Gateway Chamber Orchestra showcases string section with October 27th concert

Clarksville, TN – Are you familiar with Clarksville’s Gateway Chamber Orchestra? For the last five years, the ensemble – made up of Austin Peay State University music faculty and other professional musicians – has hosted acclaimed performances of classical masterworks and garnered serious Grammy consideration with their two recorded albums.

Still, the orchestra sometimes feels like a well-kept secret. That’s why they’ve kicked off the “Get to know the GCO” campaign this year, with the intention of showcasing the different components of this incredibly talented ensemble.

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APSU hosts concert and masterclass showcasing the clarinet

Clarksville, TN – On November 5th, the Austin Peay State University Department of Music will host a special evening showcasing the range and expressive capabilities of the clarinet.

The night will begin at 5:00pm in the Music/Mass Communication Building Concert Hall with a free mini-recital by renowned clarinetist Richard Hawkins, associate professor at Ohio’s famed Oberlin College and Conservatory. [Read more]

Virtuoso pianist Gloria Chien to open Clarksville Community Concert Association’s 2012-13 season on September 21st

Clarksville, TN – The Clarksville Community Concert Association will kick off its 2012-13 season at 7:30pm on September 21st with a performance by piano virtuoso Gloria Chien.

Richard Dyer of the Boston Glove praised Chien for “a wondrously rich palette of colors, which she mixes everything with dashing bravado and with an uncanny precision of calibration.”

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APSU Clarinetist Wang receives Tennessee Individual Artist Fellowship

Clarksville, TN – Dr. Mingzhe Wang, Austin Peay State University assistant professor of music, was in New York City this summer when his cell phone started ringing. The unfamiliar number had a 931 area code, so he thought someone on campus might be trying to contact him.

“I picked it up and it was (Tennessee State Senator) Tim Barnes,” Wang recalled recently. “I thought, oh, he’s probably calling me about some re-election stuff.”

But Barnes was calling for another reason. He congratulated Wang for being one of only two musicians in the state to receive a coveted Tennessee Arts Commission Individual Artists Fellowship. [Read more]

Austin Peay State University Symphony to perform Classical Masterworks during free March 18th Concert

Clarksville, TN – One afternoon in the late 1880s, according to a popular legend, the Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky met with the man he considered a “mediocre composer” – Johannes Brahms. The topic of their conversation quickly turned to music.

“I can only write something that is beautiful,” Tchaikovsky is rumored to have pompously said.

“I can only write something that is perfect,” Brahms replied. [Read more]

February 26th concert to showcase Clarksville’s newest semi-professional Gateway Choir

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]

Classical composer Schoenfield visits APSU as Acuff Chair of Excellence

Clarksville, TN – The classical composer Paul Schoenfield is known for his daring combinations of musical forms. It isn’t unusual for works to be infused with jazz or ragtime, alongside more cultivated and conventional elements. It’s what causes his compositions to be considered so wildly original and accessible, and has lead Schoenfield to be called one of the finest American composers working today.

On January 18th, Schoenfield will come to Austin Peay State University for a weeklong visit as one of this year’s Acuff Chairs of Excellence for the APSU Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts. His visit will culminate in a free concert of his work, “The Music of Paul Schoenfield,” at 7:30pm on January 24th, in the Music/Mass Communication Building’s Concert Hall. The event will be part of APSU’s Dimension’s Concert Series. [Read more]