Austin Peay State University Concert to capture whimsy and freedom of childhood March 12th
February 27, 2012
Clarksville, TN – One afternoon several years ago, the prominent Hungarian composer György Kurtág watched as a group of children banged away at a piano. They were playing with the instrument as if it were a toy, and Kurtág was struck by how much fun they seemed to have.
That observation inspired him to compose his solo piano pieces, “Játékok” (Games), which captures the playful freedom of childhood with its sometimes frenetic sounds. At 7:30pm on March 12th, Austin Peay State University professor of music Dr. Jeffrey Wood will present the little-heard piece in a concert filled with works all denoting childhood. [Read more]
Austin Peay State University to hear ancient Chinese Sounds by the Orchid Ensemble on March 1st
February 25, 2012
Clarksville, TN – The erhu, a two-stringed instrument somewhat like a violin, appeared in China more than a thousand years ago. The zheng, a plucked half-tube wood zither, dates even farther back to 2,500 years ago, and the marimba, a wooden keyboard, evolved from early African instruments.
If you put the three instruments together, as Canada’s renowned Orchid Ensemble does, they produce a soothing, ancient sound that is unfamiliar to most modern audiences. At 2:30pm on March 1st, the ensemble will bring their unique, Chinese and Chinese-blended music to the Austin Peay State University Music/Mass Communication Building’s Concert Hall for a free concert. [Read more]
Austin Peay State University Provost Lecture Series to focus on Chinese Guzheng
January 17, 2012
Clarksville, TN – An Austin Peay State University music professor’s expertise in the music of the guzheng instrument, which has seen a revitalization, based on her recent first-hand experience in China will be the next session of the Provost Lecture Series program.
Dr. Ann Silverberg, professor of music, will present “The Chinese Guzheng: Old and New” from 3:00pm-4:30pm, Thursday, January 19th in the Morgan University Center, Room 303. All presentations in the Provost Lecture Series are free and open to the public. [Read more]
Celebrate the Holiday at Austin Peay State University with annual Vienna in Clarksville Concert December 11th
December 10, 2011
Clarksville, TN – For more than 100 years, the Vienna Philharmonic has set aside New Year’s Day as a time to perform uplifting holiday pieces by Johann Strauss and his family. It has become one of the great traditions in all of music, earning a sizable television audience in America in recent years, but a new, similar tradition has taken hold in Clarksville.
For the last two years, Dr. Gregory Wolynec, associate professor of music at Austin Peay State University, has brought the festivities to town a little earlier with the APSU Symphony Orchestra’s annual “Vienna in Clarksville: A Holiday Celebration” concert. [Read more]
Austin Peay State University Percussion Ensemble Holiday concert on December 2nd
November 28, 2011
Clarksville, TN – The image that comes to mind when listening to James Taylor’s version of the Christmas classic “Jingle Bells” isn’t that of a winter wonderland. Rather, you might picture yourself in a smoky bar in Memphis or New Orleans, sweating from the room’s thick, humid air.
“This is not the ‘Jingle Bells’ that you’re used to hearing,” David Steinquest, professor of music at Austin Peay State University, said. “It’s got a very bluesy kind of feel to it. It’s a whole lot different, but I think it’s fun when people get to hear these pieces they know, but they’re sort of done in a whole different way.”
Percussion Ensemble Holiday concert
Austin Peay State University Choral Department hosting 2nd Annual Holiday Dinner
November 8, 2011
Clarksville, TN – The tables, adorned with floral centerpieces, will be set with the University’s china and polished silverware.
In the kitchen, caterers will quietly prepare salmon, chicken and steak dishes while men and women, dressed in formal attire, listen to more than 100 singers – accompanied by winds, brass and percussion – perform holiday classics. [Read more]
Governors Singers bring “The Little Match Girl Passion” to APSU November 22nd
November 8, 2011
Clarksville, TN – The little match girl, the protagonist of Hans Christian Anderson’s 1845 story of the same name, is a poor child who, on a cold winter evening, tries to sell matches to help feed her family.
As the night progresses, no one pays attention to the girl, and she’s forced to light one match after another to keep warm. She eventually runs out, and the story ends with the death of the poor little match girl. [Read more]
Renowned soprano Burrows to perform at APSU on October 30th
October 24, 2011
Clarksville, TN – The Clarksville Arts and Heritage Development Council, in cooperation with the Clarksville Community Concert Association and Austin Peay State University Department of Music, will present renowned soprano and Clarksville native Melissa Shippen Burrows in concert at 7:00pm, October 30th, in the APSU Music/Mass Communication Concert Hall.
Described by The New York Times as “a dramatic soprano with an attractive, powerful sound,” as “angelic” by The Washington Post and, according to Theater Scene, “appealing and lyrical,” Burrows has made debuts in her young career throughout the United States, Europe and Asia.
Melissa Shippen Burrows
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 Concert to Examine Musical Influence of the Holocaust
September 15, 2011
Clarksville, TN – In the early 1940s, during World War II, many of Europe’s most prominent Jewish musicians boarded trains destined for the Terezin concentration camp in Czechoslovakia.
German propaganda described the city’s small fortress as a camp with a “rich cultural life,” but when the new inmates arrived, hope quickly faded. Their beloved instruments were replaced by workers’ tools, and they toiled endlessly each day as slave laborers for Hitler’s Third Reich.
But for a few minutes one morning in 1943, all that changed. Hundreds of Jewish prisoners gathered that day inside the camp and started singing Giuseppe Verdi’s “Requiem” – a powerful, somber piece of music. They’d rehearsed for weeks before hand, memorizing the complex work without the help of books or sheet music. [Read more]
