Dane Richeson

Tag: Dane Richeson

The Gift of Music: Lawrence Conservatory Offerings for Holiday Shoppers

Still looking for a holiday stocking stuffer? A pair of recently released CDs by the Lawrence University Wind Ensemble and Lawrence faculty jazz percussionist Dane Richeson will fit neatly into just about any size stocking.

Performed under the direction of conductor Andrew Mast, the 16-track Wind Ensemble disc features seven pieces performed between 2005 and 2010. It includes six world premieres from Lawrence commissions as well as the first-ever digital recording of Vincent Persichetti’s “Turn Not Thy Face.”LU-Wind-Ensemble-CD-Facebook

“This disc represents a culmination of several passions of mine – the creation and performance of new music written by amazing friends and colleagues who have all given wonderful gifts of repertoire to the wind ensemble world,” said Mast. “This disc enables me to share and celebrate these treasures.  Additionally, the inclusion of Persichetti’s  “Turn Not Thy Face,” represents the first digital recording of this work by one of my favorite composers. I truly believe there is something for everybody on these two discs and I am incredibly honored that so many people were involved with them, including students from several years of the Wind Ensemble.”

Richeson’s “Maxim Confit” features many of his friends both inside and out of the Lawrence Conservatory of Music. The nine-track jazz disc blends Richeson’s infectious drum work with the musical chops of pianist Bill Carrothers and saxophonist Jose Encarnacion, both colleagues at Lawrence, along with an array of all-star artists outside the campus, including saxophonist David Liebman, guitarist Vic Juris, and fellow percussionists Jamey Haddad (drums), Joe Locke (vibraphone/marimba), and Michael Spiro (bata/congas).

Maxim-Confit-web“It was great fun collaborating with so many great friends and colleagues in the music business on this project, some of whom I’ve worked with for years and some of whom I worked with for the first time,” said Richeson. “I’m really proud of this work. It’s raw jazz seasoned with a dash of world percussion from cultures I have been fortunate to live in. The tracks are quite different from each other, which keeps the listener wondering what to expect next.”

Both CDs — as well as several other Lawrence-affiliated recordings — are available at Lawrence Apparel and Gifts in the Warch Campus Center . They can be ordered online as well as purchased in person.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2014 and the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

 

 

Panamanian Pianist Danilo Pérez Closes Lawrence University 2011-12 Jazz Series

Grammy Award-winning pianist and composer Danilo Pérez joins the Lawrence faculty jazz trio Friday, May 11 at 8 p.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel for the final concert of the 2011-2012 Jazz Series.

Tickets, at $22-20 for adults, $19-17 for seniors, and $17-15 for students, are available through the Lawrence Box Office in the Music-Drama Center, or by calling 920-832-6749.

The Panama-born Pérez began playing piano at age three as a student of his father, Danilo Sr., and later studied classical music at the National Conservatory in Panama. After moving to the United States, he completed a degree in jazz composition at Boston’s  renowned Berklee College of Music. While at Berklee, Pérez began performing with jazz heavyweights Jon Hendricks, Terence Blanchard, Claudio Roditi and Paquito D’Rivera. In the late 1980s, Pérez became the youngest member of Dizzy Gillespie’s United Nations Orchestra. Today, in addition to his own trio, Pérez also performs as part of the Grammy Award-winning Wayne Shorter Quartet.

Danilo Pérez / Photo by Dragan Tasic

Pérez’ discography includes 15 albums, including 1998’s “Central Avenue” and 2010’s “Providencia,” both of which earned him Grammy Award nominations for best jazz album. He garnered two Grammy nominations for 2000’s “Motherland,” which was named that year’s best jazz album by the Boston Music Awards.  The New York Times praised his 1996 album “PanaMonk,” a tribute to both Thelonious Monk and his Panamanian heritage, as “a masterpiece of jazz synthesis.”

“Danilo’s music has the capacity to connect your soul with the unique sonorities of the universe in perfect harmony. It is just beautiful,” said José Encarnacion, instructor of jazz and improvisational music and jazz performance coordinator at Lawrence.

Encarnacion, a saxophonist, along with Dane Richeson, percussion and Mark Urness, bass will join Perez on stage as the Lawrence Faculty Trio.

Based in Boston, Pérez serves as artistic director of the Panama Jazz Festival, artistic advisor of the innovative Mellon Jazz Up Close series at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center and artistic director of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a world-class conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. Ranked among America’s best colleges by Forbes, it was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,445 students from 44 states and 35 countries. Follow us on Facebook.

So Percussion Brings Eclectic Blend of Music to Lawrence’s Memorial Chapel

The highly acclaimed Brooklyn-based quartet So Percussion performs Saturday, March 10 at 8 p.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel as part of Lawrence University’s 2011-12 Artist Series.

Tickets, at $20-22 for adults, $17-19 for seniors and $15-17 for students, are available through the Lawrence University Box Office, 920-832-6749.

So Percussion members (l. to r.) Adam Sliwinski, Eric Beach, Jason Treuting and Josh Quillen.

Formed at the Yale School of Music in 1999, the group has been hailed as an “experimental powerhouse” by The Village Voice. Described as “astonishing and entrancing” by Billboard Magazine  and “brilliant” by the New York Times, So Percussion is known for their innovative, original music as well as its collaborations some of today’s most exciting composers, among them Baltimore “electro-freak” Dan Deacon, electronic collage duo Matmos and Academy Award-nominated film composer Martin Bresnick.

“There are only a handful of professional contemporary percussion groups that are making a name for themselves and moving this genre of music forward,” said Dane Richeson, professor of music at Lawrence and director of the conservatory’s percussion studio.  “So Percussion is in this elite group. They have great skill not only on a variety of percussion instruments, but in how they program the repertoire in their concerts. They are truly an exciting ensemble to watch and hear.”

So Percussion — Eric Beach, Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski and Jason Treuting — has performed their eclectic blend of unusual music throughout the United States, including the Lincoln Center Festival, Carnegie Hall, Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Cleveland Museum of Art, as well as on tours to Australia, Russia, the Ukraine and throughout Europe.

About Lawrence University

Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a world-class conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. Ranked among America’s best colleges, it was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,445 students from 44 states and 35 countries.  Follow us on Facebook.

Lawrence University Hosts 10th Annual Zeltsman Marimba Festival

Some of the world’s most acclaimed percussionists, including Lawrence University’s own Dane Richeson, will perform June 26-July 9 during the two-week-long Zeltsman Marimba Festival held on the Lawrence campus.

The brainchild of Nancy Zeltsman, chair of the percussion department at the Boston Conservatory and associate professor at Berklee College of Music, the festival is one of the largest of its kind in the world.  This year’s, the 10th in the festival’s history, includes nine public concerts, featuring performances by world-class musicians on marimba and vibraphone.

Tickets for the public concerts are available at the door prior to the performance.

“The number of guest artists and participants from around the world makes this event a cornucopia of musical delight,” said Richeson, professor of music at Lawrence and one of this year’s festival faculty members. “The concerts are theme based and will feature several guest artists on a single program, a rare opportunity to see the marimba played by different virtuosos in a single concert.”

Richeson will be among 10 performers from 10 countries showcased in the festival’s opening concert, Sunday, June 26 at 8 p.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel.

Also scheduled to perform during the festival is Mike Truesdell, a 2007 Lawrence graduate, a second-prize recipient from among 95 initial candidates at the 2010 TROMP International Percussion Competition conducted last November in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

The Role of Collaboration in Innovation Focus of Lawrence University Convocation

The importance of collaborations in innovation and problem solving will be the focus of a Lawrence University convocation.

Professor of Theatre Arts Tim Troy

Timothy X. Troy, professor of theatre arts and J. Thomas and Julie Esch Hurvis Professor of Theatre and Drama at Lawrence, presents “Unexpected Collaborators: The Geniuses Among Us” Tuesday, April 5 at 11:10 a.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. Troy also will conduct a question-and-answer session at 2 p.m. in the Warch Campus Center cinema. Both events are free and open to the public.

Troy was selected for the 2010-11 convocation series as the second recipient of Lawrence’s Faculty Convocation Award. Chosen by President Jill Beck from nominations collected by the Committee on Public Occasions, recipients for the award are selected for the high quality of their professional work.

While innovation is often considered the result of brilliant people making major discoveries, closer examination reveals “the geniuses among us” work closely with colleagues to solve pressing problems and lead us into the future. Troy will examine some of the “rules” he’s learned for productive collaboration in his career working with playwrights, composers, actors, design teams and technicians.

His address will feature two poems: “The Geniuses Among Us,” by Marilyn Taylor and “Sometime During Eternity” by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, which will be delivered with Dean of the Conservatory Brian Pertl, Professor of Music Dane Richeson and Associate Professor of Music Mark Urness.

A 1985 graduate of Lawrence, Troy first returned to his alma mater in 1989, serving as a lecturer in theatre and drama for three years. He went on to work with the Milwaukee Repertory Theater Education Department and taught at Augustana College and the College of DuPage before returning to Lawrence a second time on a tenure-track appointment in 1997.

During his career, he has directed more than 100 plays, musicals and operas for both university and professional theatres and has written four plays, including 2010’s “Radio and Juliet.” He was a featured contributor to the 2006 Academy Award-winning documentary “A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin” and directs Lawrence’s “Theatre of the Air” radio drama program. He was recognized with Lawrence’s Freshman Studies Teaching Award in 2004.

In addition to a bachelor’s degree from Lawrence, Troy earned a master of fine arts degree in theatre arts/directing from the University of Iowa.

Grammy Winner Bobby McFerrin to Perform “Migrations” at Lawrence Feb. 19

Ten-time Grammy winner Bobby McFerrin joins the Lawrence University Jazz Ensemble, Studio Orchestra and Hybrid Ensemble at 8 p.m., February 19, for the sold-out U.S. premiere of “Migrations: One World, Many Musics.”

Composed by Lawrence’s own Fred Sturm, Kimberly Clark Professor of Music and director of jazz studies, “Migrations” was commissioned in 2007 by McFerrin and the NDR Big Band in Hamburg, Germany. The work is a “musical plea for world unity” that illustrates both the distinct and shared characteristics of indigenous music from 18 countries on six continents.

Collaborating with a former Lawrence student, Brian Pertl ’86, an ethnomusicologist and, at the time, the manager of Microsoft’s Media Acquisitions Group, Sturm researched more than 2,000 recordings from around the globe. Sturm transcribed, arranged, orchestrated and “recomposed” about two-dozen indigenous recordings to create the magical two-hour concert showcasing McFerrin.

“The music we selected for ‘Migrations’ is centuries old,” Sturm said. “It’s pure, innocent, beautiful and powerful. Though the character and styles are as varied as the world’s people who created this music, there is a prevalent common linkage between the selections. Bobby’s improvisations and interpretations of the material I’ve scored are intended to illustrate the musical unity of the world’s people.”

With a four-octave vocal range and a wide array of vocal techniques, McFerrin is one of the natural wonders of the world. Famous for his 1989 hit “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” he is an ardent spokesman for music education. His collaborations with other artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Chick Corea, and Herbie Hancock have established him as an ambassador of both the jazz and classical music worlds.

The concert will also feature Pertl, now the dean of the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, playing the didjeridu and jaw harp, and Dane Richeson, professor of music at Lawrence, on drums and percussion.

Sturm will host a pre-concert lecture at 7 p.m. in Stansbury Theatre, Music Drama Center, 420 E. College Ave, west of Lawrence Memorial Chapel. The concert is sold out, however, the public is invited to enter a contest to win one of 10 pairs of tickets for this special performance beginning Wednesday, February 10.