ENJOY THE SOUNDS OF THE USC THORNTON SCHOOL OF MUSIC'S RENOWNED WIND ENSEMBLE ON AN ALL NEW EPISODE OF 'OPEN CALL' AIRING SEPTEMBER 6 @ 9 PM ON KCET
Burbank, CA
- August 27, 2012 - KCET, the nation's largest independent television station
serving Southern and Central California, invites viewers to tune-in to a brand
new episode of its original performing arts series, Open Call, featuring the renowned USC Thornton School of Music's
Wind Ensemble.
Premiering Sept. 6 at 9 p.m., Open Call
presents "The USC Thornton School of Music's Wind Ensemble: Women's Composers
of the Present." The concert was co-conducted by the school's principal and
resident conductors Robert Reynolds and Sharon Lavery, respectively. The Wind
Ensemble will present an innovative program featuring the best of wind
compositions and arrangements. Open Call
host Suzanna Guzmán and USC Thornton School of Music Dean Robert Cutietta will
introduce the performance pieces, which include:
"Fanfare" and
"Fascinating Ribbons" by Grammy-winning composer Joan Tower
"Jeux des Vents" by
international award-winning composer and USC Thornton Assistant Professor
of Composition Veronika Krausas
"Smoke & Mirrors" by
international award-winning composer and USC Thornton Professor of
Composition Erica Muhl; and
"Crossing Parallels" by
international award-winning composer Kathryn Salfelder.
Considered
one of the top conductors worldwide of wind ensembles, Principal Conduct H. Robert
Reynolds directs the USC Thornton School of Music Wind Ensemble, which consistently
presents innovative programs featuring the best of wind compositions and
arrangements.
ABOUT H. ROBERT REYNOLDS
H. Robert
Reynolds is the principal conductor of the Wind Ensemble at the Thornton School
of Music at the University of Southern California, where he holds the H. Robert
Reynolds Professorship in Wind Conducting. This appointment followed his
retirement, after 26 years, from the School of Music of the University of
Michigan where he served as the Henry F. Thurnau Professor of Music, director
of university bands, and director of the division of instrumental studies. In
addition to these responsibilities, he has also been, for nearly 30 years, the
conductor of the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, which is made up primarily
of members from the Detroit Symphony.
Robert
Reynolds has conducted recordings for Koch International, Pro Arte, Caprice,
and Deutsche Grammophon. In the United States, he has conducted at Carnegie
Hall and Lincoln Center (New York), Orchestra Hall (Chicago), Kennedy Center
(Washington, D. C.), Powell Symphony Hall (St. Louis), Academy of Music
(Philadelphia), and Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles). In Europe, he
conducted the premiere of an opera for La Scala Opera (Milan, Italy), and
concerts at the prestigious Maggio Musicale (Florence, Italy), the Tonhalle
(Zurich, Switzerland), and at the Holland Festival in the Concertgebouw
(Amsterdam, Holland), as well as the 750th Anniversary of the City of Berlin.
He has won the praise of composers Leslie Bassett, William Bolcom, Aaron Copland,
John Corigliano, Henryk Gorecki, Karel Husa, Gyorgy Ligeti, Darius Milhaud,
Bernard Rands, Gunther Schuller, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and many others for his
interpretive conducting of their compositions.
Reynolds
has been a featured conductor and lecturer at international conferences in
Austria, Norway, Belgium, England, Holland, Slovenia, Sweden, Germany, Denmark,
and Switzerland. He has conducted in many of the major cities of Japan, Spain,
and Sweden including concerts with the Stockholm Wind Orchestra, and the
Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra. Many of his former students now hold major
conducting positions at leading conservatories and universities, and several
have been National Presidents of CBDNA.
ABOUT SHARON LAVERY
Sharon
Lavery's extensive career has led her to conduct in preeminent concert halls
across the United States, including Carnegie Hall in New York City. Currently, she serves as resident conductor
of the Thornton Symphony, Chamber Orchestra and Wind Ensemble at the University
of Southern California Thornton School of Music. She has led the USC Thornton ensembles in
concert on many occasions and, for seven years, served as music director of the
Thornton Concert Orchestra. In addition
to these duties at USC Thornton, Lavery teaches instrumental conducting
classes.
Outside of
USC, Lavery enjoys a distinguished career both locally and
internationally. Since December of 2007
she has been music director of the Downey Symphony Orchestra, an ensemble
hailed as one of the best metropolitan orchestras in Southern California. This position has brought Lavery great
acclaim for her innovative programming.
During her tenure as music director, she has premiered or commissioned a
new composition each season.
Maestra
Lavery has attained prominence as a conductor throughout California. Since 2004 she has held the post of cover
conductor for the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, and she has served as cover
conductor for the San Diego Symphony as well.
ABOUT USC THORNTON SCHOOL OF MUSIC
The USC Thornton School of Music brings together a stellar
faculty chosen from a broad spectrum of the music profession and gifted
students from around the globe. Founded in 1884 and today the oldest
continually operating cultural institution in Los Angeles, the Thornton School
consistently ranks among the nation's top music schools and conservatories.
By blending the rigors of a traditional conservatory-style
education with the benefits of a leading research university, USC Thornton
offers an impressive range of performance opportunities and a curriculum
designed to prepare students for successful careers in the 21st century. The
Thornton School presents more than 500 concerts each year and is the only music
school with a weekly radio broadcast in a major media market featuring student
performances.
Located in the heart of Los Angeles, USC Thornton offers
students every advantage of studying, performing, and networking in the world's
most vibrant music industry hub. Every week, our students engage with leading
professionals in all aspects of the music, recording, and entertainment
industries, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, LA Opera, Los Angeles
Master Chorale, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Grammy Foundation, and The
Recording Academy. Our students also are a constant presence in local
classrooms, reaching out to the next generation of musicians. More at
usc.edu/music, or call (213) 740-6935.
ABOUT KCET
On-air,
online and in the community, KCET plays a vital role in the cultural and
educational enrichment of Southern and Central California. KCET offers a wide
range of award-winning local programming as well as the finest public
television programs from around the world. KCET currently produces the Emmy®,
duPont-Columbia and Peabody Award-winning SoCal Connected, a hard-hitting
prime-time weekly television news program that examines the issues and people
of Southern California. Throughout its 48-year history, KCET has won hundreds
of major awards for its local and regional news and public affairs programming,
its national drama and documentary productions, its quality educational family
and children's programs, its outreach and community services and its website,
kcet.org. KCET is a donor-supported community institution. For additional
information about KCET productions, web-exclusive content, programming
schedules and community events, please visit kcet.org.
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