Student Chamber Ensembles perform noon concert
Thursday, March 9, 12:05 – 1 p.m., Recital Hall, Ann E. Pitzer Center, a Shinkoskey Noon Concert, free
From harp ensemble to flute choir, to saxophone quartet and piano four-hands, The Department of Music is excited to share the chamber music our students have been working on this quarter. Pete Nowlen, UC Davis lecturer in music, coordinates this program. More here.
Visiting Artist Lecture Series: Rina Banerjee, visual artist
Thursday, March 9, 4:30 – 6 p.m., Manetti Shrem Museum of Art
Rina Banerjee is a visual artist whose work draws on her transnational and personal history as an immigrant. Her paintings and sculptures use a wide range of materials and historical references to explore ethnicity, race, migration and American Diasporic histories. Banerjee has exhibited widely, including 14 international biennials such as the 57th Venice Biennial, Yokohama Triennale, and Kochi Biennial. In 2018, Banerjee’s first North America solo retrospective “Rina Banerjee: Make Me a Summary of the World” opened at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Her works are included in many private and public collections such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and Centre Pompidou.
Organized by the Department of Art and Art History. Supported by the UC Davis College of Letters and Science.
Mike Marshall and Choro Famoso perform at Pitzer Friday
Vibrant Afro-Brazilian rhythms will fill the Ann E. Pitzer Center when the UC Davis Department of Music presents Mike Marshall and Choro Famoso in concert. Choro Famoso interprets the breadth of the choro canon and highlights the malicia — playful maliciousness — that is an important part of the genre. As a music that is traditionally committed to memory and improvised upon, it allows the musicians to spontaneously arrange the music and challenge the other players to keep up, not unlike in jazz.
Choro, a virtuosic style that emerged in late 19th-century Brazil from a mixture of European popular dance forms and Afro-Brazilian rhythms, is enjoying a renaissance in Brazil and isgrowing in popularity in the United States and elsewhere. As a combination of European harmonic and African rhythmic sensibilities, choro mirrors the history of jazz in America.
In addition to Marshall on mandolin, the ensemble features UC Davis music lecturer Brian Rice, pandeiro; Andy Connell, clarinet and saxophone; and Colin Walker, seven-string guitar.
A three-time Grammy Award nominee, Marshall is best known as a mandolin player but is also proficient on many instruments. Early in his career, he was a member of the Dave Grisman Quintet and has led many groups performing a wide variety of music. Recently he has been part of a supergroup made up of classical and bluegrass-rooted musicians Joshua Bell, Edgar Meyer, Bela Fleck and Sam Bush. Choro Famoso and Marshall have recorded two albums together: Segundo Vez and Mike Marshall & Choro Famoso.
$12 Students and Children, $24 Adults (Open Seats)
Find more information and purchase tickets here.
Michael Barenboim & West-Eastern Divan Ensemble combine music and personality
March 10, 7:30 p.m., Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center
The program features Maurice Ravel: Sonata for Violin and Cello, Antonin Dvořák: Terzetto in C Major, Op. 74, Paul Hindemith: Trauermusik, George Enescu: Octet in C Major, Op. 7.
Over the course of their great friendship, Palestinian author/scholar Edward Said and Israeli conductor/pianist Daniel Barenboim realized the urgent need for an alternative way to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This idea evolved into the West-Eastern Divan, a group composed of of Arab and Israeli musicians, playing the treasures of classical music while defying fierce political divides in the Middle East and globally. The West-Eastern Divan Ensemble is the most recent imprint of this project and brings the highly praised artistry of the large orchestra into an intimate chamber music format. As the orchestra celebrates its 20th anniversary, Michael Barenboim leads this ensemble to spread the ideas behind the West Eastern Divan Orchestra even further and to give the public an opportunity to experience the musicians' unique artistry and personality up close.
Find more information and purchase tickets here.
UC Davis Department of Music presents a Mahler classic at Mondavi: ‘Resurrection’
Sunday, March 12, 7 – 9 p.m., Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center
A masterwork takes center stage when the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra, the University Chorus and Alumni Chorus join forces to perform Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection) on March 12 at the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.
The orchestra is directed and conducted by Christian Baldini and the choruses are directed and conducted by Erik Peregrine. Symphony No. 2 features guest artists Carrie Hennessey, soprano, and Julie Miller, mezzo-soprano.
The program also includes Mari Esabel Valverde’s Our Phoenix with text by Amir Rabiyah.
First performed in 1895, Resurrection allowed Mahler to further develop the creativity of “sound of the distance” and fabricating a “world of its own,” aspects already heard in his First Symphony. The work also reflects the composer’s lifelong view of the beauty of the afterlife.
This symphony was one of Mahler’s most popular and successful works during his lifetime.
This concert marks the first time that the University Chorus and Alumni Chorus have performed together since 2018.
The program is performed without an intermission and is anticipated to run one hour and 40 minutes.
Find more information and purchase tickets here.
Jazz Big Bands of UC Davis treat audiences next week
Tuesday, March 14, 7 p.m., Ann E. Pitzer Center
UC Davis's own Jazz "Big Bands" present songs from the Great American Songbook as well as a few contemporary works and sometimes feature student vocalists too. Tunes by Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock and many others are often presented.
Find more information and purchase tickets here.
Advanced Undergraduate Open Studios are next week
March 13 & 14, 4:30 – 6 p.m., Art Building, Room 205
The doors to the Advanced Undergraduate studios will be open to the public on Monday and Tuesday, March 13 and 14, from 4:30-6 p.m. Come by and see new work from students Ilsa Bauer, Emmanuel Camacho Larios, Emilie Kim, Jack Johnston-Glick, Merritt Pameila Hill and Ian McCue.
Find more information here.
Flesh and Frame at the Barn Gallery
March 9 – June 10, opening reception March 9, 5:30 – 8 p.m., Woodland
This exhibition explores works by nine California women artists that incorporate the human likeness into their work. Identity, sexism and equality, spirituality and body image are all threads running through the fabric of this exhibition.
Find more information here.
Coming Up
Russ Zokaites, Trombone
Thursday, March 16, 12:05 – 1 p.m., Recital Hall, Ann E. Pitzer Center, a Shinkoskey Noon Concert, free
20th- and 21st-century works for bass trombone and piano with Russ Zokaites, UC Davis lecturer in music.
The program features Jim Hopson: Meat Salad (2019), Alexi Lebedev: Concerto in One Movement (1947), Inez S. McComas: American Muscle (2014), Eguene Bozza: New Orleans (1962), and William Timmons: A Strange Wayfarer for Bass Trombone and Looping Station (2020).
Theatre: Outside the Lines, Winter 2023
March 16, 17, 18, 7 – 8:30 p.m., Hickey Gym, free
The Department of Theatre and Dance will present the winter 2023 edition of Outside the Lines on March 16-18 in the Hickey Gym. Performances begin at 7 p.m. and are free.
The program includes performances of new works by graduate and undergraduate students. The choreography has been developed under the guidance of Professor David Grenke.
Seating is limited. Please sign up for reservations for March 16, March 17, and March 18.
At Mondavi: Los Lobos; tickets still available
Saturday, March 18, 7:30 p.m., Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts
The journey of Los Lobos began in 1973, when David Hidalgo (vocals, guitar, and pretty much anything with strings), Louie Perez (drums, vocals, guitar), Cesar Rosas (vocals, guitar), and Conrad Lozano (bass, vocals, guitarrón) earned their stripes playing revved-up versions of Mexican folk music in restaurants and at parties. The band evolved in the 1980s as it tapped into L.A.’s burgeoning punk and college rock scenes. They were soon sharing bills with bands like the Circle Jerks, Public Image Ltd. and the Blasters, whose saxophonist, Steve Berlin, would eventually leave the group to join Los Lobos in 1984. That kind of sharp artistic turn has become Los Lobos’ trademark, serving to both fuel the band’s creativity and keep its fans engaged. More information and tickets here.
Art Social Media of the Week: For Women's History Month
