KENAN INSTITUTE FOR THE ARTS LINKS COMMISSIONS TO BE PERFORMED IN 2009-2010 SEASON

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE               

News media contact   
Scott Carpenter
336.722.9660 or scott@capturevalue.com

KENAN INSTITUTE FOR THE ARTS LINKS COMMISSIONS TO BE PERFORMED
IN 2009-2010 SEASON

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (October 8, 2009) – The Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts established the LINKS Commissioning Awards in Music to connect professional faculty members from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) with other professional artists across the country and to enhance the reputation of the school as a vibrant center for artistic creativity.  

Four of the LINKS Commissions in Music will be performed during 2009-2010:

Violinist Kevin Lawrence, who is chair of the string department at UNCSA, commissioned Laura Kaminsky to compose Wave Hill for violin and piano.  The premiere will take place in Watson Hall at UNCSA at 7:30 p.m. on November 7, 2009 with pianist Allison Gagnon, Director of the Collaborative Piano Program at UNCSA.  The composer writes: “Wave Hill is a multi-movement work inspired by the eponymous 28-acre public garden and cultural center in the Bronx overlooking the Hudson River and Palisades. Wave Hill's mission is to celebrate the artistry and legacy of its gardens and landscapes, to preserve its magnificent views, and to explore human connections to the natural world through programs in horticulture, education and the arts.  Celebrating this special place through music, the piece evokes the garden's changing landscape at different times of day and throughout the four seasons.”  To purchase tickets for this event call (336) 721-1945 or visit www.uncsa.edu/performances.

The Daedalus String Quartet, winners of the Guarneri String Quartet Award from
Chamber Music America, commissioned Lawrence Dillon’s String Quartet No. 4: The
Infinite Sphere and will premiere it at Wolf Trap on January 15, 2010. The latest in
Dillon’s Invisible Cities String Quartet Cycle, the fourth quartet takes its inspiration
from Pascal’s reference to an “infinite sphere, whose center is everywhere and whose
circumference is nowhere.”  The piece taps the potentials of Classical circular forms and
techniques to create an exuberant, wheels-within-wheels showcase for a virtuosic
ensemble.  A performance of this piece is scheduled for January 16, 2010 at UNCSA in
Watson Hall and a subsequent performance is planned for the Howland Chamber Music
Circle.  Dillon is the Composer in Residence at UNCSA.  To purchase tickets for the Watson Hall event call (336) 721-1945 or visit www.uncsa.edu/performances.

The CanAm Piano Duo, which is comprised of Christopher Hahn, Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Montana and Karen Beres, keyboard instructor at UNCSA, commissioned composer David Maslanka to write a piece for two pianos and two percussionists, which will be premiered on January 12, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. in Watson Hall at UNCSA. To purchase tickets for this event call (336) 721-1945 or visit www.uncsa.edu/performances.

Ransom Wilson, internationally acclaimed flutist, Director of the UNCSA Symphony Orchestra and artist teacher of conducting at UNCSA and beatbox flutist Greg Pattillo commissioned Randall Woolf to compose a concerto for beatbox flute and orchestra called Native Tongues, blending Hiphop rhythms, Jazz and Classical traditions. Soloist Pattillo will perform his magic (seen by millions on YouTube) on beatbox flute while the string orchestra echoes the sounds of turntables and rap vocals.  The premiere will take place in the Stevens Center in downtown Winston-Salem, North Carolina on May 21, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. To purchase tickets for this event call (336) 721-1945 or visit www.uncsa.edu/performances.

“We are thrilled with anticipation as we come to the realization of these collaborations between musicians and composers,” said Dr. Margaret S. Mertz, Executive Director of the Kenan Institute for the Arts.  “UNCSA faculty musicians and composers are working in close partnership with nationally recognized artists across the country.  The resulting music will uplift our hearts, challenge our minds, and energize our senses. “

The Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts (www.kenanarts.org) is a privately funded program of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts that incubates projects that sustain artists at every point in their creative development through strategic partnerships that capitalize on visionary thinking in the arts. 

The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (www.uncsa.edu) is the University of North Carolina’s conservatory for the arts, dedicated entirely to the professional training of students possessing exceptional talents in the performing, visual and moving image arts. UNCSA offers students focused, intense, professional training at the high school, baccalaureate, and masters levels in its schools of Dance, Design and Production, Drama, Filmmaking and Music.

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