Exploring New Music

A wide selection of music from the JACK Quartet, eighth blackbird and violinist Cornelius Dufallo will be featured during this year’s 10th Annual New Music Festival “Strings in the 21st Century.”

The March 2-6 celebration, sponsored by the Department of Music and directed by Pamela Madsen, associate professor of music, brings together world-renowned composers and performers in public concerts and other events during the weeklong celebration.

Performances will feature composer-in-residence Missy Mazzoli, composer Paula Prestini, the university’s New Music Ensemble and the University Symphony Orchestra. In addition, there will be a composer-performer symposium with paper sessions, panels and lecture-demonstration.

Schedule of events:
All events are in the Meng Concert Hall, unless otherwise noted.

March 2 — 8 p.m. JACK Quartet with composer Missy Mazzoli
Tickets: $25
Widely acclaimed for their performances of works by living composers, the JACK Quartet has entertained audiences around the world and led workshops with young composers at universities across the nation. Members of the group — violinists Christopher Otto and Ari Streisfeld, violist Pickford Richards and cellist Kevin McFarland met while attending the Eastman School of Music.

March 3 — 8 p.m. eighth blackbird with composer Missy Mazzoli
Tickets: $25
The Grammy Award-winning ensemble now celebrating its 15th season has enjoyed widespread acclaim for its four CDs, performances throughout North American as well as Canada, Mexico, Netherlands and South Korea; as well as recording by composers Steve Reich, George Perle, Frederic Rzewski and Joseph Schwantner. The group was honored in 2007 with the American Music Center’s Trailblazer and Meet the Composer awards and was the first contemporary music group to win the Grand prize at the Concert Artists Guild International Competition.

March 4 — Violinist and composer Cornelius Dufallo and composer Paola Prestini
Tickets: $15
A versatile violinist, Dufallo plays both acoustic and electric violin and moves seamlessly from classical to pop and jazz styles. He has toured the US, Europe, Asia and Australia as a soloist and collaborative artist, performing in the Aspen Music Festival, the Bang On A Can Marathon, the Melbourne International Arts Festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival, the Ojai Music Festival and the Taipei International Music Festival.

March 5 — 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Composer-Performer Symposium
Recital Hall
Free
The daylong symposium will feature paper presentations, lectures, demonstrations and performances, as well as playback of electronic/electro-acoustic works and electro-acoustic works with video.

March 5 — 8 p.m. New Music Ensemble
Tickets: $15
Student musicians join faculty members Ernest Salem and Alison Edwards in performing works by festival and campus composers.

March 6 — 4 p.m. University Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Kimo Furumoto
Tickets: $15
The concert by the University Symphony will feature two premieres: Pamela Madsen’s “Melting Away: Gravity” for string orchestra, piano, percussion and voice, and “Solace: Sea of Glass” by student Glenn Llorente.

Tickets may be purchased online at arts.fullerton.edu (http://www.fullerton.edu/arts/NMF/index.htm) or by calling 657-278-3371.

Feb. 28, 2011