The Percussion Ensemble’s extremely popular “Beat Hunger” is still weeks away, but don’t worry, the Music Department has a sundry of concerts and events to quench your thirst, from the smooth jazz of Jack Segal and Marvin Fisher’s “When Sunny Gets Blue” to the stirring harmonies of Kurt Bestor’s “Prayer of the Children.”
Here are some details on a sampling of the music department’s upcoming concerts. For a full schedule of events, peruse the department’s calendar here.
The UTC Trumpet Ensemble and UTC Brass Quintet will present a joint concert on Thursday, November 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the Roland Hayes Concert Hall.
The program will include a composition entitled “Prayer of the Children” by Kurt Bestor, written out of frustration over the civil war taking place in the former country of Yugoslavia in the late 20th century. It was originally performed by the composer a cappella with a vocal synthesizer, digitally splitting his voice into 5 distinct parts. It has since become a very popular piece for choir, and this concert will feature a version for trumpet ensemble.
The brass quintet will perform Victor Ewald’s Quintet no. 2 in E flat major, written in 1905. Ewald is one of several composers credited with being the first to write music for the modern day brass quintet. His quintets are therefore very well known in the brass community and contain luscious melodies, more like music from the Romantic period.
The program will also include a work by Renaissance composer Orlando di Lasso and a lighthearted three movement work with Spanish and Norwegian influences by Vera Hørven and James Olcott.
The UTC Jazz Band invites you to a free concert entitled “Standards and Swing” on Friday, November 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the Roland Hayes Concert Hall.
Music will include two well-known charts written by Neal Hefti for the Count Basie Orchestra in the 1950s. Hefti went on to write the music for the Batman TV series, and The Odd Couple film and TV series. We are also featuring two charts by Benny Carter, a very highly respected yet perhaps less known composer from the 1930s and 40s. His music was played by Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, and Tommy Dorsey. Carter’s own band included Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, J.J. Johnson, and Max Roach. The Jazz Band’s performance will also feature two vocalists, Kayla Petrille and Alea Tveit.
“Beat Hunger” concludes the month with two nights of performances by UTC’s Percussion Ensemble on November 22 and 23 from 7:30 – 9:30 p.m. in the Roland Hayes Concert Hall. This highly anticipated concert sparks the season’s holiday spirit of giving. In lieu of tickets, attendees are encouraged to donate two non-perishable food items, or write a two-dollar check to the Chattanooga Community Kitchen.
Director of percussion studies, Dr. Monte Coulter, likes to include an element of surprise in this annual event. This year he says,
“Half of this year’s Beat Hunger will feature drumming music never heard before by Chattanooga audiences. Ever.”
While concert goers will recognize some of the beats featured, half of the music will be new to all listeners, because it has yet to debut.
