February 26th concert to showcase Clarksville’s newest semi-professional Gateway Choir
February 24, 2012
Clarksville, TN – The city of Clarksville is deceptively large. Sure, there’s the small town charm of Franklin Street and the local university, but spread over about 95 square miles, more than 130,000 people call the city home. For a couple of faculty members in the Austin Peay State University music department, that makes Clarksville large enough to need certain cosmopolitan attractions.
“We feel Clarksville should have an orchestra of its own, and there should be a choral component to go along with that,” Dr. Gregory Wolynec, APSU associate professor of music, said. [Read more]
Austin Peay State University Music and Dance Faculty collaborate on Stravinsky Concert
February 7, 2012
Clarksville, TN – The Russian composer Igor Stravinsky’s extraordinary musical/theatrical/dance work “The Soldier’s Tale” premièred at the end of World War I, during a time of moral and economic turmoil. Nearly 100 years later, with the world in a similar state, two Austin Peay State University creative arts departments are resurrecting the complex work for a rare, one night only collaborative performance.
“It’s based on a Russian folk tale about a soldier on leave who unknowingly makes a deal with the devil,” Dr. Gregory Wolynec, APSU associate professor of music, said. “It’s based on the basic moral that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.”
Austin Peay State University’s Gateway Chamber Orchestra presents “Pastoral Soundscapes” Concert on January 30th
January 26, 2012
Clarksville, TN – In the late 1850s, the German composer Johannes Brahms was taking a stroll through the Bavarian countryside when he was suddenly struck by the lush green hills and snow-covered Alps surrounding him. He wanted to recreate the immense beauty of this land through music, so he set to work composing a short symphony serenade for nine players, using the unique folk rhythms and melodies of the area.
“It was beautiful music, drawn from his surroundings,” Dr. Gregory Wolynec, APSU associate professor of music, said.
The work, known as Brahms’ Serenade No. 1, is typically performed by a full orchestra, but at 7:30pm on January 30th, APSU’s Grammy-nominated Gateway Chamber Orchestra will present the work as the composer originally conceived it.
Austin Peay State University's Gateway Chamber Orchestra
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]
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 Center of Excellence Creates YouTube Videos about Upcoming Fall Performances
September 29, 2011
Clarksville, TN – One of the perks of attending the state’s designated liberal arts university, with Tennessee’s only Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts, is there’s no shortage of things to do. On almost any night of the week, Austin Peay State University freshmen can attend poetry readings, art gallery openings, plays, dance performances or musical concerts, all within a few feet of their residence halls.
Gateway Chamber Orchestra Opens Season with September 26th “Contrasting Lines” Concert
September 21, 2011
Clarksville, TN – In the mid-18th century, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, like all good rebellious children, decided to break away from the style and tradition of his father – composer Johann Sebastian Bach. Some might argue that it was a foolish move, considering that C.P.E. Bach has always lingered under the long shadow cast by his legendary father.
But others, including the likes of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Joseph Haydn, saw the son as the true innovator who brought something new to the musical world. Mozart even famously said that the younger Bach “is the father, we are the children.”
Gateway Chamber Orchestra
APSU Remembers Legacy and Friendship of Late Composer Lee Hoiby
April 6, 2011
Clarksville, TN – In his later years, the renowned American composer Lee Hoiby was a quiet, slender gentleman with wavy gray hair and intelligent, often amused eyes. His appearance suited his style of music, which was reminiscent of the pleasing tunes of the early Romantic era and of his idol, Franz Schubert.
“His music is beautiful,” Gregory Wolynec, Austin Peay State University associate professor of music, said. “When we think of contemporary music, we frequently think of things that can be difficult for audiences to approach. But Lee Hoiby considered himself the caretaker of an heirloomed garden that started back with Mozart and Haydn, and even earlier than that.”
Lena Orgain, APSU Professor of Music Jeffrey Wood and the late American composer Lee Hoiby.
Gateway Chamber Ensemble Finishes Season with Works and Influences of Schoenberg
April 1, 2011
Clarksville, TN – In 2008, a group of Austin Peay State University music faculty members set themselves a challenge. They intended to perform Arnold Schoenberg’s Chamber Symphony, Opus Nine, for 15 Soloists – one of the most important, yet challenging, compositions from the 20th century.
“It’s daunting. The demands on individual players are great,” Dr. Gregory Wolynec, associate professor of music, said.
APSU's Gateway Chamber Ensemble
APSU’s Dimensions Series Explores Composer Enescu and his Chamber Symphony
March 12, 2011
Clarksville, TN – In 1958, the conductor Constantin Silvestri experienced a slight dilemma. He was set to premiere composer George Enescu’s last work, Chamber Symphony for 12 Players, but he worried the Romanian audience wouldn’t appreciate the complexities or the brilliance of the work.
“He was convinced the audience would not be able to grasp it on first hearing it, so he had it played twice,” Dr. Gregory Wolynec, associate professor of music at Austin Peay State University, said. “This last work of his, people who specialize in the music of this composer refer to it as the hardest to understand.”
Gateway Chamber Ensemble
