This Week at the UCA l ONLINE

The University Center for The Arts community is sharing online performances to inspire, uplift, and connect us all during this time of separation.

From newly recorded living room concerts to videos from the archive, we hope you enjoy these works, and find your own creative outlets during this time.

Good morning. You don't know us but our daughter Samantha is in her final year at CSU, and so we get the CSU president emails, which contained the link to your performance. My wife and I are in Seattle and as we prepared our morning coffee, we listened/watched your "Quatra Duo"  performances. They were quite lovely and I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to do it and share. Despite the rain now falling, it brightened our morning. —Scott F.

12.24.20: Concert Choir

"This Week at the UCA" we present the singers of CSU Concert Choir as they collaborate virtually to perform Susan's LaBarr's moving piece, "We Remember Them."

 

06.17.20: Senior Dance Capstone Concert 

"This Week at the UCA" we present the creative work of senior dance majors Jasmine Burns, Alayna Maddocks, Shayleen Moses, and Safiya Vanterpool. Under the artistic direction of CSU dance professor, Chung-Fu Chang, the students demonstrate their individual artistic vision in the Senior Dance Capstone Concert.

When you dance, you can enjoy the luxury of being you. –Paulo Coelho

 

06.09.20: Barbara Thiem, solo cello recital

In this recording, CSU faculty member Barbara Thiem performs some of her favorite solo pieces: Suite in C Major No. 3 by J.S. Bach, Suite in C, by Harry Stafylakis, Suite in D minor No. 2 by Bach, and Suite in D, by Gaspar Cassado.

The poem, the song, the picture, is only water drawn from the well of the people, and it should be given back to them in a cup of beauty so that they may drink - and in drinking understand themselves. —Federico Garcia Lorca

 

06.02.20: Mendelssohn Trio 

In this recording from the Mendelssohn Trio's concert at Colorado State University in March 2020, Erik Peterson, violin; CSU faculty member Barbara Thiem, cello; and Theodor Lichtmann, piano, perform Ludwig van Beethoven's Trio Op. 1, No. 1.

Don't only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets, for it and knowledge can raise men to the divine. —Ludwig van Beethoven

 

05.17.20: Eric Paricio, Voice 

In this recording, CSU voice student, Eric Paricio, performs "For Forever" from Dear Evan Hansen.

Music is... a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy. ―Ludwig van Beethoven

 

05.15.20: Maria Gesicki, Voice 

In this lovely recording, CSU voice student, Maria Gesicki, performs "Ave Maria" by Charles Gounod. Congratulations on graduating, Maria!

I haven’t understood a bar of music in my life, but I have felt it. —Igor Stravinsky

 

05.13.20: Forest Greenough, double bass, (and friends)

We're happy to share a gorgeous recording made by CSU double bass professor, Forest Greenough (and friends), of J.S. Bach's BWV 1043 Double Violin Concerto, arranged for saxophones and "remote orchestra" by Dave Camwell.

 

05.09.20: CSU Percussion Ensemble

CSU percussion professor, Dr. Eric Hollenbeck, shares this recording of his ensemble playing "Girlfriends Medley" by Bob Becker.

Performers (left to right): Dylan Ewing, John Andretsos, Michael Hamilton, Sarah Foss, and featuring Danny Moore, xylophone

It is the artists of the world, the feelers and the thinkers who will ultimately save us; who can articulate, educate, defy, insist, sing and shout the big dreams. —Leonard Bernstein

 

05.04.20: CSU Clarinet Choir

In this recording, Colorado State University's clarinet professors, Dr. Wesley Ferreira and Sergei Vassiliev, share this recording of their clarinet choir playing "O Danny Boy (Londonderry Air)."

Performers:

  • Sam Anderson
  • Mariah Baechle
  • Zach Franklin
  • Megan Johnson
  • Katie Knutson
  • David Leech
  • Drew Mendizabal
  • Natalie Morris
  • Savannah Nichols
  • Rachel Phillips
  • Alex Salek
  • Amber Sheeran
  • Katie St. Gemme-Pate
  • Jerry Su Triston
  • Told Professor
  • Sergei Vassiliev
  • Dr. Wesley Ferreira

If I were not a physicist I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music. —Albert Einstein

 

05.04.20: Haley Voss, Soprano

In this recording, Colorado State University's voice student, Hayley Voss, performs The Girl in 14G by Jeanine Tesori.

You know what music is? God’s little reminder that there’s something else besides us in this universe; harmonic connection between all living beings, everywhere, even the stars. – Robin Wiliams

 

04.24.20: Courtney Hershey Bress, Harp

We're sharing a video from Colorado Symphony principal harp and CSU harp professor, Courtney Hershey Bress. She is joined by symphony chorus member Kate Emerich to perform a heartfelt prayer, “En Prière,” by Gabriel Fauré.

 

04.24.20: Drew Leslie with North Carolina Brass Band

In this recording, Colorado State University's trombone professor, Dr. Drew Leslie, collaborates with fellow musicians from the North Carolina Brass Band to play Michael Davis' "Longhorn."

Performers: Seth Frack, Drew Leslie, Jeremy Marks, Sean Devlin

Never look at the trombones, it only encourages them. —Richard Wagner

 

04.21.20: CSU Percussion Ensemble

In this recording, Colorado State University's percussion professor, Dr. Eric Hollenbeck, shares highlights from the Colorado State University Percussion Ensemble's performance at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, held in Indianapolis, Indiana last fall. The ensemble was showcased as the winners of the 2019 International Percussion Ensemble Competition.

  • Drum Dances by John Psathas
  • Third Construction by John Cage
  • The Dandelion by James David
  • Libertango by Astor Piazzolla

It is the artists of the world, the feelers and the thinkers who will ultimately save us; who can articulate, educate, defy, insist, sing and shout the big dreams. —Leonard Bernstein

 

04.20.20: CSU Dance Students

At the end of class on Zoom, Ballet VI and VII were asked to summarize their current feelings in four gestures. Viewers, feel free to try this at home along with us!

Dancers (in order of appearance): Kourtney Yadao, Brakelle Dobbs, Samantha Lewis, Emily Wallace, Mia Wilborne, Brianna Port, Jesse Bettig, Jasmine Burns, Franny Komperda, Abbey Mann, Safiya Vanterpool, Taryn Santeramo, Payton Lauer, Sophia Graves, Isabel Krull, Jame Fuerte, Shayleen Moses, Thomas Grassia, Madeline Harvey (professor)

Music by David McArthur

 

04.13.20: Quatra Duo

In this recording, Colorado State University's Quatra Duo (flute professor, Michelle Stanley, and guitar professor, Jeff LaQuatra) share with us their performance of:

  • Gigue From French Suite No. 3 by J.S. Bach
  • Elegy by James Mcguire
  • Sage Waltz by Grant Ferris

The true beauty of music is that it connects people. —Roy Ayres

 

04.10.20: Joel Bacon, Organ; Joseph Haydn's The Seven Last Words of Our Savior on the Cross

In this recording, Colorado State University organ professor, Joel Bacon, shares his performance of Joseph Haydn's The Seven Last Words of Our Savior on the Cross, Hob. XX/1C, a Good Friday and Lenten work. This is a piano arrangement (1787) played on digital organ using samples of the organ in Weissenau Abbey, Germany, built by J. N. Holszhey in 1787.

Dr. Bacon downloaded digital samples from an organ built the same year the piece was composed and played the samples through his home organ and a MacBook Pro; he recorded the audio directly, and states that "the sound quality is surprisingly good for a digital organ."

Be sure to also listen to Part II

 

04.08.20: Stanley Curtis, Trumpet

In this recording completed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Colorado State University trumpet professor, Stanley Curtis, shares a few of his favorite performances, including two of his own compositions.

Night Passages by Stanley Curtis
III. Night Club

Advent by Stanley Curtis for Trumpet, Soprano, and Piano

  • Tia Wortham, soprano
  • Stanley Curtis, trumpet
  • Ben Keseley, piano

Etude No. 2 by Theo Charlier

A fine work of art — music, painting, dance, story — has the power to silence the chatter in the mind and lift us to another place. —Robert McKee

04.06.20: Music in the Museum Concert Series

Musician: Dr. Joel Bacon, piano
Art Historian: Dr. Lynn Boland
Theme: Abstraction and Atonality: Kandinsky and Schoenberg
Music Program:
“Syncopation” from Microcosmos, v. 5 no. 133, 1926–1936 by Béla Bartók (1881-1945)
“Drei Klavierstücke (Three Piano Pieces)” from Op. 11, 1909 by Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)
Recorded: March 20, 2020