New Music New College Celebrates Student Works and Performances
"From the Laboratory"
Composer
Francis Schwartz to direct March 4 concert
(February 23, 2006) New
Music New College, New College of Florida's proclaimed experimental
music series, continues on Sunday, March 4, with its fourth concert
of the 2006-2007 season, entitled "From the Laboratory: New
Experimental Works." The concert is scheduled for 2 p.m. in
the College Hall Music Room. College Hall is the former mansion of
circus magnate Charles Ringling and is located at 5800 Bay Shore
Road in Sarasota.
This concert is FREE for New College faculty, staff and students and
costs just $10 for the general public. Due to the intimate
environment of the College Hall Music Room, advance reservations
(even for student and faculty tickets) are encouraged. Please
contact the Campus Events Office for more information - tel: (941)
487-4552 or email:
mgaldames@ncf.edu.
In “From the Laboratory,” the audience will be
invited to participate fully as New College students under the
direction of noted new music composer Francis Schwartz present a mix
of experimental works, some composed specifically for this event.
Among the featured performances will be Robert Ashley’s She Was a
Visitor and Stuart Smith’s Return and Recall.
The mission of New Music New College is to provide educational
opportunities for New College students while bringing contemporary
music to Sarasota audiences. Beyond the public performances, the
program functions as a research laboratory for contemporary music
and performance. Throughout the academic year, under the direction
of music professor Stephen Miles, the students study music from the
perspectives of multiple disciplines, immersing themselves in
today’s music as a vital way of engaging contemporary culture and
society.
About our Guest Composer, Francis Schwartz
Composer, Juilliard graduate and former dean at the University of
Puerto Rico, Sarasota resident Francis Schwartz entered the music
scene at a time when modern composers were experimenting with new
forms of writing. In New York, he quickly found acceptance among a
distinguished crowd, including John Cage.
When New College Associate
Professor of Music Stephen Miles took a research sabbatical in 2002,
Schwartz substituted, leading students in difficult composition
studies of Cage and Berlioz. In November 2006, Miles performed
Schwartz’s "The Death of García-Lorca," a work that juxtaposed its
soloist with electronic sound-scapes and poetry, as part of “The
Music of Gesture” presented by New Music New College earlier this
season. Schwartz’s Dali & Gala, an “operatic anti-opera,” had its
world premiere at the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg in
March of 2004.
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New College of Florida
is a national leader in the arts and sciences and is the State of
Florida’s designated honors college for the liberal arts. Rated as
the #1 public liberal arts college in America by U.S. News &
World Report ("America's Best Colleges, 2007 Edition"), New
College attracts highly-motivated, academically-talented students
from throughout the United States, as well as 27 foreign countries.
