September 2010
Program Notes
EPSO Anniversary Gala — The Grammy-nominated Eroica Trio performs for the El Paso Symphony Orchestra’s 80th anniversary celebration Saturday, Aug. 28, at the El Paso Museum of Art. Cocktails are 6:30 p.m. with dinner at 7:30 p.m. and the Eroica Trio at 8:30 p.m. Formal attire. RSVP by Aug. 21. Tickets: $125 ($250 couples; $1,250 table for 10). Information: 532-3776.
NMSU Department of Music — Performances are at 7:30 p.m. at NMSU’s Atkinson (Music Center) Recital Hall, unless listed otherwise. Ticket information: (575) 646-2421 or nmsu.edu/~music/.
• Rhonda Taylor, saxophone — Wednesday, Sept. 1, as part of its faculty recital series.
• Ron Stabinsky, saxophone — Thursday, Sept. 2, as part of its guest artist recital series.
• “A Pair of Docs” — Monday, Sept. 20, as part of its faculty recital series. Trombonist Alan Kaplan performs with guest trombonist and UTEP music professor Steve Wilson.
• “Golden Age of Trombone” — Guest artist Ken Shifrin performs at Sunday, Sept. 26.
El Paso Chopin Music Festival — The 2010 fall series of piano concerts is sponsored by El Paso Community College and the El Paso Chopin Festival Society. This year’s concerts are 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 4, Oct. 2 and Oct. 23, at the Chamizal National Memorial, 800 S. San Marcial. Admission is free, but people are advised to arrive early because the concerts are almost always standing room only. Information: 584-1595 or chopinfest@sbcglobal.net. Web: elpaso-chopin.com.
• Sept. 4 — Claire Huangci, Winner of the 2010 U. S. Chopin Piano Competition.
• Oct. 2 — Agustin Anievas. Dubbed a “Lion of the Keyboard” by The New York Times, Anievas was selected by Angel Records to mark the centennial of Rachmaninoff’s birth by recording all of his concertos and preludes. His additional releases include recordings of Brahms, Chopin, Liszt, and Schubert. A graduate of the Julliard School, Anievas has performed in the leading halls of Europe and the United States.
• Oct. 23 — Lucy Scarbrough. Scarbrough has performed as a soloist with major orchestras, has taught at the Chicago Musical College, and is the founder and director of the El Paso Civic Orchestra and the El Paso Chopin Music Festival. Among her many awards are the Minnie Stevens Piper Statewide Award, the El Paso Women’s Hall of Fame, and the El Paso YWCA Reach Award for the Arts. She was invited to serve on the Selection Committee for the Chopin Foundation of the United States 2005 and upcoming 2010 Chopin Piano Competitions.
Opera For All — El Paso Opera’s 17th season opens with a tribute to 9/11 7:30 p.m. Sept. 11 at The Plaza Theatre.
The evening features tributes to the victims of 9/11 and the victims of the Juarez violence with a theme of global unity through the music of Puccini, Verdi and many other great favorites Highlights include the love duet “Un bel di” from “Madama Butterfly.” Special guests include New York City Opera star, soprano Lauren Flanigan. Tickets: $25. Information: 581-5534 or epopera.org.
UTEP Department of Music — Performances are at 7:30 p.m. at Fox Fine Arts Recital Hall, unless listed otherwise. Information: 747-5606 or utep.edu/music.
• Larry White, percussion — 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 12, as part of its Faculty Recital Series. Joining White is NMSU percussion professor Fred Bugbee, band directors and UTEP percussion alumni Calvin Edwards and Art Avila, El Paso Symphony principal percussionist Leo Valenzuela, UTEP graduate assistant Jesus Diaz and fellow faculty members Dena Kay Jones and Steve Wilson. Tickets: $3-$8.
• Carmen Diaz Walker, soprano — 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 17, as part of its Faculty Recital Series. Tickets: $3-$8.
• Megumi Masaki — The guest pianist performs as part of the “Ivories on the Border” series Saturday, Sept. 18. The award-winning Canadian pianist Megumi Masaki presents music written exclusively for piano and videos. Masaki has established herself as an international artist renowned for her warmth and rapport with audiences and her superb musicianship. Tickets: $5-$12 (free for UTEP faculty/staff).
• “Pair of Docs 3” — 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 19, as part of its Faculty Recital Series. Dr. Steve Wilson presents the third concert in the “Pair of Docs” series with guest Dr. Allan Kaplan of NMSU. The concert will feature a variety of trombone solo and ensemble selections from Baroque to contemporary. Tickets: $3-$8.
• UTEP Jazz Ensembles — Wednesday, Sept. 29, at Fox Fine Arts Recital Hall, hosted by the UTEP Department of Music. Tickets: $3-$5 (free for children, UTEP students, faculty and staff).
• UTEP Wind Symphony — Thursday, Sept. 30. Tickets: $3-$5 (free for children, UTEP students, faculty and staff).
• “Celebrating Melody” — 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 3, as part of its Faculty Recital Series. UTEP Music Professors flutist Melissa Colgin-Abeln, pianist Dominic Dousa, and guests oboe player Andrea Shaheen and flutist Luke V. Franco gather for an entrancing afternoon of works by Beethoven, Milhaud, Saint-Seans, Dring and more. Tickets: $3-$8.
• UTEP Orchestra - Tuesday, Oct. 5. Tickets: $3-$5 (free for children, UTEP students, faculty and staff).
2011 Young Musicians Competitions — El Paso Summer Music Festival 2011 seeks classical musicians age 8 to 19 in all instruments and voice for its Young Musicians Competitions. Six finalists will be chosen and winner receives $2,000 as well as the opportunity to perform in the Festival. Applications available online beginning Wednesday, Sept. 15 at epsmf.org. Information: 449-0619.
Mesilla Valley Musical Art Benefit — Mesilla Valley Musical Arts will host its inaugural fundraising concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 19, at the Rio Grande Theatre, 211 N. Downtown Mall in Las Cruces to help launch the organization, under the direction of NMSU’s Lisa Van Winkle. Complimentary champagne reception follows the performance. Tickets: $15. Information: (575) 523-6403.
El Paso Symphony Orchestra – The Symphony’s 2010-2011 season begins with guest pianist Valentina Lisitsa at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Sept. 24-25, in the Plaza Theatre. Maestra Sarah Ioannides conducts. Selections include Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries,” Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 5, op. 67, C minor and Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2, op. 83, B-flat major. Tickets: $11-$37, plus service charges (Ticketmaster). Information: 532-3776 or epso.org.
Lisitsa is at home in a vast repertoire ranging from Bach and Mozart to Shostakovich and Bernstein and her orchestral repertory boasts more than forty concerti. Born in Kiev, she began to study piano at the age of three and performed her first solo recital at four. Among recent collaborations have been tours with Sao Paolo Symphony, the New Zealand Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic and Prague Chamber Orchestras. Lisitsa has recorded eight CDs and three DVDs including her best-selling set of Chopin’s 24 Etudes.
Assistant Conductor Andres Moran will lead the “Opening Notes” discussion of the evening’s program 6:30 p.m. prior to both performances in the Philanthropy Theatre.
‘Amazing Magical Musical Adventures’ — Las Cruces Friends of Chamber Music and No Strings Theatre Company present a monthly series of children’s programs at 2 p.m. selected Saturdays at the Black Box Theatre, 430 N. Downtown Mall, in Las Cruces. Material is aimed at audiences age 4-10, but all ages welcome. Admission: $5. Reservations recommended: (575) 523-1223 or no-strings.org.
The Sept. 25 performance is “Green Eggs and Ham” in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Dr. Seuss’s beloved classic, featuring singalong music, a story and a “surprise” snack.
The Oct. 23 performance is “The Stone Cutter and the Navajo Maiden.”
Daniel Narducci - Las Cruces Civic Concert Association presents the classic American baritone at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 30, at the Rio Grande Theatre, 211 N. Downtown Mall in Las Cruces. Narducci performs songs of legendary heroes and villains from Broadway to Hollywood, including Don Quixote, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde and the Phantom Of The Opera. Since his debut with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Narducci has appeared with many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras. Ticket information: (575) 521-4051.
LCSO with Judith Ingolfsson - Las Cruces Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Lonnie Klein opens its season with the guest violinist Oct. 2-3 at NMSU’s Atkinson Music Recital Hall. The Gold Medal winner of the prestigious International Violin Competition in Indianapolis 1998 performs Berlioz’s “Roman Carnival Overture,” Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, Op. 35, Márquez’s “Conga del Fuego Nuevo” and Rimsky-Korzakov’s “Capriccio espagnol.” Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: $35, $40 and $45. Information: (575) 646-3709 or lascrucessymphony.com.
A luncheon with Maestro Klein is 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 30, at Ramada Palms Hotel Conference Center, featuring a preview of the performance’s music. Cost: $16.
A Friday at the Symphony dress rehearsal is at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 1. Tickets are $15 ($5 students with ID).
Mark O’Connor — El Paso Pro-Musica opens its 2010-11 season with the violinist-fiddler Friday, Oct. 1, at the Scottish Rite Temple, 301 W. Missouri. Tickets: $25 ($20 senior/military, $5 student). Information: 833-9400 or eppm.org.
A product of America’s rich aural folk tradition as well as classical music, O’Connor has melded and shaped these influences into a new American Classical music, and a vision of an entirely American school of string playing. As The Los Angeles Times recently noted, he has
“crossed over so many boundaries, that his style is purely personal.”
‘Music Then and Now’ — The Bruce Nehring Consort’s opening season concerts are 7:30 p.m. Friday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 1 and 3, at The Chapel at Loretto Academy, 1400 Hardaway at Trowbridge. Bruce Nehring directed the Consort Singers. Guest performers are Lester Ackerman, organist, and The Quintessential Brass. Tickets: $15 ($10 senior/military; $5 students). Information: 534-7664.
Fall Music Festival — Bethany Christian Church’s music ministry under the direction of Vicki Myers hosts its annual festival at 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 3, at 10453 Springwood Drive. This year’s theme is “Higher Ground.”
The Chancel Choir and other church groups will perform. Day care provided. Refreshments will be served afterward. Admission is free, donation taken. Information: 592-5977.
‘Opera Scenes’ – Doña Ana Lyric Opera performs at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 7, at the NMSU Recital Hall, in Las Cruces. Conducted by Anderw Zimmerman. Tickets information: (575) 646-1986.
New Desert Harmony Singers — The community mixed chorus, directed by Dave Kinkaid, auditions singers for its annual summer concert at 6:30 p.m. every Thursday, at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, 225 W. Griggs in Las Cruces. Regular rehearsal begins at 7 p.m. Information: (575) 650-4417 or newdesertharmonysingers.blogspot.com.
New Horizons Symphony — The Orchestra is seeking new members for; all instruments welcome. Parts provided for non-traditional swing band instruments. Rehearsals are6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, at NMSU’s Atkinson Recital Hall. Information: Shawn Robinson, (270) 320-8340 or robinsp@nmsu.edu, or Carol Rehder, (575) 575-522-4272.
New Horizons is a national organization that gives seniors a venue for fulfilling their dreams of becoming musicians.
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