UCA l ONLINE

Our community and family at the University Center for The Arts is sharing online performances to inspire, uplift, and connect us all during this time of isolation.

From newly recorded living room concerts to videos from the archive, we hope you enjoy these works, and find your own creative outlets during this time.

Good morning. You don't know us but our daughter Samantha is in her final year at CSU, and so we get the CSU president emails, which contained the link to your performance. My wife and I are in Seattle and as we prepared our morning coffee, we listened/watched your "Quatra Duo"  performances. They were quite lovely and I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to do it and share. Despite the rain now falling, it brightened our morning. —Scott F.

04.24.20: Drew Leslie with North Carolina Brass Band

In this recording, Colorado State University's trombone professor, Dr. Drew Leslie, collaborates with fellow musicians from the North Carolina Brass Band to play Michael Davis' "Longhorn."

Performers: Seth Frack, Drew Leslie, Jeremy Marks, Sean Devlin

Never look at the trombones, it only encourages them. —Richard Wagner

 

04.21.20: CSU Percussion Ensemble

In this recording, Colorado State University's percussion professor, Dr. Eric Hollenbeck, shares highlights from the Colorado State University Percussion Ensemble's performance at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, held in Indianapolis, Indiana last fall. The ensemble was showcased as the winners of the 2019 International Percussion Ensemble Competition.

  • Drum Dances by John Psathas
  • Third Construction by John Cage
  • The Dandelion by James David
  • Libertango by Astor Piazzolla

It is the artists of the world, the feelers and the thinkers who will ultimately save us; who can articulate, educate, defy, insist, sing and shout the big dreams. —Leonard Bernstein

 

04.20.20: CSU Dance Students

At the end of class on Zoom, Ballet VI and VII were asked to summarize their current feelings in four gestures. Viewers, feel free to try this at home along with us!

Dancers (in order of appearance): Kourtney Yadao, Brakelle Dobbs, Samantha Lewis, Emily Wallace, Mia Wilborne, Brianna Port, Jesse Bettig, Jasmine Burns, Franny Komperda, Abbey Mann, Safiya Vanterpool, Taryn Santeramo, Payton Lauer, Sophia Graves, Isabel Krull, Jame Fuerte, Shayleen Moses, Thomas Grassia, Madeline Harvey (professor)

Music by David McArthur

04.13.20: Quatra Duo

In this recording, Colorado State University's Quatra Duo (flute professor, Michelle Stanley, and guitar professor, Jeff LaQuatra) share with us their performance of:

  • Gigue From French Suite No. 3 by J.S. Bach
  • Elegy by James Mcguire
  • Sage Waltz by Grant Ferris

The true beauty of music is that it connects people. —Roy Ayres

04.10.20: Joel Bacon, Organ; Joseph Haydn's The Seven Last Words of Our Savior on the Cross

In this recording, Colorado State University organ professor, Joel Bacon, shares his performance of Joseph Haydn's The Seven Last Words of Our Savior on the Cross, Hob. XX/1C, a Good Friday and Lenten work. This is a piano arrangement (1787) played on digital organ using samples of the organ in Weissenau Abbey, Germany, built by J. N. Holszhey in 1787.

Dr. Bacon downloaded digital samples from an organ built the same year the piece was composed and played the samples through his home organ and a MacBook Pro; he recorded the audio directly, and states that "the sound quality is surprisingly good for a digital organ."

Be sure to also listen to Part II

04.08.20: Stanley Curtis, Trumpet

In this recording completed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Colorado State University trumpet professor, Stanley Curtis, shares a few of his favorite performances, including two of his own compositions.

Night Passages by Stanley Curtis
III. Night Club

Advent by Stanley Curtis for Trumpet, Soprano, and Piano

  • Tia Wortham, soprano
  • Stanley Curtis, trumpet
  • Ben Keseley, piano

Etude No. 2 by Theo Charlier

A fine work of art — music, painting, dance, story — has the power to silence the chatter in the mind and lift us to another place. —Robert McKee

04.06.20: Music in the Museum Concert Series

Musician: Dr. Joel Bacon, piano
Art Historian: Dr. Lynn Boland
Theme: Abstraction and Atonality: Kandinsky and Schoenberg
Music Program:
“Syncopation” from Microcosmos, v. 5 no. 133, 1926–1936 by Béla Bartók (1881-1945)
“Drei Klavierstücke (Three Piano Pieces)” from Op. 11, 1909 by Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)
Recorded: March 20, 2020