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Jillian Johnson

Author: Jillian Johnson

Dance Series: U.F.O. performance with Sandra Paola López Ramírez + Chris Reyman with LU Faculty and Maria Gillespie (UWM)

Wednesday, January 11, 2023, 7:00 p.m.
Esch Studio, Warch Campus Center
Free admission

Sandra Paola and Chris began exploring interdisciplinary improvisation as performance practice in 2011 creating in2improv, a research/performance duo that quickly grew into an organization that under its new name, the Institute for Improvisation and Social Action (ImprovISA), has generated a variety of public programs and performances centered at the U.S.-Mexico border in cities of El Paso, TX and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. They have taught and performed as a duo and as part of the Koan ensemble in the United States, Mexico, Colombia, France, Denmark and Germany.

Performing Arts Series: Akropolis Reed Quintet

Akropolis Reed Quintet

Friday, September 30, 2022

Lawrence Memorial Chapel

8 p.m.

Ticket Information

Purchase tickets at the Lawrence University Box Office, located in the Music Drama center, at 420 East College Ave, Appleton, WI 54911 or call the box office at 920-832-6749. Discounts available for LU students, faculty and staff with an LU ID.

The box office will be open Monday through Saturday from 1:00pm until 6:00pm and an hour prior to events.

About Akropolis Reed Quintet

Celebrating their 13th year making music with “faultless detail and refreshing artistry” (I Care if You Listen) as a “collective voice driven by real excitement and a sense of adventure” (The Wire), Akropolis has “taken the chamber music world by storm” (Fanfare). As the first reed quintet to grace the Billboard Charts (May 2021), the untamed band of 5 reed players and entrepreneurs are united by a shared passion: to make music that sparks joy and wonder.

Winner of 7 national chamber music prizes including the 2014 Fischoff Gold Medal, “the performance standards of Akropolis are award winning for a reason” (Fanfare). Remaining the same 5 members since their founding in 2009, Akropolis delivers 120 concerts and educational events worldwide each year and has premiered and commissioned over 130 works by living artists and composers. They are the first ensemble of their kind to grace the stage on noteworthy series like Oneppo (Yale University), Chamber Music San Antonio, Phillips Collection (Washington, D.C.), Summerwinds Münster (Germany), Flagler Museum (Palm Beach), and many more. The “rise of the reed quintet” (Chamber Music America) and Akropolis’ “infallible musicality and huge vitality” (Fanfare) make them one of the most sought-after chamber ensembles today.

Experimenters and creators at their core, “there’s nothing tentative in their approach, and that extends to their programming of multifariously challenging and imaginative new works” (The Wire). Akropolis has collaborated with poets, a metal fabricator, dancers, small business owners, string quartets, pop vocalists, and more. Currently, Akropolis is collaborating with GRAMMY-nominated pianist/composer Pascal Le Boeuf and drummer Christian Euman on an album and touring program drawing classical and jazz idioms together to reflect on American identity, entitled, Are We Dreaming the Same Dream?

Akropolis’ chief collaborators are youth and their Detroit community. Winner of the 2015 Fischoff Educator Award and a nonprofit organization which has received 5 consecutive grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Akropolis runs a summer festival in Detroit called Together We Sound and holds an annual, school year long residency at Cass Tech, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Detroit School of Arts high schools. Akropolis believes anyone can compose great music and during their 20-21 season premiered and recorded more than 30 works by youth aged 12-22 alone.

An engine perpetually generating new sounds and ideas, Akropolis’ 22-23 season will include world premieres by Pulitzer Prize finalist Augusta Read Thomas and Omar Thomas; imaginative renditions of music by Ravel, Bernstein, Rameau, Shostakovich, and Gershwin; Storm Warning, a concerto grosso for reed quintet and wind band by Roshanne Etezady; and touring their recently released 4th album, Ghost Light, lauded for its “range, agility, and grace” (The Whole Note), by “exploring everything from the Egyptian Book of the Dead to racial violence in their native Detroit” (AnEarfull).

Jazz concert to feature Mark Guiliana Quartet

Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet

Saturday, May 14, 2022

Lawrence Memorial Chapel

8:00p.m.

About Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet

Grammy Nominated drummer Mark Guiliana has become recognized as one of the world’s leading drummers, admired and in demand across the spectrum from jazz to rock to electronic music for his rhythmic sophistication, creative impulse and individual sound. He has been in the vanguard of drummers creating a new vernacular on the instrument, blending virtuosity on acoustic drums with artfully deployed electronic beats and processing. Guiliana was chosen as Best Jazz Drummer in the Modern Drummer Readers Poll 2017, while DownBeat dubbed him a Rising Star in its Critics Poll. JazzTimes aptly proclaimed: “Guiliana, a technical master with a rare sense of musicality, has over the past decade become one of the most influential drummers of his generation.” Along with leading his own groups – the acoustic Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet and electronica-minded Beat Music – the drummer has appeared on a string of acclaimed recordings with others. The verve and precision of Guiliana’s drumming was a primer mover of Blackstar, David Bowie’s multiple Grammy Award-winning final album. Guiliana teamed with keyboardist Brad Mehldau as the duo Mehliana for the Nonesuch release Taming the Dragon, and he has also collaborated with such artists as saxophonist Donny McCaslin, guitar hero John Scofield, Soundgarden/Pearl Jam drummer-songwriter Matt Cameron, neo-soul singer-songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello, guitarist-vocalist Lionel Loueke, jazz bassist Avishai Cohen, reggae/hip-hop artist Matisyahu and jazz singer Gretchen Parlato.

Coming Friday: The Nefarious, Immoral but Highly Profitable Enterprise of Mr. Burke & Mr. Hare

Lawrence Conservatory of Music Presents

The Nefarious, Immoral but Highly Profitable Enterprise of Mr. Burke & Mr. Hare

Music by Julian Grant | Libretto by Mark Campbell

Friday, April 22, 2022 at 10:00 AM

Ticket Information

Purchase tickets to this livestream performance at www.lawrence.edu/music-arts/box-office/tickets or call the box office at 920-832-6749. Tickets can also be purchased at the Lawrence University Box Office, located in the Music Drama center, at 420 East College Ave, Appleton, The box office will be open Monday through Saturday from 1:00pm until 6:00pm and an hour prior to events.

Ticket price: $10 + processing fee
This livestream is available to view  April 22- April 26, 2022

About The Nefarious, Immoral but Highly Profitable Enterprise of Mr. Burke & Mr. Hare

This production and film are dedicated to the memory of John Koopman who began the opera program at Lawrence University and whose loss is felt by the community. We, the opera studies ensemble, stand on his legacy.


The Nefarious, Immoral but Highly Profitable Enterprise of Mr. Burke & Mr. Hare
Music by Julian Grant | Libretto by Mark Campbell

Directed by
Copeland Woodruff

Produced by
Iris Designs

Music Director/Piano/MIDI orchestration – Kristin Roach
MIDI orchestration – Darrin Newhart
Live Orchestra Conductor – Michael Clayville
Sound Engineer – Brent Hauer
Technical Director – Austin Rose

Dr. Robert Knox – Luke Honeck
Dr. Ferguson – David Womack
William Burke – Max Muter
William Hare – Baron Lam
Helen McDougal – Emily Austin
Margaret Hare – Colleen Bur
Donald – Zachary Adams
Abigail Simpson – Grace Drummond
Daft Jamie – Jack Murphy
Mary Paterson – Meghan Burroughs
Madge Docherty – Emma Milton

Flute – Carmen Magestro
Viola – Gabe Hartmark
Bassoon – Jessica Kleebauer
Cello – Ernesto Bañuelos
Trombone – Omar Tlatelpa-Nieto
Bass – Ali Remondini
Percussion – Spencer Bunch-Hotaling
Harp – Rachel Overby

 Assistant Director – Morgan Donahue
Stage Manager – Tommy Dubnicka
Assistant Stage Managers – Emmeline Sipe, Mae Capaldi, Sam Victor

Bang on A Can All-Stars

An Innovative New Music Event

Friday, April 15, at 8 p.m. in Lawrence Memorial Chapel.

For Tickets, please visit the Lawrence University Box office or call 920-832-6749.

Audience members will be required to be masked at all times during performances in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel and Harper Hall. Guests are strongly encouraged to have received the COVID-19 vaccine before attending an event on campus.

About Bang on a Can All-Stars

Formed in 1992, the Bang on a Can All-Stars are recognized worldwide for their ultra-dynamic live performances and recordings of today’s most innovative music. Freely crossing the boundaries between classical, jazz, rock, world and experimental music, this six-member amplified ensemble has consistently forged a distinct category-defying identity, taking music into uncharted territories. Performing each year throughout the U.S. and internationally, the All-Stars have shattered the definition of what concert music is today.

Together, the All-Stars have worked in unprecedented close collaboration with some of the most important and inspiring musicians of our time, including Steve Reich, Ornette Coleman, Burmese circle drum master Kyaw Kyaw Naing, Tan Dun, DJ Spooky, and many more. The group’s celebrated projects include their landmark recordings of Brian Eno’s ambient classic Music for Airports and Terry Riley’s In C, as well as live performances with Philip Glass, Meredith Monk, Don Byron, Iva Bittova, Thurston Moore, Owen Pallett and others. The All-Stars were awarded Musical America’s Ensemble of the Year and have been heralded as “the country’s most important vehicle for contemporary music” by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Current and recent project highlights include “In C”, a new dance collaboration with Sasha Waltz & Guests based on Terry Riley’s minimalist classic; Dance Party, a brand new multi-media concert pairing composers and choreographers; a new recording of legendary composer/performer Meredith Monk’s MEMORY GAME; Julia Wolfe’s Flower Power for Bang on a Can All-Stars and orchestra, a multi media concert exploring the sonic landscape of the late 1960s; Road Trip, an immersive and visually stunning concert collaboratively-composed by Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe to commemorate the 30+ year journey of Bang on a Can; the touring performances and recording of Julia Wolfe’s Pulitzer Prize winning Anthracite Fields for the All-Stars and guest choir; Julia Wolfe’s acclaimed Steel Hammer,  plus a moving theatrically staged collaboration with SITI Company and director Anne Bogart; Field Recordings, a major multi-media project and CD/DVD now featuring 30 commissioned works by Tyondai Braxton, Mira Calix, Anna Clyne, Bryce Dessner, Florent Ghys, Michael Gordon, Jóhann Jóhannsson, David Lang, Christian Marclay, Steve Reich, Todd Reynolds, Julia Wolfe, and more; the Lincoln Center Festival 2017 world premiere of Cloud River Mountain, a collaboration featuring Chinese superstar singer Gong Linna; the world premiere performance and recording of Steve Reich’s 2×5 including a sold-out performance at Carnegie Hall, and much more. With a massive repertoire of works written specifically for the group’s distinctive instrumentation and style of performance, the All-Stars have become a genre in their own right. The All-Stars record on Cantaloupe Music and have released past recordings on Sony, Universal and Nonesuch.

Chris Dingman, Vibraphonist and Composer

Monday, April 18, at 8 p.m. in Lawrence Memorial Chapel. Concert is free and open to the public.

Audience members are reqired to be masked at all times during performances in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel and Harper Hall. Guests are strongly encouraged to have received the COVID-19 vaccine before attending an event on campus.

Chris Dingman is a vibraphonist and composer known for his distinctive approach to the instrument: sonically rich and conceptually expansive, bringing listeners on a journey to a beautiful, transcendent place. He has been profiled by NPR, the New York Times, DRUM magazine and many other publications, and has received fellowships and grants from the Chamber Music America, the Doris Duke Foundation, New Music USA, and the Herbie Hancock Institute (formerly the Thelonious Monk Institute).

Dingman has done significant work with legendary artists Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter as well as next generation visionaries such as Jen Shyu, Ambrose Akinmusire, Steve Lehman, and many others, performing around the world including India, Vietnam, and extensively in Europe and North America. Hailed by the New York Times as a “dazzling” soloist and a composer with a “fondness for airtight logic and burnished lyricism,” the fluidity of his musical approach has earned him praise as “an extremely gifted composer, bandleader, and recording artist.” (Jon Weber, NPR).

Third Coast Percussion

Grammy award-winning percussion ensemble performing this Friday!

Friday, February 4, 2022, at 8:00pm in Lawrence Memorial Chapel.

For Tickets, please visit the Lawrence University Box office or call 920-832-6749.

Third Coast Percussion (Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin, David Skidmore) is a GRAMMY® Award-winning Chicago-based percussion quartet and GRAMMY®-nominated composer collective. For over fifteen years, the ensemble has created exciting and unexpected performances that constantly redefine the classical music experience. The ensemble has been praised for “commandingly elegant” (New York Times) performances, the “rare power” (Washington Post) of their recordings, and “an inspirational sense of fun and curiosity” (Minnesota Star-Tribune). A commission for a new work from composer Augusta Read Thomas in 2012 led to the realization that commissioning new musical works can be—and should be—as collaborative as any other artistic partnership. Through extensive workshopping and close contact with composers, Third Coast Percussion has commissioned and premiered new works by Philip Glass, Missy Mazzoli, Clarice Assad, Gemma Peacocke, Flutronix, Jlin, Tyondai Braxton, Augusta Read Thomas, Devonté Hynes, Georg Friedrich Haas, Donnacha Dennehy, Glenn Kotche, Christopher Cerrone, and David T. Little, among others, in addition to many of today’s leading up-and-coming composers through their Currents Creative Partnership program. Third Coast Percussion currently serves as ensemble-in-residence at Denison University.

World Music Series: Dreamers’ Circus

Dreamers’ Circus

Monday, January 31, 2022, 8:00p.m.,

Harper Hall, Music Drama

Join us for the first event of the new year! For Tickets, please visit the Lawrence University Box office or call 920-832-6749.

VIRTUAL ATTENDEES
Purchase tickets to the webcast at www.lawrence.edu/conservatory/box_office/tickets or call the box office at 920-832-6749.
Ticket price: $10 + processing fee

IN-PERSON ATTENDEES
(Limited to current Lawrence students, faculty, and staff only)
Purchase tickets in person at the box office or call the box office at 920-832-6749. Valid Lawrence ID must be presented.
Ticket (general seating) prices:
Lawrence students, faculty, and staff – free

A new driving force in Nordic world music is the young Danish trio, Dreamers’ Circus. Contemporary and endlessly innovative in their approach, they draw inspiration from the deep traditions of folk music in the region and reshape them into something bright, shiny and new.

Dreamers’ Circus are: Nikolaj Busk (DK) on piano and accordion, Ale Carr (SWE) on Nordic cittern and Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen (DK), also of the Danish String Quartet, on violin.

Dreamers’ Circus display inventiveness and talent in their approach to performances that include music from Denmark and Sweden as well as Iceland, Finland and the far reaches of the windswept Faroe Islands. The ensemble has won five prestigious Danish Music Awards and toured throughout Europe and beyond, with performances in Japan and the Sydney Opera House in Australia. Their first US tour in 2019 opened ears, eyes, minds and hearts. The trio collaborates regularly with the Danish String Quartet and the Copenhagen Philharmonic and performs with other orchestras.

Dreamers’ Circus views their traditional roots as a point of departure and know tradition should not be a straitjacket. This adventurous attitude, coupled with their outstanding musicianship, has brought the band to the forefront of the Nordic folk and world music scene.

Fred Sturm Jazz Celebration Weekend Workshops and Concerts

Please join us for a weekend of exploration. All events are open to All student, faculty and staff.

Fred Sturm Jazz Celebration Weekend – Brighter together Workshops!

Saturday, November 6, 2021

10:00am -12:00p.m.        Dance Collective Workshop / Margaret Paek / Warch Campus Center, Esch Studio

3:00pm to 4:00p.m.         Balines Gamelan Workshop/ Sonja Downing and Dewa Adnyana/ Mursell House (behind the Con)

9:30am- 12:30pm             Jazz Combos Concerts / Harper Hall

2:00pm- 3:00pm               Fundamental of Jazz Singing Workshop /Janet Planet and John Harmon/ Harper Hall        

11:30am- 12:30p.m.        Songwriting Workshop/ Loren Dempster/ Shattuck Hall, room 156

2:00p.m.- 3:00p.m.          Deep Listening Workshop/ Brian and Leila Pertl/ Shattuck Hall, Room 156

3:00pm- 4:00pm.              Improv for All Workshop/ Patty Darling and LU Jazz Students/ Shattuck Hall, room, 156

1:00p.m.- 2:00p.m.          Jazz Band Concert / Shattuck Hall, room 163

3:00pm- 4:00p.m.            Jazz for Strings Workshop/ Matt Turner / Shattuck Hall, room 163

4:00pm-5:00p.m.              Samba Drumming Workshop/ LU Sambistas led by Ben DePasquale/ Shattuck Hall, room 163