Casper College Chamber Orchestra performs Mozart May 1 at St. Mark's

Mozart’s “Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra in A Major and his composition “Vesperae de Dominica,” will be the highlights of the 2011 Music of the Masters Concert featuring the Casper College choirs, the Casper College Chamber Orchestra and soloists Jerome Fleg, Gary DePaolo, and Douglas Bull on Sunday, May 1 at 2 p.m.

The concert will begin with a performance of Mozart’s “Concerto” featuring Fleg on clarinet, followed by “Concerto for Viola and Orchestra in G Major” by George Phillip Telemann featuring DePaolo on viola, and ending with “Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra” by Johann Nepomuk Hummel featuring Bull on trumpet.

The second half of the concert the Casper College Men’s Choir, Women’s Choir, and Collegiate Chorale will perform Mozart’s “Vesperae.”

The chamber orchestra is under the direction of Jennifer Cowell, Casper College strings and orchestra instructor, while the choirs are under the direction of Patrick Patton, Casper College voice and choir instructor.

The concert, which is free and open to the public, will take place at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church located on the corners of 7th and Wolcott streets in Casper. A free-will offering will be accepted at the door. Proceeds will go to help defray the costs of music-related events.

FMI: Lisa S. Icenogle, Information Coordinator, Casper College, 800-442-2963, ext. 2372

Take Back the Night at UW features entertainment by Patti Fiasco and The Bettys

Patti Fiasco and The Bettys will provide the entertainment for the Take Back the Night rally on Tuesday, April 12, 4-7 p.m., at the University of Wyoming Union in Laramie. All ages free. More info here

Take Back the Night is the annual community march and rally that encourages community members to come together and take a stand against sexual violence. We march through the streets as a way of reclaiming that territory as a safe space for both women and men.

Sponsors of the event include: Women’s Action Network, SAFE Project, STOP Violence, ASUW, Soroptimist, Queer Advocacy Network, Interfraternity & Panhellenic Councils, Rainbow Resource Center, Women's Center, & the Gender & Women’s Studies Department.

Piatigorsky Foundation tours begin today in Wyoming

Raquela Sheeran

Soprano Raquela Sheeran and pianist Efi Hackmey launch their Piatigorsky Foundation tour of the east side of Wyoming with a concert at the Sundance High School Auditorium at 7 p.m. this evening. Free and open to the public. For full tour schedule, go to http://www.piatigorskyfoundation.org/onetour.cfm?tour=10404

Evan Drachman

Meanwhile, of the west side of the state, the Piatigorsky Foundation presents cellist Evan Drachman and pianist Jeffrey Grossman at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Trinity Lutheran Church in Evanston. For full tour schedule, go to http://www.piatigorskyfoundation.org/onetour.cfm?tour=10403

Both tours are sponsored by the Wyoming Arts Council, the Piatigorsky Foundation and Muriel and Seymour Thickman of Sheridan.

FMI: Call the WAC at 307-777-7742.

The Bettys sing for charity at UW event

Photo by DJ Bowman

From a story by Andrea Knous in the Branding Iron:

More than 300 people attended The Bettys event this past Saturday, Helen Chanthongthip, a graduate student in Speech Pathology and member of the group, said.

The group raised $240 for its charities: The Wyoming Family Home Ownership Program, which provides local low-income families with children the opportunity to pay a down payment for a home, and IJM, an organization assisting in the fight to end human slavery, Chanthongthip said.

The group was formed in 2006 by six UW women. Today, the last of the founders is Rebecca Johnson, a graduate student in civil engineering from Arvada, Colo. and current president of The Bettys.

The group was started when she and four other original members saw how much fun the Happy Jacks (the male a cappella singing group on campus) were having.  The Bettys began performing at Coal Creek, and their reputation grew from there, Johnson said.

I Cantori and Contemporary Singers perform in concert April 10 at Casper College

Two of Casper College's most popular vocal groups, I Cantori and the Casper College Contemporary Singers, will be in concert on Sunday, April 10.

I Cantori, the Casper College opera band under the direction of Jean Tichenor, "is an organization of solo singers who sing semi-popular music and opera with a classical vocal style. Piano, synthesizer, percussion, guitar, and electric bass guitar accompany them," she said. Tichenor, creator of I Cantori, arranges most of the music sung by the group.

During the concert, the group will perform "Prayer in the Night," "Hallelujah," "Beyond the Sea," and others.

According to Tichenor, the number of singers in the ensemble varies from year to year. There are eight singers this year: Ashlee Belveal, BOCES student from Casper, who played the lead in the recent Kelly Walsh High School production of "Kiss Me Kate;" Danielle Hockett, sophomore voice performance and music education major from Newcastle, Wyo.; Amanda Marquez, voice performance and music education major from Casper; Alison Zickl, freshman voice performance major from Littleton, Colo.; George Taylor, general studies major from Wheatland, Wyo.; and Cavin Kent, freshman music education major, Dane Poitra, sophomore music education major, and Rion Scheer, freshman voice performance major, all from Gillette, Wyo.

The I Cantori band includes Robert Benson, sophomore percussion performance major from Gillette, Wyo., and Douglas Graham, sophomore guitar performance major and Zach Walker, sophomore guitar performance major, both from Casper.

The Casper College Contemporary Singers, under the direction of Patrick Patton, will also perform a variety of songs during the concert.

The concert, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 2 p.m. in Durham Recital Hall, located in the Aley Fine Arts Center on the Casper College campus.

Casper College music faculty members Jerome Fleg and Kristen Robinson perform April 1

From a Casper College press release:

Casper College's newest music faculty members, Jerome Fleg and Kristen Robinson, will present a vocal and instrumental recital on Friday, April 1 beginning at 7 p.m. in Durham Recital Hall, located in the Aley Fine Arts Center.

"As the new members of the music department at Casper College, Jerome and I decided to present a program to introduce ourselves to the community," said Robinson, vocal instructor. "We will present an eclectic evening of music. This program will feature lots of short, colorful pieces for different combinations of voice, piano, and clarinet," added Fleg, woodwind instructor. Paula Flynn will also join the two on piano.

"Schubert's popular trio 'Shepherd on the Rock' features a beautiful soprano part sung by Kristen, which trades back and forth with my clarinet and Paula's piano," said Fleg.

Fleg will also perform a new piece commissioned by American composer Paul Hembree, "Placing into Infinity," which explores innovative sounds and colors produced by solo clarinet as well as a pair of show Argentinean pieces by composer Astor Piazzolla.

The recital is free and open to all.

Deadline March 25 for Western Arts Alliance Juried Showcase Program at Seattle conference

Western Arts Alliance (WAA) is now accepting applications from performing artists, companies, or their agents for its 2011 Juried Showcase Program.  The showcase, part of the 2011 WAA Annual Conference in Seattle, will take place on August 31 at the Broadway Performance Hall.  The Juried Showcase gives presenters and delegates the opportunity to see a diverse range of performance of outstanding quality in a short program.  Juried Showcasing artists are selected in a competitive process by a committee of WAA members, and their performances take place as part of the core conference program.

The application fee is $65; you need not be a member of WAA at the time of application, but all showcasing artists must be members (or represented by a member) exhibiting at the conference.

All materials must be received in the WAA Office by Friday, March 25, 2011.

Western Arts Alliance is a membership association of touring and performing arts professionals engaged in promoting and presenting performing arts throughout the western states and provinces. The WAA Annual Conference will convene presenters, artists, and agents August 29-September 2, 2011, around the shared goal of programming live performances.  Opportunities for meetings, exhibits, performances, networking, speakers, classes and workshops will be featured throughout the conference week.  Artists, Managers and Agents will be able to share their or their artists' work with more than 200 presenting organizations based in the West, making the WAA Conference one of the best resources for connecting with presenters and colleagues.

Learn more at www.westarts.org

Contact: Chelsea Maricle, Membership Services & Communications Manager, 503-274-4729, cmaricle@westarts.org

Cam-Plex features Willie Nelson & Family April 20

http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase?organ_val=21612&schedule=list

Baritone Leon Williams in Cheyenne

The Cheyenne Concert Association presents a family friendly program of holiday favorites, spirituals, show tunes and classics on December 16, 7:30 pm, at the Central High School auditorium.

"Leon Sings Noel" features the charismatic and world-acclaimed baritone, Leon Williams. An alumnus of the Harlem Boys Choir, Williams is also a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music. This December show will feature a host of cherished Yuletide music.

Tickets are available at the door. Adults $20. Students $10. Season memberships are also still available. Call 635-0833 or 634-8606 for information or visit http://www.cheyenneconcert.com/

Williams is a regular at Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center with appearances at the White House and Kennedy Center. He has toured worldwide, earning rave reviews wherever he appears.

Getting back to the Basix at UW Nov. 6

The University of Wyoming fall Cultural Programs' concert series continues with Basix, an a cappella ensemble, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6, in the Fine Arts concert hall.

Tickets cost $28 for the public, $24 for students and senior citizens. To purchase tickets, go to the Web site at www.uwyo.edu/finearts or call (307) 766-6666.

Basix began by winning the top award at the Dansk Melody Grand Prix contest, broadcast live on national television. Its first album, The Grass, won the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award (CARA), stayed on the "Top 10" charts for seven weeks and "went platinum" (in Denmark, it's silver, gold, herring and platinum).

Since then, Basix has won the CARA award three more times, and has now been touring internationally, with its own blend of pop, jazz, r&b, soul and rock and roll.

Photo: The a cappella group, Basix, will perform at the University of Wyoming Saturday, Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts concert hall.

Seattle jazz band Jubilee and UW a capella group The Bettys perform at UW Sept. 24-25

Seattle-based band, Jubilee, will team with the Bettys, UW's women's a capella group, Saturday, Sept. 25, at 7 p.m. in the University of Wyoming College of Agriculture auditorium to raise awareness about what ordinary citizens can do to fight human trafficking.

Jubilee will also perform an evening of Brazilian jazz with UW performers from the Luso Brazilian Club and UW music professor Rubia Santos at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 24, at The Gardens in the lower level of the Wyoming Union.

Both performances are free and open to the public and are funded by ASUW.

Jubilee is a collective of five abolitionists/musicians who use the stage and merchandise table to raise awareness and funds to fight modern slavery and support those recovering from its effects. Jubilee strives to be a mouthpiece for the millions of human beings under the bondage of modern slavery.

Jubilee spokesperson Curtis Romjue said 27 million men, women and children around the world are forced to lead lives as slaves. Although this exploitation is often not called slavery, the conditions are the same. People are sold like objects, forced to work for little or no pay and are at the mercy of their 'employers'.

Sponsors for the UW event include ASUW, Amnesty International, the Good Mule Project, Wyoming Law Students for Equal Justice, the UW Provost's Office, Campus Ventures, the Luso Brazilian Club and the UW Women's Studies Program.

Questions about Jubilee's UW visit can be directed to Mark Peterson at markpete@uwyo.edu or (307) 766-2054. Romjue can be contacted at (903) 472-9092 or visit http://www.livejubilee.org/ and www.myspace.com/livejubilee.

Photo: Seattle-based band, Jubilee, will team with the Bettys, UW's women's a capella group, Saturday, Sept. 25, at 7 p.m. in the College of Agriculture Auditorium to raise awareness about what ordinary citizens can do to fight human trafficking.

"Celebrating Jewish Music and Culture" Aug. 15

Jackson Hole Jewish Music Festival on Sunday, Aug. 15, 5-8 p.m., presents "Celebrating Jewish Music and Culture" New York bagels, lox and cream cheese, Hebrew and Yiddish classics by local band Rotating Superstructure, childrens cultural arts & crafts, silent auction.

At the Center for the Arts, Center Tent, 265 N. Cache Street, Jackson.

Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door.

FMI: 307-734-8956 or doug@jhcenterforthearts.org

Festival Orchestra holds open auditions May 22 for vocalist

Grand Teton Music Festival announced today an open audition to choose a vocal soloist to sing the national anthem with the Festival Orchestra at the Festival’s annual outdoor 4th of July community concert, Music In The Hole.

All community members with a talent for singing are invited to audition. Open Auditions will be held Saturday, May 22 at 12:30 p.m. in Walk Festival Hall, Teton Village. Sign-in begins at 11:30 a.m., auditions will begin promptly at 12:30 and be finished by 2:30 p.m. No advance registration will be accepted. Audition participants are to enter through the backstage door to Walk Festival Hall, located on the North side of the building next to the Ticket Office.

Piano accompaniment, provided by Laura Huckin, will be provided to singers in the keys of F, Ab, and Bb – singers must be able to perform the song with accompaniment in one of these three keys. A cappella auditions will not be considered. Audition hopefuls will be expected to sing “The Star Spangled Banner” once before a panel of judges, and the auditions are open to public audience – friends and family of auditioning singers may attend.

The winner will perform “The Star Spangled Banner” with the Festival Orchestra under the direction of Music Director Donald Runnicles on Sunday, July 4, 2010 at Music In The Hole. This performance opens the Festival Orchestra’s portion of the concert, which will be a program of patriotic favorites selected by popular vote.

Music In The Hole is a community program of the Grand Teton Music Festival, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and is 100% funded by community support. This annual 4th of July concert is a favorite way to celebrate Independence Day in Jackson Hole and features local musicians, recreational activities by area non-profits, and good, old-fashioned family fun all afternoon on the 4th of July. More at www.gtmf.org.

Laramie Civic Chorus looking for new members

The Laramie Civic Chorus is now accepting new members.

Directed by James Bowyer, choral faculty member in the University of Wyoming Department of Music, the chorus will hold its first rehearsal Monday, Jan. 25, at 7 p.m. in Room 128 of the UW Fine Arts Center. Rehearsals are every Monday night and will conclude with the April 10 spring concert.

The course fee is $20 for non-registered chorus members. The group will perform Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the UW orchestra in addition to masterwork choral pieces by Mozart, Haydn, Stravinsky, Schubert and others.

For more information e-mail Boyer at jbowyer@uwyo.edu.

Japan Arts Day in Casper features Akemi Iwase

"Japan Arts Day" features Akemi Iwase on Saturday, Sept. 19, 7:30 p.m., in the John F. Welsh Auditorium at Natrona County High School in Casper. This event is free and open to the public.

Here's more info from the ARTCORE web site:

Akemi began composing music at age 12, and at age 16, she created many original songs with Shuji Someno, a poet. During a folk song boom, she performed the original songs, and when she was 18, she formed a jazz band and performed at a nightclub in Ginza, Tokyo and in jazz cafes.


She formed a rock'n'roll Band, the Foxy Lady, with Keiko Watanabe. At age 20, Akemi moved to the U.S.A. with great aspirations. She lived in New York and Hawaii and got married. She performed piano and sang in the Queen Kapiolani Hotel. In 1974, she moved to California where she accompanied a magician and gave concerts. Inspired by traditional Nairobi music by Hamza El Din, she started arranging Japanese traditional folk songs, Minyo. While raising two children, she held many concerts with Shakuhachi, Koto, Cello, Tabla, and Sitar players in Northern California, as well as with members of the San Francisco Taiko Dojo.

Moving to Los Angeles in 1981, she composed and performed "Peace Song" for the event of the "Peace Day" arranged by Governor Brown. This song was often heard on KPFK Radio. She performed Jazzy Japanese Minyo and Latin music regularly at the "Comeback Inn," a Jazz Live Club.
In 1992, she moved to Colorado and managed the Westminster Dinner Theater and acted as a stage producer, while she held her own concerts.

She founded Moon Blossom Records and formed a music band, the Tokyo Tribe.Presented by The Consulate General of Japan in Denver in collaboration with Honorary Consul General Mariko T. Miller, ARTCORE and Natrona County School District No. 1