March 28, 2024

UMW Chamber Music Festival Marks Third Year at Belmont

U.S. Army Woodwind Quintet

U.S. Army Woodwind Quintet

Gari Melchers Home and Studio and the University of Mary Washington Music Department present a Chamber Music Festival on March 14 and 15 in the intimate setting of the Pavilion at Belmont.

The musicians will perform a richly varied program against the backdrop of Belmont, a late eighteenth-century estate picturesquely situated above the Rappahannock River in Falmouth, Virginia.

“Gari Melchers, the famed American who lived and painted here, enjoyed a friendship with the French composer Camille Saint-Saens, and I know he readily would endorse the making of music at his old haunts,” says Assistant Director and Curator Joanna Catron.

The Festival opens on Saturday evening, March 14 at 7 p.m. with a performance of New American Classics for Wind Quintet performed by the U.S. Army Woodwind Quintet under the direction of MSG Robert Aughtry. The performance will include works by Valerie Coleman, Arne Running, Charles Rochester Young, Lalao Schifrin, and Reena Esmail.

The Sunday, March 15 offering begins at 2 p.m. with an eclectic chamber program featuring works by Hayden, Beethoven, Schubert, Mozart and others, performed by the UMW Flute Ensemble, Guitar Ensemble and Woodwind Trio, comprised of faculty, students and guest musicians under the direction of Professors of Music Doug Gately and Bruce Middle.

Admission is free, but seating is limited. Pavilion, Gari Melchers Home and Studio.

Contact: Joanna D. Catron at jcatron@umw.edu or 540-654-1841

Mary Talks: ‘Frank Sinatra and the Development of the Concept Album’

Join us on campus for our next Mary Talk of the 2019-20 academic year.

James Brooks Kuykendall, professor and chair of the music department at UMW, will present “Frank Sinatra and the Development of the Concept Album.”

Frank Sinatra (1915-1998) was one of the greatest American performing artists—leaving a legacy both as a singer and as an Oscar-winning film star. Less appreciated, perhaps, was his pioneering artistic vision. At the advent of the long-playing record, Sinatra recognized its potential not merely as a medium for a series of songs all on one disc, but for a sustained artistic statement. In his 1950s series of Capitol Records albums (including In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning, Songs for Swingin’ Lovers, Close to You, Come Fly with Me, and Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely), Sinatra explored how to create musical coherence in large-scale structures. In so doing, he shaped the work of successive musicians across all genres.

Wednesday, November 13
7:00-8:30 p.m.
Digital Auditorium,
Hurley Convergence Center
On Campus

Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. The lecture will end at approximately 8 p.m., allowing time for a Q&A session with Professor Kuykendall. Please join us for light refreshments at the conclusion of the program. This event is free, but registration is requested so we will know to expect you. If you haven’t already, register today!

You can attend this Talk either in person or online! To attend on campus, click “Register to Attend in Person” below. If you instead would like to view the Talk online (either live or at a later time), click “Register to View Online,” and you will receive a link to view the online video.

We look forward to seeing you either on campus or online!

Register to attend in person. 

Register to view online. 

 

UMW Presents Jazz 4 Justice on Nov. 2

UMW’s Jazz Ensemble has joined the Fredericksburg Area Bar Association and Legal Aid Works℠ (formally Rappahannock Legal Services) to present a special concert, Jazz 4 Justice™, on November 2 at 7:30 p.m. in Dodd Auditorium. General admission tickets cost $10 for adults and $5 for students and seniors. For more information, please visit https://umwmusic.com or call (540) 654-1012.

Music Professor Shares ‘Note’worthy Research on ‘With Good Reason’

University of Mary Washington Music Professor and Department Chair Brooks Kuykendall will be featured on the With Good Reason public radio show. The episode, Unexpected Remixes, will air daily beginning Saturday, Sept. 21, and continuing through Sept. 27. The episode showcases Kuykendall’s discovery of an epic 19th-century musical crossover. Working with Mary Washington alumna Elyse Ridder […]

Gately Performs with National Symphony Orchestra

Doug Gately, senior lecturer in the Department of Music

Doug Gately, senior lecturer in the Department of Music

Doug Gately, senior lecturer in the Department of Music, performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Steven Reineke on June 28 and 29 in a concert recreating the 1961 concert, Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall. Featured artists were Tony® nominee Laura Osnes, Broadway diva Capathia Jenkins, and Pink Martini’s Jimmie Herrod.

Gately also performed with the National Symphony Orchestra on the televised Capital Fourth Concert, hosted by John Stamos with performances by Carole King, Vanessa Williams, the cast of Sesame Street, Colbie Caillat, Yolanda Adams, Lee Brice, and more.

Gately performs with James Monroe H.S. Jazz Band

Department of Music faculty member Doug Gately recently performed with the James Monroe High School Band.

Department of Music faculty member Doug Gately recently performed with the James Monroe High School Band.

Department of Music faculty member Doug Gately was recently a featured guest soloist with the James Monroe High School Jazz Band performance held May 21 at James Monroe High School. The UMW Department of Music is committed to its community outreach program, supporting the Arts and Education in our community.

Gately Performs with the National Symphony Orchestra

Doug Gately will perform with the National Symphony Orchestra in the National Memorial Day Concert on May 26.

Doug Gately will perform with the National Symphony Orchestra in the National Memorial Day Concert on May 26.

Doug Gately will perform with the National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jack Everly. The National Memorial Day Concert returns live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol on May 26 for a special televised 30th anniversary broadcast, hosted by Tony Award-winner Joe Mantegna and Tony-nominated actress Mary McCormack.

The all-star line-up also features: distinguished American leader General Colin L. Powell USA (Ret.); Academy Award-nominated actor Sam Elliott; Grammy Award-winning legend Patti LaBelle; multi-platinum selling singer, performer and songwriter Gavin DeGraw; acclaimed actor Dennis Haysbert; Broadway and television star Christopher Jackson (Hamilton, Bull); multi-Grammy Award-winning bluegrass icon Alison Krauss; SAG and Olivier Award-winning and Grammy Award-nominated actress and singer Amber Riley (GleeDreamgirls); platinum-selling country music star Justin Moore; television star Jaina Lee Ortiz; and Patrick Lundy & The Ministers of MusicAmerican Idol Season 17 finalist Alyssa Raghu will open the show with a special performance of the national anthem.

UMW Senior Collaborates with Faculty on Note-Worthy Research

When Elyse Ridder ’19 declared as a music major, she expected to perform pieces by the likes of Aaron Copland. Never could she have imagined that she’d get to finish a work by the famed American composer. But Mary Washington made it happen. The UMW senior, who graduates next week, has spent countless hours working […]

Kuykendall Links Shakespeare and Bach at Society for Textual Scholarship Conference

Kuykendall found that these two works borrow interludes from Bach settings, as indicated.

Music Department Chair Dr. Brooks Kuykendall combined text-critical theories about Shakespeare with Bach sources at the interdisciplinary Society for Textual Scholarship conference in New York City, March 20-22.  His paper, entitled “The sources of Bach’s passaggio chorales:  all ‘bad quartos’?” reconsidered traditional views of copyists’ manuscripts of Bach organ works in light of theories which have developed around the early editions of some of Shakespeare’s plays–editions which are markedly different from the standard texts as performed today.  Early Bach sources reveal that his works were similarly contested from the start.

UMW Hits High Notes With New Pianos

Andrew Kraus was in the middle of a performance when he heard it. After playing the first of Brahms’s powerful and dramatic Rhapsodies, Op. 79, he began playing a softer piece. As his hands danced deftly and gracefully across the keys, he heard a distinctive “twang” that rang out through the hushed Dodd Auditorium. It […]