UC Davis end-of-year lineup is rich in diversity
From powerful vocal performance to jazz to percussion-only music, the UC Davis Department of Music shows off its range at the end of the year.
On Dec. 3 at Jackson Hall in the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, the choirs of UC Davis perform a repertoire that spans five centuries and includes several works by living composers of diverse backgrounds. Titled “A World Anew,” the concert is Erik Peregrine’s debut as the new director of choirs. Peregrine, also a lecturer in the music department, has held a variety of conducting and teaching positions across North America, including with the University of Arizona Collegium Musicum, Tucson Masterworks Chorale, the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists and the University of British Columbia Choirs.
Peregrine says the concert “celebrates the joy, resilience and healing power of singing together,” which has been difficult in particular for singers during the pandemic. The concert features all three of UC Davis’ choirs: the University Chorus (a medium-large ensemble), the Chamber Singers (a treble choir) and the Early Music Vocal Ensemble. The program includes works by living American composers Rosephanye Powell, Melissa Dunphy and Sydney Guillaume, as well as the English Renaissance composer William Byrd.
The UC Davis Concert Band returns to Mondavi Center’s Jackson Hall on Dec. 1. Under the direction of Pete Nowlen, the band will perform works by film composer Alan Silvestri, from the animated “Polar Express”; Alton Adams, the first African American U.S. Navy Bandmaster; noted American bandleader Helen May Butler; British-Sierra-Leonean composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor; and Chinese and Chinese American composers Jack Loh and Yan Pang.
The Jazz Bands of UC Davis, led by Otto Lee, take the stage of the Ann E. Pitzer Center on Nov. 30. The bands will perform music from the great American jazz tradition, including tunes by Chick Corea, Benny Golson, Count Basie, Thad Jones and others.
The popular and free Shinkoskey Noon Concert series at the Pitzer Center on Dec. 2 showcases music department lecturers Jolán Friedhoff (violin) and Kerstin Allvin (harp), performing works by J.S. Bach, Gaetano Donizetti and Camille Saint-Saëns.
Also free is the Percussion Ensemble concert on Dec. 3 at 3 p.m. titled “Loose Ends,” which takes place at the Pitzer Center. Directed by Chris Froh, students will perform works by Andy Akiho, John Cage, Emmanuel Sejourné and others.
The Chorus, Jazz and Concert Band concerts begin at 7 p.m. Tickets are $24 for adults and $12 for students and children, and may be purchased through MondaviArts.org, by phone at 530-754-2787 or at the door. Ticket office hours are Tuesday—Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and one hour prior to each performance.
For more information about these and other performances by the Department of Music, visit arts.ucdavis.edu/music. All performances will be livestreamed on the department’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/musicatucdavis.