwyo.edu

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Upcoming Performances

Spring 2021 Virtual Events

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UW Symphony 2020-2021

See the UW Symphony Brochure for descriptions

Dr. Michael Griffith, conductor

Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote To a Mouse in 1785. But the line, “The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft a-gley,” is just as true in 2020, isn’t it? That’s the original form of “The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.” The more I plan, the more Burns’ words ring in my ears. 

Fall will be very different: players must be socially distanced, 10’ for winds, 6’ for everyone else. The orchestra will therefore be small, very small. Some musicians will play one concert, some the second. Concerts will be live-streamed, with no audience in the hall. If we must pivot to a virtual university (the best laid plans…), we will create musical, artistic videos for you.

Choosing repertoire for such a situation was a great challenge. I think we have music that you’ll find fascinating, and for the students that is challenging and worthy. Copland’s Appalachian Spring was originally composed for 13 players. Stravinsky’s In Memoriam Dylan Thomas, 9. I’ve also chosen works by Bach, J.C. Bach, Francesca Caccini, Ives, and Mozart, and that work perfectly in these circumstances. 

Just as Black Lives Matter, Black composers matter. Our repertoire will include an overture-symphony by Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the overture to Scott Joplin’s opera Treemonisha, and Three Nigerian Dances by Samuel Akpabot. The Chevalier was a contemporary of Mozart, Joplin wrote much more than Ragtime, and Akpabot was a distinguished Nigerian musician and my friend in graduate school. It will be a pleasure to explore this music.

In spring we may be back to normal, or perhaps not. So for March I’ve scheduled the Mahler Symphony No. 4: either in its full splendor, or in a brilliant reduction for 14-20 musicians. The Berlin Philharmonic restarted their season with this version. Maureen Boddicker will be the soprano soloist for the Mahler, and Nathan Snyder the tenor soloist for the Stravinsky. The season will then end with the Jacoby Competition. The finalists might be able to do full, Romantic concerti, or might have to choose solos designed for a small accompaniment.

Livestream dates: October 1 and November 19, 2020; March 18 and May 6, 2021


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UW Music Faculty Potpourri Concert

February 21, 2021, 3:00 p.m.
Livestream from the BCPA Concert Hall

Get the Program

 

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UW Chamber Orchestra: Baroque Alchemy

February 25, 2021, 7:30 p.m. 
Livestream from the BCPA Concert Hall

Dr. Beth Vanderborgh, director

 

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Jacoby Finalists' Recital

March 7, 2021, 7:30 p.m.
Livestream from the BCPA Concert Hall

With UW going completely virtual for the last few weeks of the semester, the UW Symphony’s traditional Jacoby Concert in May had to be cancelled. Instead, the winner – chosen at the audition round – will perform with the UWSO on March 18. The other finalists will present this recital, with piano.

These performers include the Jacoby Runner-Up, soprano Tamara Caetano, and the winner of a special Judges’ Prize,  Ben Facundo, saxophone. The entire evening will include these exciting performers and their repertoire:

Yuqing He, piano, and Dr. Theresa Bogard, piano: Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 15, movement 3

Tamara Alvarenga Caetano, soprano, and Dr. Nathália Kato, piano: Handel, “E pur così in un giorno…Piangerò la sorte mia” from Giulio Cesare

YunYao Liu , piano and Dr. Chi-Chen Wu, piano: Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 9, movement 1

Madison Ryan, violin, and Dr. Nathália Kato, piano: Shostakovich, Sonata for Violin, Percussion, and String Orchestra

Ben Facundo, saxophone, and Yuqing He, piano: Van der Roost, Images

Get the Program

 

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Wind symphony

UW Wind Symphony

March 11, 2021, 7:30 p.m.
Livestream from the BCPA Concert Hall

Dr. Robert Belser, conductor

Get the Program

 

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The Complete Works of Gabriel Fauré for Violin & Piano, with John Fadial, violin, and Chi-Chen Wu, piano

March 12, 2021, 7:30 p.m.
Livestream from the BCPA Concert Hall

Drs. John Fadial and Chi-Chen Wu will livestream the complete works for violin and piano by Fauré.

Gabriel Urbain Fauré (1845-1924) was a pivotal figure in French music who helped to move composition from post-Beethoven romanticism into the modern age of Cocteau and Stravinsky. Trained as a young boy at the famous École Niedermeyer, to be an organist and choirmaster, he gained complete mastery of counterpoint and classical forms, but also of the ancient church modes (or tonalities). It was through his thorough, facile, and even virtuoso handling of these musical basics that he was able write the highly chromatic 20th century music that remained elegantly grounded in a deeply traditional, universally expressive language.

The program will feature music from every period of Fauré’s life, culminating in his final sonata that would usher in the modernism of his students, including Maurice Ravel and Nadia Boulanger, who would become the teacher of Aaron Copland and Astor Piazzola. 

Get the Program

About Faure

 

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Concertmaster Fund Recital

March 20, 2021, 7:30 p.m.
Livestream from the BCPA Concert Hall

Jessica Caviness, violin 
The Ostara String Quartet 

Dr. Nathalia Kato, piano

Haydn - String quartet Op. 76, No. 5 
Grieg - Sonata for Violin and Piano in C minor, op. 45 

Saint-Saëns - Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso 

 

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UW Symphonic Band

March 22, 2021, 7:30 p.m.
Livestream from the BCPA Concert Hall

Get the Program

 

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Combined UW Jazz Concert

March 25, 2021, 7:30 p.m.
Livestream from the BCPA Concert Hall

The Wyoming Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble 2, and the Jazz Combos will present a livestream concert featuring 30 minutes of material from Jazz Ensemble 2, pre-recorded materials from the combos, and closing out with 30 minutes of material from the WJE.

Get the Program

 

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Piano Extravaganza

March 28, 2021, 3:00 p.m.
Livestream from the BCPA Concert Hall

Featuring: Ana Huerta Fernandez, piano Tarje Grover, piano Yunyao Liu, piano Yimu Wang, piano

Get the Program

 

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UWYO Percussion Ensemble Concert SP2021

Premiering April 5, 2021, 7:30 p.m.

The UWYO Percussion Ensemble, directed by Andy Wheelock, will present its Spring Performance on Monday, April 5, at 7:30pm MST.  The ensemble will perform: “Katraterra,” by Jim Casella; “Vespertine Formations,” by Christopher Deane; “Sharpened Stick,” by Brett William Deitz; “Donner,” by David Skidmore; and “Sin Timbal,” by Poncho Sanchez (arr. by Mayor and Scheitroma).  

 

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Blake McGee and Chi-Chen Wu Faculty Duo 

April 24, 2021, 7:30 p.m.
Livestream from the BCPA Concert Hall

Program

Sonatina pour Clarinette et Piano (1956) Bohuslav Martinů
(1890-1959)

The Enchanted Glen, Fantasia for Clarinet and piano (1996) Jennifer Margaret Barker (b. 1965)

The Blue Bag (2011) Adolphus Hailstork (b. 1941)

Three Poems for Clarinet and Piano (2012) Emily Rutherford (b. 1993)

Grand Duo Concertant, Op. 48 (1816) Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826)

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Ben Markley/Bob Bowman Duo

April 28, 2021, 7:30 p.m.
Livestream from the BCPA Concert Hall

Program TBA.

 

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Faculty Chamber Concert

May 7, 2021, 7:30 p.m.
Livestream from the BCPA Concert Hall

Program TBA.

 

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Faculty Chamber Concert

May 8, 2021, 7:30 p.m.
Livestream from the BCPA Concert Hall

Program TBA.

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UW Jazz Performances 2020-2021

Recordings TBA

Dr. Ben Markley, Director of Jazz Studies

In place of performances this semester, the Wyoming Jazz Ensemble will be releasing its second commercially released recording.

The album will be recorded in a remote fashion with the students recording their parts individually at their homes and then submitting them to be recorded. Additionally, many of the tracks on the recording will also come with a video of group playing the tune.

The recording will be released in the spring semester. The group plans to release videos of individual tracks as they are finished.

The Fall 2020 Archive provides access to existing recordings.


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UW Choirs 2020-2021

This academic year, the University of Wyoming choirs have been learning and making musical experiences together through virtual platforms.

The Fall 2020 Archive provides access to existing recordings by UW choirs, including Collegiate Chorale, Civic Chorus, Bel Canto, and Singing Statesmen.

Watch for additional recordings coming Spring 2021.


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Contact Us

Department of Music

University of Wyoming

1000 E. University Ave., Dept. 3037

Laramie, WY 82071

Phone: (307) 766-5242

Fax: (307) 766-5326

Email: musicdpt@uwyo.edu

Find us on Instagram (Link opens a new window)Find us on Facebook (Link opens a new window)Find us on Twitter (Link opens a new window)Find us on LinkedIn (Link opens a new window)Find us on YouTube (Link opens a new window)