WestConn Music Groups To Present Concerts

DANBURY — Western Connecticut State University will provide musical offerings for audiences of all ages and listening preferences during November and December.

Concert programs showcasing contemporary and classical music, student combos playing original and classic jazz works, and the WCSU Opera’s traditional December staging of “Amahl and the Night Visitors” will be among the highlights of the WestConn music department’s winter schedule. The department also will present guest performances by pianist Ksenia Nosikova in November and New York City’s Vanguard Jazz Orchestra in December.

All performances will be in Ives Concert Hall in White Hall on the university’s Midtown campus, 181 White Street, Danbury. The events will be open to the public. Admission fees will be charged for specific events where indicated; all other events will be free.

WCSU Professor of Music Dr Dan Goble and Associate Professor of Music Dr Russell Hirshfield will perform a recital on saxophone and piano at 8 pm on Monday, November 5.

Concert and chamber pianist Dr Ksenia Nosikova will perform a recital at 8 pm on Wednesday, November 7. Admission is $15 for adults, and $10 for senior citizens and students.

The music department will present the WCSU Jazz Combos in concert at 3 pm on Sunday, November 11.

WestConn music students will present a piano recital at 8 pm on Tuesday, November 13.

The WCSU Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble will perform in concert at 8 pm on Wednesday, November 14.

The WCSU Concert Choir will perform with the WCSU Orchestra at 8 pm on Monday, November 19, to honor the music of Venice.

The WCSU New Music Ensemble will perform at 8 pm on Thursday, December 6. The New Music Ensemble features WestConn’s best students combined with the university’s faculty artists.

The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra (VJO), a New York City ensemble that has promoted the performance and appreciation of jazz for more than four decades, will perform in concert at 8 pm on Friday, December 7. Admission is $15 for general public and $10 for non-WestConn students, senior citizens, and children under 12; WCSU students will be admitted free with valid ID.

The public also is invited to attend a free performance clinic with members of the VJO and a jazz composition master class offered by VJO composer-in-residence Jim McNeely. The clinic and class will be held from 1 to 4:30 pm in White Hall; for information, contact the music department at 837-8350.

The WCSU Percussion Ensemble will perform at 8 pm on Monday, December 10.

The WCSU Opera, directed by Professor of Music Dr Margaret Astrup, will present its 13th annual production of GianCarlo Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors at 8 pm on Friday, December 14, and at 3 pm on Saturday, December 15. Admission is $12 for adults, and $8 for senior citizens, non-WCSU students, and children under 12; WestConn students admitted free with valid ID.

The annual WCSU Holiday Jazz concert is scheduled for 3 pm on Sunday, December 16.

Fore more information, call the WestConn music department at 837-8350 or the Office of University Relations at 837-8486.