UA School of Music Sets New Tone for Musical Season

TUSCALOOSA, Ala – The University of Alabama School of Music will be sporting a brand new look and feel to its year-long season of over 200 performances.

Its well-known Celebrity Series, which brings internationally recognized artists to Alabama, has a more eclectic look this season with performances ranging from classical piano to gospel to bluegrass.

Attracting audiences from across Alabama and surrounding border states, the Celebrity Series provides the opportunity for musical arts enthusiasts to enjoy the sounds of performers from around the world.

“We have some exciting options this year under our Celebrity Series umbrella. For example, the hottest new group in Nashville, The Grascals will be coming to UA in September. On the other end of the spectrum, Sweet Honey in the Rock, an a capella group singing spirituals and jazz will be performing in the spring, balanced with one of the greatest keyboard artists of all time, Emanuel Ax.

“We are seeking to diversify our audience and to broaden and deepen their experience, and we want people in our doors who like all types of music,” said Skip Snead, director of the UA Music School.

“The Celebrity Series has become one of the premiere recital series in the United States,” Snead continued. “When you factor in the tremendous acoustics of the Moody Music Concert Hall, you get the sort of series normally found only in a major metropolitan center. The series is one of those things that makes Tuscaloosa a special place.”

The Celebrity Series is held in the Concert Hall of the Moody Music Building on the UA campus at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Celebrity Series subscriptions are $72 and $55, single ticket prices are $22, $15 for the general public and $7 for students.

CELEBRITY SERIES PERFORMANCES:

The Grascals—Friday, Sept. 8, 7:30 p.m.: Though it is nominally a new group, Dolly Parton has called their self-titled CD “one of the greatest albums I’ve ever listened to.” The Grascals have roots that reach back more than two decades of bluegrass history, as their paths have crossed and re-crossed in bluegrass ensembles like the Osborne Brothers, Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time and The Sidemen. The Grascals exhibit an appreciation for the innovative mingling of bluegrass and country music that has been a hallmark of the Nashville scene for more than 40 years. Already the group’s critically acclaimed debut has been nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album. Whether in the studio or on stage, their music both honors the past and forges into the future.

Edgar Meyer, Double Bass and Chris Thile, Mandolin—Sunday, Jan. 28, 3 p.m.: Fingers will fly as versatile bassist Edgar Meyer and mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile present a boundary-shattering concert of acoustic music in a rare collaborative event. Edgar Meyer is a Grammy Award-winning composer, arranger and performer who shines in both classical and bluegrass repertoire, a scope that earned him a “genius” grant from the MacArthur Foundation.

A champion of mixing musical genres, Meyer has won roots-music, jazz and classical followings for his collaborations with artists ranging from jazz/bluegrass banjo picker Bela Fleck and bluegrass veterans Mike Marshall and Sam Bush, to classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Joshua Bell.

Hailed as a child prodigy, Chris Thile, a multi-instrumentalist, won the national mandolin championship and released the first of his three solo albums at the age of 12. In 2001, he was named Mandolin Player of the Year by the Instrumental Bluegrass Association. He has worked with the Chieftains, Dixie Chicks, Alison Krauss, Dolly Parton and Hank Williams, Jr.

Nickel Creek, a bluegrass band he started at age eight, has won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album and has been credited with virtually re-inventing bluegrass. Today, at the age of only 24, he has forever changed the image of mandolin as a simple bluegrass instrument. Together, these highly sought-after performers promise to cover the gamut of their interests, and perhaps carve out some new territory.

Sweet Honey in the Rock— Friday, Feb. 16, 7:30 p.m.: Founded in 1973 by Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, Sweet Honey in the Rock is a Grammy Award-winning African American female a cappella ensemble with deep musical roots in the sacred music of the Black church—spirituals, hymns, gospel—as well as jazz and blues.

Six African American women join their powerful voices, along with hand percussion instruments, to create a blend of lyrics, movement and narrative that variously relate history, point the finger at injustice, encourage activism, and sing the praises of love. The septet, whose words are simultaneously interpreted in uniquely expressive American Sign Language, demands a just and humane world for all.

Frank Moody Memorial Concert with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra featuring Emanuel Ax —Sunday, March 11, 3 p.m.: Acclaimed for his poetic lyricism and brilliant technique, pianist Emanuel Ax is one of today’s best known and most highly regarded musicians. Ax was born in Poland and began to study the piano when he was six.

He first captured public attention in 1974 when, aged 25, he won the first Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Tel Aviv. Ax is now in demand all over the United States, and he makes regular festival appearances at Aspen, Hollywood Bowl and Tanglewood. Devoted to chamber music literature, Ax regularly performs duo recitals with cellist Yo-Yo Ma; their recordings together have earned three Grammy Awards. He also received a Grammy award for his Brahms Trio recording with Ma and Richard Stolzman.

For ticket information call the School of Music box office at 205/348-7111. Additional details about each performing group or musical artist will be released a few weeks in advance of their scheduled performance at the University.

All four performances are sponsored by the Gloria Narramore Moody Foundation, which has brought world-renowned artists to Tuscaloosa since 1988. The Moody Foundation was founded in 1990 by Gloria Moody and her husband, the late Tuscaloosa businessman Frank McCorkle Moody, to support the arts and music. The Moody Foundation has also endowed scholarships at UA and has supported arts organizations elsewhere in the United States.

SCHOOL OF MUSIC PRESENTS SERIES INAGURATED

The School of Music has also repackaged its many faculty and guest performances into The School of Music Presents, five “miniseries’” that appeal to specific musical tastes.

Snead, director of the School of Music, said the new miniseries’ will be more “user-friendly.”

“The School of Music has hundreds of performances each year.

“Our School of Music Presents packages offer a way to attract people who may not be fully aware of the range of stylistic diversity that we offer in our many presentations. Now they have categories from which to choose, but we also hope many of them will be attracted to all our options.

“We invite our audiences to bridge different genres of music without locking themselves into just one field,” said Snead.

School of Music packages are:

Less is More displays faculty and guest artists in chamber music settings.

New Horizons features new age performers playing progressive mediums including electronic formats and non-traditional combinations, such as percussion, harp and voice. Ensemble groupings will vary highly in this group.

All that Jazz presents large jazz ensembles and combos.

The Big Time spotlights major ensembles including The Huxford Symphony, University Singers, Alabama Wind Ensemble who will perform all types and styles of music.

OperAlaBAMA portrays shorter scenes and full-length productions from the world of opera. Some of its performances include The Magic Flute and the Christmas production of Amahl and The Night Visitors.

Stars of Alabama reintroduces the School of Music faculty as “all-stars” in recital.

“We don’t want to hide our light under a bushel. I am very excited about our upcoming Celebrity Series, which brings in artists from elsewhere, but I do want to point out that we have internationally recognized artists right here in town, as featured by these mini-series. The same artists that draw audiences in major centers across our nation and beyond perform right here on a regular basis, and we want our community to take full advantage of this opportunity as well,” said Snead.

School of Music Presents tickets are $10 and $5 for faculty, students and seniors. Ticket fees will be used to support student scholarships and for purchase of equipment and music and other musicians’ needs.