UAlbany Music Program to Kick off March with Trio of Concerts

An orchestra wearing all black is pictured on a black stage surrounded by white lights and white acoustic panels.
The UAlbany Symphony Orchestra (pictured), together with the UAlbany Percussion Ensemble and UAlbany Concert Band, will deliver a trio of concerts during the first week of March.

ALBANY, N.Y. (Feb. 14, 2023) — The University at Albany Music Program will present a trio of concerts during the first full week of March, with performances planned by the UAlbany Percussion Ensemble, the UAlbany Concert Band and the UAlbany Symphony Orchestra.

All performances will be held at the Performing Arts Center on the Uptown Campus.

The Percussion Ensemble will kick things off Monday, March 6, with its annual Festival of Contemporary Music, which starts at 7 p.m. and will feature special guests from the Empire State Youth, Repertory and Chamber Percussion Ensembles.

The festival will feature Joseph Ott’s landmark work, Quartet for Percussion, performed by the Empire State Youth Percussion Ensemble. The ensemble will also play the second set of Chick Corea’s haunting Children’s Songs. The UAlbany Percussion Ensemble will play three of composer-educator Ney Rosauro’s Brazilian Myths, recounting legends of a deadly Brazilian mermaid, the mystical protector of the avian wildlife of the Amazon Forest, and the evil headless horsewoman spreading fear and pestilence throughout the villages and towns. The Empire State Chamber and Repertory Percussion Ensembles will play works by Nathan Daughtrey, Elliot Del Borgo, Daniel Montoya and the Rainforest Journey of Charlie Sivils.

On Wednesday, March 8, the Concert Band will deliver a Concert in the Round at 7 p.m., with the audience set up to surround the musicians. The band will play eight selections, including Charles Parker Peters’s American Legion (March), Robert Sheldon’s Beyond the Higher Skies, Arthur Benjamin’s Jamaican Rumba, Tyler Arcari’s Beacons (Guiding Lights), Scott Joplin’s The Entertainer and Claude T. Smith’s Serenade and Dance.

The program will also include band director Kevin R. Champagne’s Octopercussiocity and selections from the musical Rent, which is being produced by the Department of Music and Theatre with performances planned for March 2-5.

The final concert of the week comes from the UAlbany Symphony Orchestra, which will perform Thursday, March 9 at 7:30 p.m. Under the direction of Christopher David Neubert, the orchestra will deliver three works: Felix Mendelssohn’s Fingal's Cave Overture, Gabriel Faure’s Pelleas et Melisande and James Barnes’s Heatherwood Portrait.

Advance tickets to each concert are $5 for the general public and $3 for students, seniors and faculty/staff. Tickets purchased day of are $10 for the general public and $8 for students, seniors and faculty/staff. All tickets must be purchased online. Questions? Contact the Performing Arts Center’s main office at 518-442-3995 or [email protected].