TheMSU College of Music launches an ambitious performance schedule Friday. The program, titled Passion and Contrasts, is a guest solo piano recital with Dmitri Vorobiev of the University of North Carolina.
Along with guest musicians, the slate includes many performances by members of the MSU faculty.
In all, the MSU College of Music’s Encore! 2022-23 season is packed with more than 120 events. They include 66 guest musicians and artist faculty, along with more than 600 student performers. There are 21 ensembles, with programs in genres from jazz to classical to opera, in venues ranging from the Wharton Center to smaller concert sites in the Music Building.
The popular Joanne and Bill Church West Circle Series will present a Best of Baroque program on Oct. 10. Professor Deborah Moriarty chairs the College of Music’s piano area. She points out that the series focuses on faculty, not guest artists.
“I actually don’t like to call them faculty artists; I like to call them artists, because that’s what they are,” Moriarty said. “They’re not just people who are on our faculty. We have such a wonderful faculty, that it’s wonderful to be able to demonstrate their artistry and their commitment to performing for the College of Music and for the community.”
The Oct. 10 program includes a new faculty member, pianist Eric Zuber. Moriarty has recruited Zuber to MSU for more than two years; he’s been a medalist in more than a dozen international competitions.
The first MSU Wind Symphony concert of the season is Sept. 29. Director of Bands Kevin Sedatole also wanted to quickly focus on a new member of the MSU faculty, oboeist Nermis Mieses.
“I am so excited for the public to hear her and for our students to work with this kind of artist,” Sedatole said. “Currently, she’s on tour with an orchestra in Europe, which is just finishing up. Our faculty artist is over in Europe right now, playing in Royal Albert Hall; the next venue for her is with us!”
Sedatole says shortly after hiring Mieses, he asked her to perform a concerto which he says a lot of oboeists “will not take on,” Óscar Navarro’s Legacy Concerto. While on tour, she’s been working on the piece and communicating with Sedatole about her progress and her needs for the concert on the 29th.
On Sept. 30, it’s the MSU Symphony Orchestra’s turn. Director of Orchestras Octavio Más-Arocas has planned a concert featuring Mahler’s first symphony, The Titan. He describes the first work in their first concert of the season as, among other things, both “devastating and optimistic.”
"Everything goes there, from a beautiful middle to horrifying sounds, to very delicate, to very enthusiastic and powerful endings. Everything goes in there," Más-Arocas added. "So, I think it’s a fantastic way to start our season. It is such a ride for the orchestra. You cannot go wrong with any of the Mahler symphonies.”
Editor's note: The MSU College of Music is a financial supporter of WKAR.
