Conservatory of Music Announces 2018-19 Season of Performances

The Purchase College Conservatory of Music has announced its 2018-19 season which will include several exciting collaborations, concerts, and full opera productions featuring professional-caliber students selected from the highly competitive conservatory.

This season marks the twentieth anniversary under Jacque Trussel’s direction of the Purchase Opera Company. The Conservatory will mark the occasion by presenting two of his signature productions, Amahl and the Night Visitors in December, and Confession, an original one-act opera created for Purchase, which will be performed along with Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi in March.

This year, for the first time, the Purchase Symphony Orchestra will perform with the world-class Black Violin ensemble at their annual concert at The Performing Arts Center on October 26. They will be joined by students from top high school music programs in the region. The PSO will also join the Purchase College Chorus for two rousing performances of Carmina Burana on November 17 and 18.

Other highlights this season include a multimedia tribute to Hispanic Heritage Month on October 12 featuring the Purchase Symphony Orchestra performing the score of the Mexican film Redes, as composed by Silvestre Revueltas, and collaborative performances with Purchase College Dance Conservatory in May. These concerts, on May 3rd, 4th, and 5th, will include performances of Jose Limón’s Psalms accompanied by the 2002 score by Jon Magnussen.

“The Purchase College Conservatory of Music thrives as part of a dynamic arts community, both at the College and in the larger Westchester area,” says Jennifer Undercofler, director of the Conservatory at Purchase College, SUNY. “We are thrilled to invite the public to enjoy a season of collaborative, joyful, and thought-provoking performances presented by young musicians who are poised to change the world with their lives and art.”

CONCERT SCHEDULE

All concerts will be held at Purchase College, SUNY, 735 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, NY. Events at The Performing Arts Center require tickets.

About the Concerts

Purchase Symphony Orchestra presents Concerto Competition Winners

Friday, September 21, 7:00 pm

The Performing Arts Center, Recital Hall

$20 with discounts for students and seniors

Mina Kim, Conductor

Wang Yuan, clarinet

Cami Sylvia, violin

Isaiah Figueroa, euphonium

The talent of our Conservatory of Music students will be on display this evening. Featuring the three winners of the 2018 Concerto Competition, these three concertos convey classical sweetness (Spohr), haunting romanticism (Chausson), and funky, modern excitement (Jenkins).

Repertoire:

Louis Spohr: Clarinet Concerto No. 1, Op. 26

Ernest Chausson: Poème for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 25

Karl Jenkins: Euphonium Concerto

Purchase Symphony and Latin Jazz Orchestras and Film Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month

Friday, October 12, 7:00pm

The Performing Arts Center, PepsiCo Hall

$20 with discounts for students and seniors

Mina Kim, PSO Conductor

David DeJesus, PLJO Conductor

The Purchase Symphony Orchestra collaborates with the School of Film and Media Studies in presenting the landmark black-and-white film Redes (1936) along with its original score by Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas. The Purchase Latin Jazz Orchestra closes the evening with a thrilling set of music by the best Latin American composers.

Black Violin and Purchase Symphony Orchestra

Featuring top students from local high schools

Friday, October 26, 8:00pm

The Performing Arts Center, Concert Hall

$30-65

“Black Violin works hard, but makes it all look like play... Sometimes they play with the intense seriousness of orchestral soloists; at others they fiddle as if at a hoedown; at still others they strum the violin and viola like guitars.” The New York Times

This stereotype-smashing duo – Kevin Sylvester and Wilner Baptiste, a.k.a. Kev Marcus and Wil B. – blends classical, hip-hop, rock, R&B, and bluegrass music on violin and viola, accompanied by ace turntable whiz DJ SPS and drums, and backed by the entire Purchase Symphony Orchestra.

Named one of the hottest bands at SXSW in 2013, Black Violin was invited to perform at Bonnaroo and returned to SXSW this year to SRO crowds. With influences ranging from Shostakovich and Bach to Nas and Jay-Z, Black Violin breaks the rules, blending classical with modern to create a sound that no one has ever heard but everyone wants to feel, and showing that music can be as unrestrained as the minds that conceive it.

Purchase Percussion Ensemble

Thursday, November 15, 8:00 pm

Music Building, Recital Hall

Free and open to the public

Dominic Donato, Artistic Director

Looking Backward: Percussion Classics Part I (1930s-40s) featuring the music of Johanna Magdalena Beyer, John Cage, Carlos Chavez, Henry Cowell, and Lou Harrison.

Purchase Symphony Orchestra & College Chorus present Carl Orff's Carmina Burana

Saturday, November 17 at 7:00pm, Sunday, November 18 at 3pm

The Performing Arts Center, Recital Hall

$20 with discounts for students and seniors

David J. Recca, Conductor

Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana is one of the most thrilling works in the Classical canon. From the haunting opening “O Fortuna” to the stunning “Dulcissime,” the music will keep you on the edge of your seat. Featuring student and alumni vocal soloists, this performance is sure to be a highlight of your musical year.

Purchase Contemporary Ensemble

Thursday, November 29, 8:00pm

Music Building, Recital Hall

Free and open to the public

Dominic Donato, Artistic Director

Repertoire to include works by Andy Akiho, Gareth Farr, Osvaldo Golijov, Kristin Kirk, Arvo Part, and Judith Shatin.

Purchase New Music: A Concert of Premieres

Tuesday, December 4, 8 p.m.

Music Building, Recital Hall

Free and open to the public

Dominic Donato, Artistic Director

This concert features the next generation of composers at their best. Students of the Purchase College composition studio spend the semester developing and refining pieces written specifically for the members of the Purchase New Music Ensemble. This night of premieres will feature works of diverse instrumentation and inspiration.

Purchase Opera: Amahl and the Night Visitors

Saturday, December 8 at 7:00pm

Sunday, December 9 at 1:00pm

The Performing Arts Center, Recital Hall

$20 with discounts for students and seniors

Jacque Trussel, Director

Hugh Murphy, Music Director and Conductor

Purchase Symphony Orchestra

Based on Italian folk tales of the Nativity and Epiphany, Gian-Carlo Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors is a retelling of the story of the Magi from the point of view of a young disabled boy named Amahl, who, along with his widowed mother live in poverty among the shepherds near Bethlehem. One night, three kings stop for shelter at their crude and humble dwelling. They have traveled from far away following a wondrous star and bring with them treasures and gifts as homage for a child, born to be King. As the story unfolds, the true miracle and meaning of life is revealed, a gift far greater than gold.

Purchase Symphony and Jazz Orchestras Celebrate Black History Month

Friday, February 15, 7:00 pm

The Performing Arts Center, Recital Hall

$20 with discounts for students and seniors

Mina Kim, PSO Conductor

Todd Coolman and Jon Faddis, PJO Conductors

The Purchase Symphony Orchestra and the Purchase Jazz Orchestra join forces for this exciting concert featuring music by William Grant Still (Festive Overture), George Gershwin (Porgy and Bess: A Symphonic Picture) as well as a set of big band music by prominent African-American composers and arrangers.

Purchase Opera: Trio - Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi and Confession

Thursday, March 21 at 7:00pm

Friday, March 22 at 7:00pm

Saturday, March 23 at 7:00pm

Sunday, March 24 at 1:00pm

The Performing Arts Center, Recital Hall

$20 with discounts for students and seniors

Jacque Trussel, Director

Hugh Murphy, Music Director and Conductor

Join the award-winning Purchase Opera for a trio of one-act operas featuring beloved arias such as “O mio babbino caro” and “Senza mamma.” This triptych consists of Puccini’s Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi, as well as Confession, which serves as a prequel to Suor Angelica. Confession, by Raphaël Lucas, with a libretto by Jacque Trussel and Margaret Vignola, was developed here at Purchase College and serves as a dramatic counterpart to the other two operas. Confession won the National Opera Association Prize for the Best Contemporary Opera 2010-2012.

Purchase Sinfonietta

Tuesday, April 16, 7 p.m.

Music Building, Recital Hall

Free and open to the public

Dominic Donato, conductor

Join the Purchase Sinfonietta (a small, hip version of the Purchase Symphony Orchestra) in a concert of works by Emily Koh (in retro|re-intro:spect), James Tenny (Form 2 (in memoriam John Cage), and Michael Gordon (Who by Water), which accompanies an original film by Bill Morrison.

Purchase Symphony Orchestra

Friday, May 3, 7 p.m.

The Performing Arts Center, Recital Hall

$20 with discounts for students and seniors

Mina Kim, Conductor

Daniel Phillips, Violin

Noted violin soloist Daniel Phillips joins the Purchase Symphony Orchestra to present Beethoven’s epic Violin Concerto, as well as Brahms’ aptly named Tragic Overture.

About Purchase College, SUNY

Purchase College, part of the State University of New York (SUNY) network of 64 universities and colleges, was founded in 1967 by Governor Nelson Rockefeller. His aspiration for Purchase was to create a dynamic campus that combined conservatory training in the visual and performing arts with programs in the liberal arts and sciences, in order to inspire an appreciation for both intellectual and artistic talents in all students. Today, Purchase College, SUNY is a community of students, faculty, and friends where open-minded engagement with the creative process leads to a lifetime of intellectual growth and professional opportunity.