APSU to host annual GuitarFest event
February 9, 2015
Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University and the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts present the annual APSU GuitarFest, which will feature guest artist concerts, lectures and workshops.
The concerts take place on Monday, February 16th and Tuesday, February 17th at 7:30pm in the Music/Mass Communication Building’s Mabry Concert Hall and are free and open to the public.
APSU Professor of Music Stanley Yates playing at GuitarFest.
Gateway Chamber Orchestra 5th Season opens with Classical Elegance with Charles Neidich
September 12, 2014
Gateway Chamber Orchestra Single Tickets Available Now
Clarksville, TN – The Gateway Chamber Orchestra has built its reputation for delivering adventurous programming and world-class performances performed in intimate venues. With exceptional musicality and bold selections created to engage audiences, the GCO showcases the best of traditional and contemporary classical music.
“We are so fortunate to have Charles Neidich join us for this great masterpiece by Mozart. He is one of the world’s foremost authorities on this beautiful piece, and Mozart is one of our specialties,” states Music Director Gregory Wolynec.
Gregory Wolynec directing the Gateway Chamber Orchestra
Several renowned musicians to visit APSU this year as Acuff Chairs of Excellence
September 8, 2014
Clarksville, TN – When Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto first premiered in Prague in October 1791, the famed piece sounded much different than what audiences often hear today.
The composer’s friend, Anton Stadler, used a basset clarinet in that first performance, but the instrument fell out of favor in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Modern performances of the work are simply faint echoes of the how the piece was originally conceived.
Charles Neidich
APSU choral program continues busy season with October 22nd Concert
October 11, 2013
Clarksville, TN – This fall is shaping up to be a busy semester for Austin Peay State University Choral Activities. In early September, the University’s three choral groups – Vocal Ease, University Choir and Chamber Singers – performed for the Tennessee Board of Regents dinner at APSU.
A few weeks later, the Chamber Singers traveled to Nashville for a performance at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center as part of the Nashville Symphony’s Free Day of Music event.
APSU Chamber Singers
Gateway Chamber Orchestra brings powerful Mahler work to Middle Tennessee May 5th-6th
April 15, 2013
Clarksville, TN – In 1907, the great Austrian composer Gustav Mahler had a bad year. First, he lost his job as director of the Vienna State Opera. Then, in July, his young daughter Maria died after a brief illness. While grieving this loss, Mahler was diagnosed with a terminal heart condition.
In the months that followed, the composer found solace in a book of Chinese Tang Dynasty poetry titled “The Chinese Flute.” As he read the works, translated into German, a composition slowly took shape in his head.
Gateway Chamber Orchestra
APSU hosts annual Guitar Festival February 18th-20th
January 31, 2013
Austin Peay State University
Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University and the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts present the annual guitar festival this February, featuring guest artist concerts and master classes.
The concerts, which are free and open to the public, take place at 7:30pm, February 18th-20th in the Music/Mass Communication Building’s Mabry Concert Hall. [Read more]
Gateway Chamber Orchestra Begins New Season with New Identity
August 20, 2012
Clarksville, TN – The Gateway Chamber Orchestra, which kicks off its third subscription season at 7:30pm on August 30th, can’t be accused of lacking ambition.
“Our goal is to be one of the world’s great chamber orchestras,” Dr. Gregory Wolynec, the ensemble’s conductor, said recently. “There is a great symphony orchestra, the Nashville Symphony, 45 minutes down the road. We offer something different. The energy and spirit of this group has been just magical.”
Gateway Chamber Orchestra
Fort Campbell’s 4th Brigade Combat Team “Whiskey Company” gets visit from Army Chief of Staff General Raymond T. Odierno
April 15, 2012
Austin Peay State University
Clarksville, TN – In March of 2011, an obituary appeared in the New York Times announcing the death of the great American composer Lee Hoiby at the age of 85.
The article championed his career, mentioning such notable works as his 1964 opera “Natalia Petrovna,” but for those who knew Hoiby, his death left something unfinished – an unperformed flute concerto he wrote 17 years earlier.
APSU's Gateway Chamber Orchestra presents world premiere of famed composers work
26th Annual APSU Percussion Ensemble Halloween Concert set for October 28th
October 22, 2011
Clarksville, TN – “If I have to describe in one word what’s going to be going on with this concert,” Dr. David Steinquest said, leaning forward and rubbing his hands, “it would be ‘magic.’”
He lifted his eyebrows as he spoke, as if the word itself contained supernatural properties. It’s the type of showmanship one comes to expect from the Austin Peay State University professor of music, especially at this time of year.
Every October for the last 26 years, Steinquest has hosted the APSU Percussion Ensemble’s Halloween Concert – an enormously popular performance that blends music with the mayhem of the season. This year’s concert will consist of two performances at 6:00pm and 8:00pm on October 28th in the APSU Music/Mass Communication Concert Hall.
The APSU Percussion Ensemble's 2010 Halloween Concert
APSU’s Center of Excellence Celebrates 25th Anniversary with New Musical by Two APSU Professors
March 30, 2011
Clarksville, TN – One thing that really annoys Dr. Richard Gildrie, emeritus professor of history at Austin Peay State University, is when people commonly mistake Benjamin Franklin for a serious, pompous old man. Don’t even mention to him D.H. Lawrence’s essay criticizing the founding father’s seminal work, “The Autobiography,” unless you’re looking for an argument.
“That essay angered me so much, in which Lawrence took seriously the assumption in ‘The Autobiography’ where Franklin said he wanted to be perfect,” Gildrie said. “The whole thing is obviously a spoof. Few people understand that Ben Franklin was quite a comedian, and the Pennsylvania Gazette was a sort of ‘The Daily Show’ of its time.”
Retired Austin Peay State University professors George Mabry and Richard Gildrie joke around on the tavern set of their new musical “Ben and the Virtues.” (Photo By Charles Booth/APSU Public Relations and Marketing)
