As Spring term winds down, the arts community at Dartmouth is only starting up, with a host of performances scheduled for the remaining weeks. The musical options are varied, but consistently of high quality, offering students a break from tired frat basement playlists and top-40 radio hits.
May already saw two inspired performances. The Dartmouth Wind Symphony celebrated Cinco de Mayo this past Friday with a program titled "The Carnival's in Town." Manguito, a Latin American group led by bassist, singer and composer Alex Alvear, joined the symphony in what the program promised to be a "high-energy, entertaining cultural experience celebrating the rich and diverse artistic expressions of Latin America." The concert featured a wide range of celebration-themed works, ranging from Antonin Dvorak to John Philip Sousa. The show was conducted by Max Culpepper and narrated by Stephen Langley.
On Sunday, May 7, the Dartmouth College Gospel Choir performed a wide range of inspiring pieces in its show, "Back to Basics." Directed by Walter Cunningham, the show also featured the Pomfret School Chorus, a group of young singers from a college preparatory high school that emphasizes the arts in its curriculum. The program paid tribute to the group's seniors -- Erin Arnold, Richel Cuyler, David Jiles and Ikechi Ogbonna -- all of whom had dedicated themselves to the Choir for four years.
If you missed these shows, not to fear -- There is plenty more where they came from.
This Saturday, May 13, the World Music Percussion Ensemble will focus on the traditional music of the Fulani tribe of Guinea, West Africa, in their presentation titled "Music of the Fulani," with special guest the Fula Flute Ensemble. Beginning at 8 p.m. in Spaulding Auditorium, Hafiz Shabazz will direct the ensemble in a "Mandinka Suite," which the program describes as "a composition of rhythms and themes that tell a story of old Mali and the dispersion of its people." The World Music Percussion Ensemble takes traditional dance and rhythm structures, like "Dounodou (Dance of the Strong Men)," and arranges them with jazz, Latin and contemporary West African melodies. The concert is dedicated to Ali Farka Toure, a guitarist and Mali oral traditionalist whose musical style has greatly influenced the Ensemble's arrangements.
The Fula Flute Ensemble is a New York-based group of African and African-oriented musicians whose "jazz-style approach to mostly traditional Mande repertoire makes an otherwise foreign idiom sound strangely familiar," say the show's program notes. The night's Fulani music will center on the sounds of the tambin, a flute that is traditionally used by the tribe to herd cattle. The concert begins at 8 p.m. in Spaulding Auditorium.
The Barbary Coast Jazz Ensemble is performing its "Senior Feature Concert" on Wednesday, May 17. The concert is a farewell to four seniors: trombonist Rob Petit, alto saxophonists Emily Bussigel and Katie McNabb, and alto saxophonist/vocalist David Jiles. The performance, directed by Don Glasgow, will begin at 7 p.m. in Spaulding Auditorium.
On May 20 and 21, the Handel Society of Dartmouth College, with the Hanover Chamber Orchestra, will perform Beethoven's "Mass in C Major" and Benjamin Britten's "The Company of Heaven." Keep your ears open for what is sure to be a fantastic production, featuring a New Hampshire premier of Britten's cantata.
On Friday, May 26, The Dartmouth Chamber Singers recognize the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' death with "A New World: Music of the Time of Christopher Columbus." In the show, the group will explore the music of 15th- and 16th-century Spain, which flourished under the patronage of Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella. It will feature the music of court composers like Francisco de Penalosa, Juan del Encina and Pedro de Escobar, as well as, the Hopkins Center states, "contemporary works of voyage and discovery." The performance is directed by Dr. Robert Duff and features a guest ensemble of period instruments. The Chamber Singers will start their performance at 7 p.m. in Rollins Chapel.
Finally, to cap off a month of exciting performances, on Saturday, May 27, the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra will perform two monumental pieces: Aaron Copland's "Appalachian Spring" and Beethoven's "Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, 'Eroica.'" Copland won a Pulitzer Prize in 1944 for his orchestral suite, beautiful in its simplicity and still widely recognized. The Beethoven symphony, too, is a masterpiece, which the Hopkins Center calls "a passionate tribute to the Romantic ideals of political and artistic freedom ... unprecedented in its overpowering expression, bold exploration of death and loss, and crushing drama and discord." Anthony Princiotti directs this stand-out group of student musicians. The concert will begin at 8 p.m. in Spaulding Auditorium, with a pre-performance discussion with Princiotti in Faulkner Hall at 7 p.m.
So mark your calendars and be sure to catch at least one of these many nights of outstanding student performances. Whether to support your friends or just to support the arts, you will certainly be indulging your ears at the same time.
