Lecture-Concert Series presents Luna Nova New Music Ensemble playing Crumb, Ung

Dec. 12, 2007 -- Luna Nova New Music Ensemble, a group of contemporary musicians, will be the featured performers in the eighth event of Arkansas State University’s 2007-2008 Lecture-Concert Series. Luna Nova will present a concert of the works of George Crumb, Toru Takemitsu, Chinary Ung, and others, on  Monday, Jan. 14, at 7:30  p.m. in Riceland Hall, Fowler Center, 201 Olympic Drive, Jonesboro.

Luna Nova, a group of musicians devoted to contemporary music, was formed in 2002. This flexible group of musicians from across the United States performs a wide range of twentieth century classics, including the music of established living composers as well as premiering the music of emerging composers. With performances, master classes, and private instruction, Luna Nova maintains a strong commitment to the education of performers and listeners, and to the cause of new music in educational institutions and beyond.

Since its beginning in 2002, the Luna Nova New Music Ensemble (www.lunanova.org) has given more than 50 concerts of contemporary music in colleges and art museums around the country. Ensemble members have also worked closely with student composers, giving master classes and readings of new works, as well as making recordings of selected student compositions. Recently, Luna Nova has begun to collaborate with visual artists to create multimedia projects that involve either live performance with video or using Luna Nova recordings as soundtracks for new video works. Several of their collaborative projects with artists and composers have resulted in compelling multimedia works that have been performed in various concerts and conferences.

According to critic Michael Huebner of the Birmingham News, anyone needing an introduction to late 20^th-century music would do well to hear Luna Nova. In an August 27, 2007, review, he says, “the most notable aspect of their concert was the manner of performance--technically near perfect, sensitive to style, well-rehearsed, possessing a rare level of confidence. Then there were the pieces themselves--inventive, uniquely engaging, transcendent of the occasional design flaw.”

Luna Nova New Music Ensemble personnel include flautist Dr. John McMurtery, pianist Dr. Adam Bowles, cellist Craig Hultgren, bassoonist Dr. Jennifer Rhodes, bass clarinetist Nobuko Igarashi, composer and horn player Dr. Robert G. Patterson, violinist Marta Szlubowska-Kirk, e-flat clarinetist Ted Gurch, violinist Helen Hwaya Kim, composer Dr. James Romig, and percussionist Lee Ferguson. McMurtery, Bowles, Hultgren, Gurch, Kim, Romig, and Ferguson are founding members of the group.

For more details, contact Dr. Gil Fowler, associate dean for the Honors College, at (870) 972-2308 or via e-mail at gfowler@astate.edu, or visit http://honors.astate.edu.

The Lecture-Concert Series presents diverse programs to enrich the cultural life of the campus, community, and region. All Lecture-Concert Series events are free and open to the public.

Program

Oceanic Prelude (2006)                                                                                                                               Robert Patterson (b. 1957)
John McMurtery, flute • Craig Hultgren, cello • Adam Bowles, piano
                                                                                                                                                                              
Air for Solo Flute (1995)                                                                                                                 
Toru Takemitsu (b. 1930-1996)
John McMurtery, flute
video by Sheri Wills

Khse Buon (1980)      
Chinary Ung (b. 1942)   
Craig Hultgren, cello

Painted on the Firmament (2007)                                                                                                                       Mark Volker (b. 1974)
I. Thunder Moon
II. Reflected Sky
III. Sundogs
IV. Heat Lightening

John McMurtery, flute • Craig Hultgren, cello • Adam Bowles, piano

Intermission

Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale) (1971)                                                                                                  

Vocalise (. . . for the beginning of time)
George Crumb (b. 1929)

Variations on Sea-Time
George Crumb (b. 1929)
Sea Theme
Archeozoic (Var. I)
Proterozoic (Var. II)
Paleozoic (Var. III)
Mesozoic (Var. IV)
Cenozoic (Var. V)
Sea-Nocturne ( . . . for the end of time)

John McMurtery, flute • Craig Hultgren, cello • Adam Bowles, piano

 # # #