College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
All Spotlights » New Music Ensemble Tours to Great Reviews
On November 13, 2011, the celebrated GVSU New Music Ensemble returned from an exciting week-long tour of eastern cities.
“The trip was a great success, with the students and Jonathan [Professor Nichols on saxophone] performing beautifully,” Bill Ryan, Associate Professor and Director of New Music Ensemble reports. “The audience reception at each location was terrific--in fact we were invited back by each venue.”
The program featured acoustic and electronic music with Michigan connections, including the premiere of a new work by student Dan Rhode, commissioned just for this tour.
In addition to our three concerts, in Washington DC the ensemble took part in a post-concert panel discussion about contemporary music. In Baltimore they were video interviewed for an online music journal (look for it in December). In Philadelphia, the NME performed and led a workshop on improvisation in 21st Century Classical music for 12-16 year olds.
“The members handled their varied experiences professionally and enthusiastically, Ryan noted.
Here's a link to the Washington Post review of the Baltimore concert:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/grand-valley-state-ensemble-%20reinvents-rileys-in-c/2011/11/10/gIQAxAdj9M_story.html This story notes the NME’s recording success as well as their performance.
Part of the Washington performance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpxEbZSmw8U The Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble performs Jad Abumrad's Counting in C, arranged by Adam Cuthbert.
On tour were these students and faculty:
Ashley Stanley, flute
Anastasiya Nyzkodub, clarinet
Jonathan Nichol, saxophones
Kelly Vander Molen, violin
César Colmenares, cello
Jera Leffring, piano
Joshua Dreyer, percussion
Daniel Rhode, composer, sound engineer
