Oct. 17, 2003

ISU to host 37th Contemporary Music Festival

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — The Indiana State University music department will present its 37th Contemporary Music Festival Oct. 29-31. The theme for this year’s festival is "Mysterium: Musical Expressions of Mysticism, Spirituality & Religion."

The premier event of its kind in the United States, the ISU Contemporary Music Festival attracts an audience from throughout the world.

This year’s principal guest composer will be Stephen Paulus. Other guests include The Louisville Orchestra, with conductor Robert Franz; the 2003 composition competition winner, Ann K. Gebuhr, from Houston Baptist University; and eighth blackbird. (EDITORS: eighth blackbird is cq)

Concerts by the various performers are scheduled in the afternoons and evenings of the festival.

The festival begins with an opening concert 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29 in Tilson Auditorium entitled "Mysterium Showcase," featuring ISU student ensembles.

The 2003 guest ensemble, eighth blackbird, will give a concert at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 30 in the recital hall, located at the corner of Seventh and Chestnut streets. Hailed as ambassadors of new music, eighth blackbird has a growing reputation for its astounding musical versatility as well as for its dedication to the works of today’ s composers. The sextet is active in teaching young artists about contemporary music and has taught master classes and conducted outreach activities in the art of contemporary performance and interpretation. Each member of eighth blackbird holds a bachelor’s degree in music performance from the Oberlin Conservatory and artist diplomas in chamber music from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory. eighth blackbird derives its name from the Wallace Stevens poem "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird."

A Music Now performance by eighth blackbird will be presented on Friday, Oct. 31 at 3 p.m. in the recital hall.

The award-winning Louisville Orchestra, returning for the 17th year as orchestra-in-residence, will perform Friday, Oct. 31 at 7:30 p.m. in Tilson Auditorium.

This concert, which is part of the ISU Convocation Series, has sold out to the general public. A limited number of tickets will be made available to ISU students prior to each performance. With a valid student ID, ISU students may obtain one free ticket for each performance on a first-come first served basis. Tickets may be picked up at Hulman Center two weeks prior to each performance or by going to Tilson Music Hall between 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. the evening of the performance.

The orchestra has received several ASCAP awards and has performed at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, among other venues. Franz is the associate conductor of the Louisville Orchestra, Music Director of the Louisville Youth Orchestra, and Conductor Laureate and founder of the Carolina Chamber Symphony.

A strong advocate of arts education, Franz has designed and implemented arts education programs for the Carolina Chamber Symphony, the Louisville Orchestra, the West End Chamber Ensemble, and the Winston-Salem Piedmont Triad Symphony, including that organization's innovative "Bolton Research Project."  Under his direction, the Louisville Orchestra won the 2001 Leonard Bernstein Award for Educational Programming and created an education program for Kentucky Educational Television entitled "Creating Music and Stories."

Paulus has more than 200 works to his credit, including music for orchestra, chorus, chamber ensembles, solo voice, keyboard and opera. His choral works have been performed and recorded by some of the most distinguished choruses in the United States as well as dozens of professional, community, church and college choirs. He has been a recipient of both the Guggenheim and NEA Fellowships and is co-founder and current board vice president of the American Composers Forum, the largest composer service organization in the world. Paulus has served on the ASCAP Board of Directors as the Concert Music Representative since 1990.

Gebuhr, associate dean, director of the School of Music at Houston Baptist University, is an active composer. Her works include solo, chamber, vocal and orchestral ensembles. Many symphonies, (including the Indianapolis Symphony) chamber ensembles and soloists in the United States, Britain, Europe and China have performed her works. She has been the recipient of a number of awards and honors, including a performance at the Kennedy Center.

Other festival activities include a recital by ISU student composers/performers on Thursday, Oct. 30 in the recital hall, located at the corner of Seventh and Chestnut streets, and sessions with the different festival guests. A Festival Chamber Music Recital will be performed at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 31 in the recital hall.

For more information, contact the department of music at (812) 237-2771.

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Contact:
Todd Sullivan, Dept. of Music, (812) 237-2771, misulliv@isugw.indstate.edu

Writer:
Paula Meyer, Public Affairs (812) 237-3783, devmeyer@isugw.indstate.edu

ISU Public Affairs:
(812) 237-3773 or http://isunews.indstate.edu