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| Ensembles |
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| Brass Ensemble |
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 The Brass Ensemble provides experience
for both small and large chamber groups in the study and performance
of traditional and contemporary music for brass instruments. Emphasis
is upon developing basic performance musicianship through systematic
work on intonation, phrasing, balance, and interpretation; study of
brass instrument history, technique, repertoire, and pedagogy. Under
the direction of Dr. Douglas Hedwig since 1985, the Brooklyn College
Brass Ensemble has toured England, Switzerland, and Germany Special
residencies and joint performances with students and faculty of the
Royal Academy of Music (London), and Karlsruhe Musikhochschule provided
unique opportunities for cultural and musical exchange. The Brooklyn
College Brass Ensemble was the only student group invited to perform
at the International Brass Symposium in Basel, Switzerland, and was
featured at the New York Brass Conference as well as the International
Trumpet Guild Conference. This active group has also performed at the
Metropolitan Opera House, the Albany Center for the Performing Arts,
Summer Concert Series at Bryant Park and Battery Park , Columbia University,
C.W. Post College, Kingsborough Community College, and for many high
schools throughout the NYC metropolitan area. The ensemble was also
featured on the Telly-Award winning TV documentary, "Fanfare." Guests
of the ensemble have included Benny Sluchin, Crispian Steele-Perkins,
Walmir Vieira, Ole Edvard Andersen and many others of international
repute.
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Click here to listen to the Brass Ensemble.
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| conTempo |
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 Under the direction of composer and
conductor Tania León, conTempo is the Conservatory's contemporary
music ensemble. Through performing a diverse repertory of solo, chamber,
and orchestral works, students become familiar with the language and
performance practices of a wide range of contemporary music. In addition
to coaching in standard twentieth-century repertory, Prof. León
focuses on new music, introducing the ensemble to the richly diverse
idioms of living composers. conTempo has premiered many works, including
compositions by Conservatory students.
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Click
here to listen to a piece performed by conTempo.
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| Percussion Ensemble |
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 The Brooklyn College Percussion Ensemble, under
the direction of Morris Lang and Brian Willson, has gained an international
reputation through its many performances around the world. The ensemble
has performed in Istanbul, Korea, Spain and Romania, and participates
in an annual percussion festival in Ireland. The ensemble plays the
most challenging and ambitious works available for percussion, and
has premiered many works, including several commissions by composers
such as Marta Ptasynzka, David Friedman, Jose Halac, and Bernard Hoffer.
Guest soloists have included the American Saxophone Quartet, David
Freidman, Ray Marchica, Glen Velez, and Salim Washington.
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Click
here to listen to a piece performed by the Percussion Ensemble. |
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| Conservatory Orchestra |
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 Under the direction of conductor George Rothman,
the Conservatory Orchestra presents several concerts each semester
of repertory from the baroque to new music, including concertos featuring
winners of its regular concerto competitions. The ensemble also collaborates
with the choruses in performance of large scale choral and in fully-staged
productions of the Brooklyn College Opera Theater. The Orchestra participates
in the Conservatory's Composer-in Residence program through which
selected student composers create new works presented in public readings
and workshop performances.
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Click
here to listen to a piece performed by the Conservatory Orchestra. |
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| Opera Theater |
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 Each year the Brooklyn College Opera Theater, under
the direction of Richard Barrett, presents at least one fully-staged
opera. Past productions includes Mozart's Don Giovanni, Marriage of
Figaro, Magic Flute and Abduction from the Seraglio; Puccini's La Boheme
and Madama Butterfly; Verdi's La Traviata; Stravinsky's The Rake's
Progress; Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos; Carlisle Floyd's Susanna; the
American fully-staged premiere of Milhaud's Christophe Colomb; and
a Telly-Award winning taped-for-TV production of Copland's The Tender
Land. These presentations are augmented throughout the year by performances
of chamber operas, providing students with extensive experience of
repertory of diverse periods and styles.
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Click
here to listen to a piece performed by the Opera Theater. |
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| Chorale and Chamber Choir |
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 The Brooklyn College Chorale is a 65-voice mixed
choral ensemble that includes students and staff from throughout the
Brooklyn College community. Conducted by Jonathan Babcock, the choir
performs a variety of literature representing every musical period
and genre in its two major campus concerts per year. Past performances
have included Carl Orff's Carmina Burana and Wolfgang A. Mozart's
Requiem in collaborations with the Conservatory Orchestra and other
Brooklyn area schools.
The Conservatory Chamber Choir, under the direction of Jonathan Babcock,
is composed of twelve to eighteen singers. Repertoire includes sacred
and secular works from all centuries appropriate for smaller vocal
ensembles with an emphasis on works of contemporary composers. Enrollment
is by audition with the conductor.
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Click
here to listen to a piece performed by the Chorale and Chamber Choir. |
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| Jazz Big Band and Jazz Ensemble |
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The Brooklyn College Jazz Big Band and Jazz Ensemble
are under the direction of saxophonist, composer, and scholar Salim
Washington. Students in both ensembles study the standard repertory
of such seminal figures as Mingus, Coltrane, Ellington, and Monk, as
well as works by lesser known artists and original compositions. The
Jazz Ensemble emphasizes the skills necessary skills to the contemporary
jazz musician, including technique, theory, oral instruction, philosophy
of improvisation, and memorization.
Click
here to listen to a piece performed by the Jazz Ensemble. |
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| Wind Ensemble |
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The Brooklyn College Wind Ensemble, under the direction
of Paul Corn, performs works from a wide assortment of styles and genres.
Repertoire consists of compositions written for contemporary concert
band as well as orchestral transcriptions, and Broadway compilations
and other popular music adapted for concert band. The ensemble performs
at least two concerts a year and is open to all students of CUNY. This
ensemble provides training for band instrumentalists and music educators. |
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| Guitar Ensemble |
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The Brooklyn College Guitar Ensemble,
directed by Lars Frandsen and assisted by Jesse Miller, performs a diverse
repertory of contemporary works and transcriptions and/or arrangements
from works spanning all periods of music. In addition to performing on
standard range instruments, the ensemble's repertory is expanded
through the ownership of a quartet of specially commissioned guitars
with extended note compass, enabling the ensemble to perform repertoire
that would otherwise be all but impossible. Several concerts have included
the participation of select students from nearby James Madison High School,
as well as other students, enabling the ensemble to perform repertory
that calls for a significantly expanded ensemble. Each semester, the
ensemble works with a Composer-in-Residence selected from the college's
composition students. The guitar ensemble has premiered more than fifteen
new works since forming in 1997. They perform at many outside venues;
recent performances have included Yale University and the American Institute
of Guitar. |
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