UMS Concert Program, October 28, 1989: Ragtime --

Season: 111th
Concert: Seventh
Power Center For The Performing Arts Ann Arbor, Michigan

fatetiiatipnal re?entatiop
THE UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
N-E-W E-N-G-L-A-N-D
ENSEMBLE
GUNTHER SCHULLER Music Director and Conductor
Saturday Evening, October 28, 1989, at 8:00
Power Center for the Performing Arts
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tonight's program will be announced by Mr. Schuller, selected from works by Scott Joplin, Eubie Blake, Jelly Roll Morton, and other composers of the Ragtime and Dixieland eras. Many of the arrangements are by Mr. Schuller; others come from the "Red Back Book," completed by unknown orchestrators, probably around 1905.
Pattison Story, Violin Susan Carrai, Violin Melissa Howe, Viola Kevin Crudder, Cello Henry Pcyrcburne, Bass
Susan Downey, Flute Bruce Creditor, Clarinet Thomas Smith, Trumpet Rob Couture, Trombone Rob Carriker, Tuba Lynnjacquin, Oboe
Richard Sharp, Bassoon Thomas Haunton, Horn John West, Piano Mark Belair, Drums Martin Aubcrt, Guitar
The piano heard in tonight's concert is a Steinway available through Hammell Music, Inc.
The New England Ragtime Ensemble is represented by John Gingrich Management, Inc., New York.
Cameras and recording devices are not allowed in the auditorium.
Seventh Concert of the 111th Season Nineteenth Annual Choice Series
About the Artists
Ragtime, an American form of popular music that originated in the 1890s, is now enjoying a resurgence of popularity, and the New England Ragtime Ensemble is responsible to a great degree for its musical revival. Once composed entirely of students, the Ensemble was formed in the spring of 1973 by Gunthcr Schuller, then president of the New England Conservatory. The Ensemble has since grown into a nationally renowned musical group with universal acclaim, a Grammy award, and a place at the top of the sales charts.
The original performance was part of a Romantic American Music Festival at the Con?servatory, intended simply as a modest effort to acquaint the audience with the work of a unique American composer, Scott Joplin. Soon, however, a tape of the performance began to circulate, record companies began to show interest, and requests for engagements began to come in. A "ragtime revival" was born. Three recordings and hundreds of performances later, the Ensemble's repertoire has expanded from the eight Joplin pieces first recorded to some 50 compositions.
The New England Ragtime Ensemble has been greeted with sell-out crowds at Tangle-wood, Blossom, Ravinia, Ambler, Wolf Trap, Meadow Brook, and other summer festivals, as well as at major universities and arts centers from coast to coast. It has performed in New York at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, in Washington, D.C.'s Kennedy Center, has been featured on two widely-shown public television specials, and has made two European tours. In 1974, the group played at the White House at a state dinner for Italian President Giovanni Leone, and in 1977, it performed as part of the Inaugural Concert Series arranged by President Carter. During the spring of 1978, Gunther Schuller and the Ensemble undertook a month-long State Department-sponsored tour of the Soviet Union.
Members of the Ensemble have now graduated from the New England Conservatory and are among the finest and most sought-after free-lance musicians in Boston and New York. They remain loyal to ragtime, however, and set aside part of each year to tour with the group, still led by Gunthcr Schuller. It is not, they say, simply a matter of playing the music; in addition to their profound respect for Joplin, the music is extraordinarily happy and positive, and they find it great fun.
Gunther Schuller has developed a musical career that ranges from composer and con?ductor to educator, administrator, music publisher, author, and record producer. At the age of 17, he was principal French hornist with the Cincinnati Symphony and two years later was appointed to a similar position with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. In 1959, he gave up performing to devote his time primarily to composition. He has received commissions from major orchestras throughout the world and has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 1980. Among other awards, Mr. Schuller has received two Guggenheim fellowships, the Darius Milhaud Award, the Rodgers and Hammcrstein Award, and numerous honorary degrees. Last year, he was the recipient of Columbia University's William Schuman Award for lifetime achievement in American music composition.
As a conductor, Gunther Schuller travels throughout the world, conducting major ensem?bles, and as an educator, he has taught at the Manhattan School of Music and Yale University. From 1963 until 1984, he served as head of the composition department at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood and during the last 14 years was the center's artistic director. In 1967, he was appointed president of the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston, where he remained until 1977. During that time he reintroduced the music of Scott Joplin and developed the New England Conservatory Ragtime Ensemble. Since 1984, he has been artistic director of the Festival at Sandpoint, Idaho. Mr. Schuller has written dozens of essays and four books, the most recent entitled The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz-1930-1945.
Gunther Schuller was born in New York City in 1925 to a musical family; his paternal grandfather was a bandmaster in Germany before emigrating to America, and his father was a violinist with the New York Philharmonic. The young Schuller was sent to Germany as a child for a thorough academic training, and upon returning to the States he studied music theory at the St. Thomas Church Choir School and took French horn lessons at the Manhattan School of Music. During his first orchestral jobs with the New York Philharmonic and Cincinnati Symphony, he played in a jazz combo conducted by Miles Davis and began to compose some jazz pieces. In his multiple activities, Mr. Schuller tried to form a link between serious music and jazz and popularized the style of "cool jazz" (recorded as Birth of the Cool). In his own compositions, he freely applied serial methods, even when his general style was dominated by jazz.
Both Gunther Schuller and his New England Ragtime Ensemble arc making their first Ann Arbor appearances this evening.
This activity supported by Michigan Council for the Arts.
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY Board of Directors
John W. Reed, President
David B. Kennedy, Vice President
Thomas E. Kaupcr, Secretary Norman G. Herbert, Treasurer
Gail W. Rector, President Emeritus
Robert G. Aldrich James J. Dudcrstadt Richard L. Kennedy
Patrick B. Long Judythc R. Maugh John D. Paul
John Psarouthakis Ann S. Schriber Herbert E. Sloan
Advisory Committee
Ann Schribcr, Chair
Sue Bonfield Charles Borgsdorf Bradley Canale Sandra Connellan Katharine Cosovich Alice Davis Irani Elena Dclbanco Anne Duderstadt
Joann Gargaro Joyce Ginsberg Charles Hills JoAnne Hulce Stuart Isaac Frances Jelinek Shirley Kauper
Howard King Lynn Luckcnbach Alan Mandel Ingrid Martin Charlotte McGcoch Joan Olscn Agnes Reading
Dorothy Reed Miriam Stephan Raven Wallace Mary White Sally White Shelly Williams Nancy Zimmerman
University Choral Union and Festival Chorus
Donald T. Bryant Julia Broxholm Collins Nancy Hodge Ncal Kurz
Staff
Kenneth C. Fischer, Executive Director
Catherine S. Arcurc Sally A. Cushing Lcilani Denison Barbara L. Ferguson
Judy Johnson Fry Michael L. Gowing Debbie Halinski Lorna Young Hildebrandt
John B. Kcnnard, Jr. Michael J. Kondziolka Thomas M. Mull Laura Rosenberg
Robin Stephenson Joan C. Susskind Pamela S. Teeple Carol G. Wargelin Nancy Welder
Student Assistants: Sara Billmann, Karen Paradis
Concert Guidelines
To make concertgoing a more convenient and pleasurable experience for all patrons, the Musical Society is implementing the following policies and practices throughout the season:
Starting Time for Concerts The Musical Society will make every attempt to begin its performances on time. Please allow ample time for parking. Latecomers are asked to wait in the lobby until seated by ushers at a predetermined time in the program so as not to disturb performers or other patrons.
Children Children attending a University Musical Society event should be able to sit quietly in their own seats throughout the performance. Children not able to do so, along with the adult accompanying them, may be asked by an usher to leave the auditorium. (Every child must have a ticket.)
Of Coughs and Decibels Reprinted from programs in London's Royal Festival Hall: "During a recent test in the hall, a note played mezzo forte on the horn measured approximately 65 decibels of sound. A single 'uncovered' cough gave the same reading. A handkerchief placed over the mouth when coughing assists in obtaining a pianissimo."
A Modern Distraction With the advent of the electronic beeping and chiming digital watches, both audience members and performing artists will appreciate these being turned off or suppressed during performances. In case of emergency, advise your paging service of auditorium and seat location and ask them to phone University Security at 763-1131.
Pre-concert Presentation
7:00 p.m. -free and open to the public.
Thursday, November 2, preceding Orchestre de la Suissc Romande, Michigan League Speaker: Russell Collins, Executive Director, The Michigan Theater Topic: Performing Arts in the Global Village
Coming Concerts -1989-90 Season
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande...............................Thurs. Nov. 2
Armin Jordan, conductor; Martha Argerich, pianist
Kazuhito Yamashita, guitarist...................................Mon. Nov. 6
Michigan MozartFest Roger Norrington .............Thurs.-Sat. Nov. 16-18
Samuel Ramey, bass; Warren Jones, pianist ......................Mon. Nov. 27
Handel's "Messiah" Donald Bryant, conductor............. Sat., Sun. Dec. 2, 3
Kathryn Bouleyn Day, soprano; Gail Dubinbaum, contralto; Carroll Freeman, tenor; Stephen Bryant, bass; members of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. Underwritten by Great Lakes Bancorp.
Aulos Ensemble ............................................ Mon. Dec. 11
Donald Bryant Tribute Concert..................................Sun. Jan 14
Dr. Bryant conducts his new composition "Genesis"; Festival Chorus, soli, and orchestra.
Kodo, Japanese drummers............................... Fri., Sat. Jan. 26, 27
Hungarian State Folk Ensemble ................................ Wed. Jan. 31
St. Olaf Choir Kenneth Jennings................................ Sat. Feb. 3
Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra ................................ Wed. Feb. 7
Kazimierz Kord, conductor; Zoltan Kocsis, pianist
Faculty Artists Concert (free admission) ......................... Sun. Feb. 11
Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra ................................... Fri. Feb. 16
Leon Fleisher, conduct or; John O'Conor, pianist
New York City Opera National Company................ Sat., Sun. Feb. 17, 18
Puccini's "La Boheme"
Borodin String Quartet ....................................... Sun. Feb. 25
Maurizio Pollini, pianist......................................... Fri. Mar. 9
Contemporary American Dance Festival................. Mon.-Fri. Mar. 12-16
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra................................Sat. Mar. 17
Dmitri Kitaenko, conductor; Vladimir Krainev, pianist
Thomas Allen, baritone....................................... Wed. Mar. 21
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra................................ Sun. Mar. 25
David Zinman, conductor; Isaac Stern, violinist
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Iona Brown ................ Sun. Apr. 1
The Feld Ballet...................................... Wed., Thurs. Apr. 4, 5
Jim Cullumjazz Band........................................... Sat. Apr. 7
William Warfield, narrator; Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess"
Murray Perahia, pianist......................................... Sat. Apr. 14
Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia Marc Mostovoy............... Sun. Apr. 22
The King's Singers ............................................ Sat. Apr. 28
Underwritten by Parke Davis Research Division of Warner Lambert.
97th Annual May Festival ...............................Wed.-Sat. May 9-12
Los Angeles Philharmonic Andre Previn, conductor-pianist
Free brochure with complete information available upon request.
Full service box office hours in Burton Tower: Mon.-Fri. 10:00-6:00, Sat. 10:00-1:00, 764-2538. For telephone charges only: 763-TKTS, Mon.-Sat. 8 a.m.-9 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY
Burton Memorial Tower, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1270 Phones: (313) 764-2538763-TKTS