This weekend Tech will be ringing in the new year with a festival of contemporary music written by Upper Peninsula composers. This festival is composed of three concerts written by composers who are from or who have lived in the Upper Peninsula.
The festival will feature MIT composer and UP native Elena Ruehr. Dr. Ruehr will be presenting a Master Class on Saturday, Jan. 19 at 3 p.m. in the McArdle Theatre which will feature music by student composers. That evening the festival goes on with a performance in the Rozsa Center at 7:30 p.m. The Saturday Rozsa performance will feature a string quartet, one of the songs played by this quartet will be a traditional melody of the well-known “This Little Light of Mine.” Another piece called “Flow – Sturgeon River” is Christopher Plummer’s musical rendition of water flow measurements from the Sturgeon River.
The Michigan Tech conScience Choir and Chamber Choir will also be making an appearance singing “Adam lay bounden,” a piece commissioned by Paul Mealor and the University of Aberdeen Chamber Choir in 2014. It sets text from a 15th-century middle English piece to music.
Saturday will also feature a saxophone piece inspired by a storm rolling in over Lake Superior by Patrick Booth. A song as part of a series inspired by horses will be played by violin, saxophone and percussion players. These pieces are still in progress but the composer, Libby Meyer, was inspired by the sensitive but unpredictable nature of these beautiful, powerful creatures.
This collection of music is sure to be an inspiring and wonderful show as it draws directly from the forces of nature and our own geographical location that surround us at all times. These pieces are certain to capture at least some of the awesome storms, beauty and history that is embedded in our world.
The matinee performance on Saturday is free, the concert later on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. will cost $15 for general admission and $5 for youth tickets. There is no charge for students with the Experience Tech fee. Tickets are available online at mtu.edu/rozsa or by phone at (906) 487-2073. Tickets will also be available at the McArdle Theatre or Rozsa Center box office before the performance.
