If you haven't seen a show in the brand new Moores Opera House since it opened its doors to the public last semester, next Wednesday would be the perfect evening to go.
The Jazz Orchestra will present a multimedia event featuring the music of jazz greats Duke Ellington and his protégé Stan Kenton on Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m.
The concert is not only a show but an educational experience as well. The orchestra has designed the program to include a narrator, a slideshow and original music transcriptions that accurately depict the precocity of two of America's most prominent big band leaders.
"The program's selections will go back and forth between Ellington and Kenton," Moores Jazz Orchestra director Noe Marmolejo said. "We're intertwining the two in order to show the relation and comparison between the two artists."
Ellington and Kenton were very similar as far as style and interpretation, and they both played major roles in the growth of programmatic music.
Programmatic music attempts to create colors, which is why the slide show and the narration play a big part of the evening.
"It's something we've never done before, so I'm really looking forward to doing it," Marmolejo said. "It should be a lot of fun."
Admission is only $5 ($3 for students), and tickets are available at the door.
The Edythe Bates Old Moores Opera Center will be presenting Gian Carlo Menotti's The Medium this Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the Moores Opera House.
The student-produced opera, as its composer once put it, "describes the tragedy of a woman caught between two worlds: a world of reality which she cannot wholly comprehend and a supernatural world in which she cannot believe."
Because the opera is organized and directed entirely by students, the whole experience has been special for the cast and crew of the show, especially considering that there are two separate casts for each night.
"In watching and being a part of the rehearsals for Friday's and Saturday's cast," Medium cast member Susan Surdacki said, "it's really interesting to see the interpretations from each cast because they're entirely different."
So why should anyone come and watch this opera?
"The poetry and the music," Surdacki claimed. "It really is an ingenious work, and it's a good introduction to opera if you're really not into it. It's short, it's in English and it's really a beautiful story."
Admission is $10 ($5 for students) and tickets are available at the door. There will also be an Opera Preview Lecture at 6:45 p.m. before both shows.
Yfrah Neaman, violin - Friday (2 p.m. to 5 p.m.) and Saturday (9 a.m. to 1 p.m.).
Neaman, an internationally esteemed concert artist, will hold a master class at Dudley Recital Hall. He is currently professor of violin and head of Advanced Solo Studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Tickets are $10 ($5 for students) and may be purchased at the door.
AURA - 7:30 p.m. Monday, Organ Recital Hall. AURA, MSM's contemporary music ensemble directed by Chris Theofanidis, will perform works by Hildegard von Bingen, Messiaen, Gorecki and Part in an attempt to explore the connections between new music and its ancient roots. Also featured will be the vocal ensemble, directed by Betsy Cook Weber. Admission is $5 ($3 for students), and tickets are available at the door.
Robin Hough, oboe & Timothy Hester, piano - 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Moores Opera House. The faculty recital of all-French works will include pieces by Franck, Faure, Poulenc, Saint-Saens, Dubois, Godard, Tomasi and Pierne. Admission is $5 ($3 for students), and tickets are available at the door.