Virtual Spring 2021 Concert Series

The Department of Music presented a virtual Spring Concert Series featuring the UCSB Chamber Players, Gospel Choir, Chamber Orchestra, Percussion Ensemble, Lumina Choir, and Ensemble for Contemporary Music from June 3-11. The series also included a Corwin Chair Series concert featuring works by UC Santa Barbara graduate Composition students and a recital by the UC Santa Barbara Young Artists String Quartet (YASQ), the department’s scholarship graduate string quartet. All performances were released as YouTube Premieres via the Department of Music’s YouTube channel.

Directed by Jonathan Moerschel, the UCSB Chamber Players presented a recital featuring excerpts from staples of the chamber music repertoire, such as Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quartet Op. 74 “Harp;” Igor Stravinsky’s Petrouchka – Reduction for Piano Duet (1911, rev. 1947); Johannes Brahms’ Piano Trio No. 2 in C Major, Op. 87; Claude Debussy’s Petite Suite for Piano Duet; Johannes Brahms’ Sonata, Op. 120, No. 1 in F minor for Clarinet and Piano; and Wilhelm Friedemann Bach’s Duo in C for Two Violas, F. 60. The concert also included more recent works such as Caroline Shaw’s Entr’acte for String Quartet; Flor Peeters’ Suite for Four Trombones, Op. 82; Augusta Read Thomas’ Cantos for Slava; John Williams’ War Horse arranged for horn ensemble by UC Santa Barbara student Max Dei Rossi; and Miles Davis’ All Blues arranged for brass quintet by Thomas H. Graf.

The Spring virtual Corwin Series Concert, “Synesthesias - New Music at UCSB 2: Graduates,” showcased recent multimedia, mixed, and acousmatic works written within the last year by UC Santa Barbara Composition graduate students. The concert featured works by Drew Flieder, Raphael Radna, Rodney DuPlessis, Mathew Owensby, Alexandra Jones, Dariush Derakhshani, Kramer Elwell, Stewart Engart, and Mason Hock.

“Masking” by Rivkah Simcha, as featured in graduate composer Raphael Radna’s piece Passage (2018)

Directed by Victor Bell, the UCSB Gospel Choir presented a virtual event, titled “Where Are They Now?,” in which alumni and present members shared where they are now and the impact Gospel Choir has had on their lives infused with gospel music. The video also featured interviews with Bell, along with excerpts from past Gospel Choir performances.

The UCSB Chamber Orchestra presented their third audio-visual production of 2020-2021 under the direction of Dr. Maxim Kuzin, with a virtual performance of the overture to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni. For this production, the performers worked on the music from their homes in different parts of the country, meeting virtually each week for sectional rehearsals using Jamulus and Zoom. For recording weekly audio tracks, the musicians used a third online crossplatform software, Bandlab. At the end of the quarter, each student also produced a video recording playing the overture to Don Giovanni. All recordings were collected, edited by Director Maxim Kuzin, and submitted for post-production to the Department of Music’s Production Team. In late April, the UCSB Chamber Orchestra also presented a virtual performance of “Nocturne” from Felix Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 61, featuring a horn solo by UC Santa Barbara undergraduate Dylan Correia, a student of Professor Steven Gross.

Directed by Jon Nathan, the UCSB Percussion Ensemble presented their Spring 2021 Concert, featuring “Story” from John Cage’s Living Room Music (featuring Ethan Wu, Kenny Han, Brooke Eisele, and Matthew Lee); Table Music by Thierry de Mey (featuring Etthan Wu, Vineeta Muthuraj, and Nina Lim); Buzzy John’s Blues by Tim Collins (featuring Vineeta Muthuraj on vibraphone, Nina Lim on marimba, Ethan Chiu on piano, Elyssa Samaoya on bass, and Daniel Marella on drums); and an arrangement of the third movement, “Nightclub 1960,” of Astor Piazzola’s History of the Tango (featuring Vineeta Muthuraj on vibraphone and Nina Lim on marimba).

Under the direction of Graduate Teaching Assistant David Lozano Torres, UCSB Lumina Choir presented a mini-concert, titled “We Are One,” featuring Victor C. Johnson’s Ubi Caritas and Jacob Narverud’s Sisi Ni Moja. Following the choir’s name change from Women’s Chorus to Lumina Choir during the 2020-2021 school year, the ensemble’s intention and focus became one of unity, inclusivity, and light—being a light to the world through song. Dr. Torres’ message to audience members prior to the premiere was to “come feel the power of unity as the members of Lumina join together in song to share the message of acceptance and love. Let us all love one another! We all bruise, we all scar, we all fail but learn to fly. We are one world, one people. We are. ONE.”

Under the direction of Dr. Sarah Gibson, the UCSB Ensemble for Contemporary Music presented “A moment alone with millions of people,” an evening of music by Pauline Oliveros, Aidan Gold, and Nicole Chamberlain. Through Oliveros’ seminal work, Thirteen Changes, the students responded to evocative lines of text by creating their own individual musical tapestries. The ensemble presented these musical responses to the audience in collaboration with gifs made to accompany each movement by UCSB art students from Iman Djouini’s College of Creative Studies class “In Translation.” The program also included the fifth movement, “Elegy,” of Aidan Gold’s work for asynchronous ensemble, For Whom Do We Perform?, as well as Nicole Chamberlain’s solo flute work, Crosswalk, featuring graduate student (now alumna) Jordana Schaeffer, a student of Professor Jill Felber.

Graduate flutist Jordana Schaeffer performing Nicole Chamberlain’s Crosswalk as part of the Ensemble for Contemporary Music’s virtual concert

The UCSB Young Artists String Quartet (YASQ) closed out the Virtual Spring 2021 Concert Series with a recital on June 11, featuring movements from Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat Major, Op. 74 (“Harp”) and Jessie Montgomery’s Strum. Composed of graduate violinists Gulia Gurevich and Anthony Navarro, violist Shirley Shang, and cellist Naomi Stoodley, the YASQ is a group from diverse backgrounds, experiences, and even continents.

Spring 2021 Virtual Student Recitals

Even amidst a pandemic and prolonged closures of performing arts venues, Department of Music graduate and undergraduate students triumphed, presenting virtual degree recitals throughout Spring Quarter. For many students, these virtual recitals represented their final performances at UC Santa Barbara. Listed below are the students who presented public virtual recitals as YouTube Premieres via the Department of Music’s YouTube channel.

Doctor of Musical Arts

Ariella Mak-Neiman, Piano

Lucía Álvarez Núñez, Piano

Alvise Pascucci, Piano

Chika Nobumori, Piano

Youjin Jung, Violin

Naomi Merer, Soprano

Lucía Álvarez Núñez and Alvise Pascucci, Piano Duet

Pinshu Yu, Piano

Gulia Gurevich, Violin

Britta Thomas, Cello

Zhongxi Lin, Piano

Master of Music

Shirley Shang, Violin

Bachelor of Music

Olivia Nava, Trombone

Rafael Vázquez Guevara, Violin

Megan Ashley, Soprano

William Stout, Composition

Soha Sadeghinejad, Viola

Soohyun Ryu, Soprano

Bachelor of Arts

Noelle Barr, Violin

Flora Sun, Piano