Get It Fresh at HSU Composers Concert

A piece for full orchestra evoking a lost Aztec city, and variations for symphonic band based on hip hop tunes highlight the spring HSU Composers Concert of new works on Friday April 1 in Fulkerson Recital Hall.
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An orchestra of student and faculty players conducted by Rachel Samet performs “Confluence by the Lake of the Moon” by Kenneth Bozanich, inspired by descriptions of Tenochtitlán, a vast Aztec city linked by lakes in ancient Mexico. Kyle McInnis used contemporary hip-hop within a structure based on variations by 20th century composer John Barnes Chance for his concert band work, “Variations on a Theme by the Wu-Tang Clan.”

Charlie McClung was inspired by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki’s “Thenody for the Victims of Hiroshima” to write “Requiem for A Lost Forest” for string quartet, commemorating a wildfire that destroyed part of Stanislaus National Forest near his childhood home.

Sabrina Fisher, Aidan Sanborn-Petterson and McClung wrote pieces for multiple guitars, while Sandee Castaneda wrote for solo cello and Fisher for marimba. Sanborn-Petterson’s “Everyday Pondering Suite” is a piece for voice and piano about the mysteries of ordinary life. The evening ends with a work of “slight morbid humor” by Michael Barrett Donovan called “Home on the Range.”

Graduating seniors Kenneth Bozanich, Michael Donovan and Kyle McInnis are participating in their last HSU Composers Concert.

The Composers Concert is performed on Friday April 1 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8, $5 seniors and children, free to HSU students with ID, from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. More information: http://HSUMusic.blogspot.com. Directed by Brian Post, produced by HSU Music department.