Virtual Winter 2021 Concert Series

Virtual concerts by UCSB Chamber Players, Lumina Choir, Cello Squad, Gospel Choir, Ensemble for Contemporary Music, and a special Corwin Chair Series concert

After a preliminary venture into virtual concerts in Fall 2020, the Department of Music presented a Virtual Winter Concert Series in March 2021. The series included performances by the UCSB Chamber Players, UCSB Lumina Choir, UCSB Cello Squad, UCSB Gospel Choir, UCSB Ensemble for Contemporary Music, and a special Corwin Chair Series concert featuring works by Corwin Chair of Composition João Pedro Oliveira and Emeritus Corwin Chair of Composition Clarence Barlow. All performances were free and open to the public and were released as YouTube Premieres via the Department of Music’s YouTube channel from Thursday, March 11 to Thursday, March 18.

Directed by Jonathan Moerschel, the UCSB Chamber Players kicked off the Virtual Winter 2021 Concert Series. In celebration of Women’s History Month, the concert featured three works by living female composers: violist Bridget Boland and cellist Lauren Chen performed Elena Ruehr’s Prelude Variations; cellist Britta Thomas and pianist Anjela Tokadjian performed Jennifer Higdon’s Nocturne; and the Young Artists String Quartet (violinists Gulia Gurevich and Anthony Navarro, violist Shirley Shang, and cellist Naomi Stoodley) performed Jessie Montgomery’s Strum. The program also included works by Claude Debussy, Johann Joseph Fux, Scott Joplin, Roger Chapman, Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Paul Hindemith. Performers included undergraduate and graduate students from the UC Santa Barbara Chamber Music Program.

Digital artwork from the piece “Birdie” by Alejandro Casales

The program for the virtual Corwin Chair Series Concert, “Synchresis - the Alchemy of Visual Music,” investigated the various potential fusions between sound and the moving image. Listeners were guided through the merger of diverse visual and musical universes and engaged their imaginations through the works of Corwin Chair of Composition João Pedro Oliveira and Emeritus Corwin Chair of Composition Clarence Barlow, as well as Elsa Justel, Chikashi Miyama, Francis Dhomont, Jorge Sad Levi, Dennis H. Miller, and Alejandro Casales.

Directed by Graduate Teaching Assistant David Lozano Torres and accompanied by graduate pianist Pinshu Yu, UCSB Lumina Choir (formerly the UCSB Women’s Chorus) presented “A Life of Peace,” a virtual mini-concert. “Nothing can bring peace to the heart, mind, and soul like music can,” noted Torres of the program. “This new year has brought about many trials and opposition in all aspects of life. Finding a moment of stillness in a world that is constantly moving, busy, and noisy, can be crucial. Experience the ability to find peace and purpose through harsh winter climate and troubles in the world in Winter’s Cold by Michael John Trotta. Afterwards, escape into the soothing, ponderous tune painted by the peaceful sonorities of Dan Forrest’s Shalom. Accompanying the music is an array of stunning video and artwork that will take you on a journey of awe-inspiring moments in nature.”

Cellist Ivan Law performing the Allegro con brio from Ludwig van Beethoven’s Cello Sonata No. 5 in D Major, Op. 102, No. 2 during the Beethoven CellObration! presented by Professor Jennifer Kloetzel and the UCSB Cello Squad

Directed by Professor Jennifer Kloetzel, members of the UCSB Cello Squad presented a “Beethoven CellObration!” This special event celebrated Beethoven’s 250th birthday and showcased movements from his piano and cello works, performed by members of Professor Jennifer Kloetzel’s cello studio. For this project, five UC Santa Barbara cellists studied one of Ludwig van Beethoven’s works and were asked to describe the overall feeling or emotion of their chosen work. For this virtual performance, the UCSB Cello Squad commissioned artist Tyler Scrivner to create background images related to their descriptions and the cellists recorded their pieces with these designs as backdrops. “Since we are doing virtual performances these days, I decided that creating an interdisciplinary experience would be a fun and educational way to push everyone to explore music a little deeper,” said Professor Kloetzel of the virtual collaboration. When asked about his involvement in the project, Scrivner noted: “I was initially approached to create digital landscape paintings to serve as backdrops for this concert, but the music is so emotionally charged, it made sense for these backdrops to reflect the intensity of the cellists. We chose a forest waterfall as the main setting, since the color of the leaves, the position of the sun, and the light that filters through the water could all be adapted to the mood of every piece. Through many conversations, we arrived at a series of paintings that visualizes the overall emotional arc of each piece.”

Directed by Victor Bell, the UCSB Gospel Choir presented “The Virtual Gospel. An infusion of gospel music, gospel music history, and gospel testimonies.” The program included performances of John P. Kee’s “I Made It” featuring UC Santa Barbara alumnus Daniel Ozan as soloist, Richard Smallwood’s “Total Praise,” Brent Jones’ “He Rose” featuring alumna Rhiann Joshua as soloist, and closed with Brent Jones’ “Say Something.” Interspersed between the performances were testimonies from current UCSB Gospel Choir students about what they love most about the choir and their first experiences in the class. The program also included highlights of gospel music history presented by the students, such as the genre’s origins in spirituals and prayers, the establishment of the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses, and the lasting legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Clockwise from left: Jaze Matteo Wharton, Matthew Owensby, Kailee Lencioni, and Maria Calderon of the UCSB Ensemble for Contemporary Music performing “Story” from John Cage’s Living Room Music (1940)

Directed by Dr. Sarah Gibson, the UCSB Ensemble for Contemporary Music closed out the Virtual Winter 2021 Concert Series with “A Journey Through the Impossible.” The premiere of six new student works written to accompany Georges Méliès’ seminal silent film, Le Voyage à travers l’impossible, served as the centerpiece of the program. “At this current moment in our world, I think an artist’s proactive and creative impulse is being challenged,” noted Dr. Gibson. “What can we do now with the materials we have? How can we continue to create when there are so many limitations to consider? Does creativity truly thrive under constraints? It’s going to be a long haul, but I believe a lot of unique viewpoints, projects, and inspired experimentation will come out of it. This year has been quite a long journey, so Méliès’ iconic film, A Journey Through the Impossible (Le Voyage à travers l’impossible), seemed suddenly apropos for our Ensemble for Contemporary Music.” The program also included Julius Eastman’s Joy Boy (1974), John Cage’s Living Room Music (1940), and Dai Fujikura’s Longing from afar (2020), works that allowed the ensemble members to make music together in real-time over Zoom.