The audience for the next Italian Baroque Organ Showcase Concert at the Memorial Art Gallery will get a treat for the eyes as well as the ears, as performers show how the instrument is used for improvisation and for accompanying performance.
The performance, at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 18, features Stephen Kennedy, director of music at Christ Church and an instructor of sacred music at the Eastman School of Music; James Hansen, associate professor in the dance department at SUNY Brockport; and dancers from SUNY Brockport.
Kennedy performs regularly as an organ soloist in programs of standard repertoire as well as recitals consisting solely of improvisations. He is a composer of choral, instrumental, and chamber music and has given workshops on choral music, chant, and improvisation in the United States and abroad. Kennedy is the founder and director of Schola Cantorum at Christ Church, an ensemble recognized nationally for its performance of early sacred choral music and chant, contemporary music, and choral improvisation.
Hansen began his formal dance training at SUNY Purchase, where he performed in works choreographed by Balanchine and Doris Humphrey. He has appeared with modern dance and ballet companies in New York, including Eglevsky Ballet and the Dean Curran Dance Company. He has taught in New York City at Steps, Broadway Dance Center, Dancespace, and the José Limón Institute. At Brockport, he teaches modern technique, composition, repertory, and contact improvisation.
Tickets to the Italian Baroque Organ Showcase Concert are $12 for the general public and $8 for students. Tickets are available at the door one hour before the concert and are payable by cash or check.
The Italian Baroque Organ was built around 1770 in central Italy. Restored and installed in 2005 at the Memorial Art Gallery, the instrument is the only one of its kind in North America. The monthly Italian Baroque Organ Showcase concerts feature Eastman School faculty and guest artists.
More information on concerts is available online at www.esm.rochester.edu/concerts.
# # #
Calendar listing:
Sunday, November 18
5:30 p.m.
Italian Baroque Organ Showcase Concert
Memorial Art Gallery, 500 University Ave.
Tickets $12/$8 students, available at the door one hour prior to the concert; cash or check only