Conservatory

Friday, Feb. 2 | 7:30-9 p.m.
Memorial Chapel

The Escher String Quartet is acclaimed for their insightful music and beautiful tones. They have been recognized as a former BBC New Generation Artist and have received the Avery Fisher Career Grant. They have performed at prestigious venues like the BBC Proms at Cadogan Hall, and Wigmore Hall. In New York, they are season artists for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Currently, the quartet is extensively touring the U.S., including notable venues such as Alice Tully Hall, Bohemian National Hall, the Library of Congress, and the Harris Theater. They are also performing in international locations such as Wigmore Hall, St. John in the Virgin Islands, and San Miguel De Allende in Mexico.

Saturday, Jan. 27 | 8-9:30 p.m.
Harper Hall

Duo Montagnard was formed in 2002 and has performed over 350 concerts in 50 states, eight Canadian provinces, and twenty countries on six continents. Festival performances include the Chautauqua Institution, Scandinavian Saxophone Festival, Hartwick College Summer Music Festival, North-West University New Music Week (South Africa), UNC-Wilmington New Music for Guitar and Saxophone Festival, Radford University International Guitar Festival, and the Alexandria Guitar Festival. The duo has commissioned, premiered and recorded more than forty works for guitar and saxophone.

Joseph Murphy has been the saxophone professor at Mansfield University of Pennsylvania since 1987, where he has also served as Department Chair and Director of Bands. He received the Bachelor of Music degree from Bowling Green State University (OH), and the Master of Music and Doctoral of Musical Arts degrees from Northwestern University. Dr. Murphy was the music director of Tiffin (OH) Calvert High School from 1983-85. In 1985-86 he received a Fulbright Award for a year of study in Bordeaux, France, where he received a Premier Prix. In June 1996, Dr. Murphy performed a solo recital at Lincoln Center. He has performed in Europe, Taiwan and Japan. He is a clinician for the Selmer Corporation and has been recorded on the Erol (France), Opus One, and Mark Record labels. Dr. Murphy’s memberships include Music Educators National Conference, Music Teachers National Association, North American Saxophone Alliance, National Association of College Wind & Percussion Instructors, College Band Directors National Association, Phi Mu Alpha and Kappa Kappa Psi. Murphy has been involved in commissioning and premiering more than twenty new works for the saxophone, including pieces by Libby Larsen, Michael Colgrass, John Harbison, Bernard Rands, and Gunther Schuller.

Matthew Slotkin is an acclaimed performer, teacher, and scholar, and has appeared in leading venues on six continents. A commitment to contemporary music has resulted in premieres of numerous works by composers including Linda Buckley, John Anthony Lennon, Scott Lindroth, John Orfe, and many others. Recent performances include tours of South Africa, Poland, Germany, Argentina, Uruguay, New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, Portugal, and Greece, as well as concerts at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, the Walled City Music Festival, the Monadnock Music Festival, the Chautauqua Institution, the Guitar Foundation of America, and the World Saxophone Congresses in Scotland, Thailand and Slovenia. He has performed on numerous classical guitar society concert series including New Zealand (GANZ), Montreal, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Iowa, Northeastern Pennsylvania, and the Great Lakes. He has given performances with many prominent chamber ensembles including Cantata Profana, Metropolis Ensemble, Mallarmé Chamber Players, Duo Montagnard and Dez Cordas. Recordings on the Summit, Centaur, and Liscio labels have been praised as “wonderful…a very enjoyable disc” (Soundboard), and “a magnificent achievement…the concept of this program is brilliant” (American Record Guide). Soundboard magazine called him an “exceptional” player, and a recent concert review from the Classical Voice of North Carolina praised his “fine sensitivity and facile technique.” Slotkin is an Associate Professor of Music at Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg, PA, where he has directed the guitar program since 2004. He has given masterclasses at numerous institutions and festivals including the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Northwestern University, Victorian College of the Arts (Australia), ESMAE (Portugal), National University of La Plata (Argentina), the Alexandria Guitar Festival, and many others. He received the Doctor of Musical Arts, Master of Music, and Bachelor of Music degrees from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied guitar with Nicholas Goluses.

Nancy Zeltman, marimba
Jean Carlo Ureña González, percussion

Wednesday, Jan. 10 | 8-9:30 p.m.
Memorial Chapel

Nancy Zeltsman is a professor at joint institutions Berklee College of Music and Boston Conservatory at Berklee. She has taught marimba at both schools since 1993 in positions that were created for her. Since 2013, she has been regular guest professor of marimba at Conservatorium van Amsterdam; since 2021, a Guest Artist teaching two weeks per year at University of Michigan; and from fall 2023, a Visiting Lecturer at Boston University School of Music.

Nancy first came to prominence as the marimbist of the duo Marimolin. She has presented master classes at institutions across the United States and Europe, and in Japan, China, Mexico and Brazil – including The Juilliard School, Curtis Institute of Music, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Lawrence Conservatory of Music (Appleton, WI), Cleveland Institute of Music, Royal College of Music (London), Académie supérieure de musique (Strasbourg, France), and Escola Superior de Música (Lisbon, Portugal). She has performed or presented at 12 Percussive Arts Society International Conventions and at PAS chapter events in 17 states and Stockholm, Sweden. Performance venues have included the Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music, Ravinia Festival, subscription concerts with the San Francisco Symphony, Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall and Merkin Concert Hall (New York), Shenzhen Concert Hall (China), and Harmony Hall (Fukui, Japan).

This event is free and open to the public.

Thursday, November 16 | 5:30-6:30 p.m.
Riverview Gardens | 1101 S. Oneida St.
FREE

Through the Music for All initiative, we strive to expand the impact of music outside of the concert hall by using music to engage communities in new ways. We challenge Lawrentians to think outside the box, to create new and innovative performance opportunities for themselves, and to expand how they engage with their craft.

Through this initiative we lay the groundwork for students to create a rich, inclusive musical life after Lawrence that expands the possibilities of a career as a professionally trained musician.

Music for All is exactly what it sounds like:  music, for everyone. Regardless of color, age, orientation, or ability. 

This concert series features interactive musical performances by Lawrence students and faculty. The concerts are free and open to everyone. They last about an hour, and will take place locally.

Tuesday, Nov. 7 | 8:15-10 p.m.
Harper Hall

This concert is free and open all.

A workshop led by the duo will precede their concert:
4-5 p.m. | Music-Drama Center 254

Kevin Henderson is a fiddler who draws on the rich fiddle music tradition of his native Shetland and his experience with leading bands including Boys of the Lough, Fiddlers Bid, Session A9 and Nordic Fiddlers Bloc to create an expressive and adventurously individual musical style.

Brought up in the Shetland schooling system, whose concentration on fiddle music and encouragement to participate still inspire him, Kevin benefited in his teens from the teaching of the legendary Willie Hunter. Lessons with Hunter could comprise chatting over coffee and biscuits and even extend to being taught survival skills, as well as learning both the essentials and the finer points of playing Shetland reels, and every Saturday Kevin came away motivated to emulate his mentor.

With school friends Chris Stout, Andrew Gifford and Maurice Henderson, Kevin formed Fiddlers Bid, a band that – almost thirty years, innumerable gigs and four enthusiastically received albums on – continues to represent the finest of Shetland fiddling allied with harmonic invention, creative subtlety and enthusiastic vigour.

Multi-instrumentalist, step dancer and host of the TradCafe podcast, Neil Pearlman is a vital and distinctive voice in contemporary traditional music. Described as “a tremendous pianist” on BBC Radio Scotland and “a force to be reckoned with” by WGBH’s Brian O’Donovan, Neil is best known for his groundbreaking approach to the piano in Celtic music. Motivated by a deep musical curiosity and a love of collaboration, his playing is continually evolving and spontaneous without losing its roots in the traditional piano styles of Atlantic Canada, New England and Scotland. He has appeared at major festivals across North America and Europe including the Newport Folk Festival, Celtic Connections in Glasgow, Celtic Colours in Cape Breton, the Orkney Folk Festival, and has recorded, performed or otherwise collaborated with such artists as Natalie MacMaster, Darol Anger, Seamus Egan, Alasdair Fraser and many more.

Growing up in a musical family, Neil was immersed in Scottish and Cape Breton music and dance from the start. He began dancing at the age of 3 and the piano followed soon after. Joining his parents and siblings on stage as the family band Highland Soles, Neil learned the art of performance early at festivals and concert halls across New England. At the age of 11, he appeared several times as a dancer in Natalie MacMaster’s high-powered show alongside his mother Laura Scott and a few years later released his first album with his father, fiddler Ed Pearlman. Already at that age he was exploring a passion for other styles of music, especially a lifelong love of jazz that has always played a role in his creative voice.

Today Neil’s musical projects run the gamut from deeply traditional to refreshingly contemporary. His podcast TradCafe is a series of conversations and collaborations with traditional musicians from around the world. In 2021 TradCafe launched a video series featuring one-off musical collaborations between Neil and artists such as Troy MacGillivray, Jenna Moynihan, Begona Riobo, Anxo Pintos, Yann Falquet and Alasdair White. His 2020 release Burden Lake with acclaimed Shetland fiddler Kevin Henderson received 5 stars from The Scotsman. He tours regularly with Kevin Henderson, Katie McNally, The Pine Tree Flyers, and as a solo pianist, while playing more irregularly with a wide variety of side projects featuring top Celtic, Americana and Jazz musicians.

Join professional jazz artists and clinicians for a non-competitive educational jazz festival during the Fred Sturm Jazz Celebration Weekend!

The goal of the Fred Sturm Jazz Celebration Weekend is to create a low-pressure clinic environment and provide an inspirational boost at the start of the school year through extended ensemble workshops with renowned clinicians, a special focus on improvisation, an absence of ratings and trophies, and a world-class list of professional jazz artists.

For the 2023 festival, we are honored to feature visiting artists Alicia Olatuja Quintet and Magos Herrera Quartet at our Friday and Saturday evening concerts! We are excited to welcome the wider Appleton community to the festival and have an exciting schedule of events planned.

For full event details, visit lawrence.edu.

Schedule

Friday, Nov. 3

• 7:30 p.m. | Alicia Olatuja Quintet | Memorial Chapel
  Tickets Required
  Listening to acclaimed vocalist, composer, and arranger Alicia Olatuja, is truly an unforgettable experience. Olatuja gained global recognition for her stunning vocal performance during President Obama’s second inauguration, and has been praised in the New York Times as “a singer with a strong and luscious tone.” Olatuja combines the earthy with the sublime, bringing a grounded relatability to genres as lofty as classical, as venerated as jazz, and as gritty as R&B. Her debut album, Intuition: Songs from the Minds of Women, celebrates female composers.

Saturday, Nov. 4

• 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. | High school & middle school clinics
• 10-11:30 a.m. | LU Mary Lou, Melba, and Elvin combos | Cloak Theater
  FREE
• 1:30 p.m. | Lawrence University Jazz Ensemble & Jazz Band concert | Memorial Chapel
  FREE
  Webcast
• 3-4 p.m. | LU Thelonious and Miles combos | Cloak Theater
  FREE
• 7:30 p.m. | Magos Herrera Quartet | Memorial Chapel
  Tickets Required
  A dazzling jazz singer-songwriter, producer, and educator known for her sultry voice and unique presence in the Latin American jazz scene, Magos Herrera’s style effortlessly blends contemporary jazz with Ibero-American melodies and rhythms, transcending language barriers. With nine albums and collaborations with renowned producer Javier Limón, she has received accolades and performed at prestigious venues and festivals worldwide. Recognized by Forbes as one of the most creative Mexicans in the world, Herrera has received a Grammy shortlist nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album (Distancia, 2009) and a Berklee College of Music’s Master of Latin Music Award.

Tickets

Purchase tickets from the Box Office (920-832-6749) or online. The Box Office is open Monday-Saturday from 1-6 p.m. and an hour prior to events.

• Adults: $30/$25
• Seniors: $25/$20
• LU faculty/staff: $10/$9
• Students (LU and non-LU): FREE
  (Valid Lawrence ID must be presented for LU prices)

LUNME presents the music of Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe

Wednesday, Nov. 1 | 8-9:30 p.m.
Harper Hall

The Lawrence University New Music Ensemble (LUNME) presents an evening of exhilarating music by renowned Bang on a Can composers: Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe.

Between them, these composers have received two Pulitzer Prizes, a MacArthur “genius” grant, and commissions from nearly every major ensemble in the United States.

LUNME brings together students and faculty to work side-by-side on music that stretches ears and sparks creativity. In 2022, LUNME received the American Prize in Virtual Performance for their recording of Frederic Rzewski’s Coming Together.

This concert is free and open to the public!

Wednesday, Oct. 25 | 4:30-6 p.m.
Harper Hall
FREE

Allyson Fleck has appeared as soloist with orchestras in Wisconsin, Illinois, Georgia, and with Russia’s Novgorod String Orchestra. As an orchestral musician, she has served as Principal Viola of the Greeley Philharmonic, Assistant Principal of the Fort Collins Symphony, section member of Cheyenne Symphony, Madison Symphony, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Atlanta Ballet and Opera orchestras, and she is active in the freelance community.

Dedicated to chamber music, she has appeared at Midsummer’s Music since 2004 and performed at the Token Creek Music Festival, Madeline Island Chamber Music Festival, and New York’s famed Carnegie Hall, among others.

Fleck’s arts administration experience includes roles as the orchestra manager of the Cheyenne Symphony and librarian of the Greeley Philharmonic. As an educator, she was Assistant Professor of Music at Beloit College, a member of the faculty at Ripon College, and at Kennesaw State University where she directed the chamber music program and taught studio viola. She has also taught beginning strings in various school systems.

Fleck received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Viola Performance from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She enjoys spending time with her boys, Jacob and Eli, listening to music, and outdoor activities.