Select Page

WAC POSTER 2 copy.pagesAn event hosted by the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Department of Music will offer an opportunity to hear great new musical works created by young composers.

The Wisconsin New Music Festival takes place Saturday, Feb. 25, in the UW Oshkosh Music Hall. The music festival–revived by the Wisconsin Alliance for Composers this year after a 15-year hiatus–will include two free concerts of new music by Wisconsin composers at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m.

Student and adult composers from across Wisconsin will travel to UW Oshkosh to hear performances of their music by UW Oshkosh faculty and students and receive recognition for their work.

“The students will benefit from hearing their original works performed live by student and/or faculty musicians, meeting UW Oshkosh faculty, and interacting with other student composers from around the state,” said Ed Martin, associate music professor at UW Oshkosh.

Martin said hearing one’s original work performed live in a concert hall is an extremely important learning experience in a young composer’s artistic development.

“This promises to be an exciting event for the Department of Music and university that celebrates the creativity of both student and professional composers from Wisconsin and showcases the outstanding musicianship of UW Oshkosh faculty and student musicians,” Martin said.

Concert 1

The 5:30 p.m. concert will feature performances of winning compositions from the Wisconsin Alliance for Composers’ recent Student Composition Competition–including first prize and honorable mentions in three categories: primary school, high school and undergraduate.

The students were selected through a blind judging process. The composition of one UW Oshkosh student, senior Christian Jesse, will be featured as a winner in the undergraduate category.

UWO student performers will be Hope Larson, alto saxophone; Ashton Boyd, piano; Erica Kennedy, bass; Cam Anderson, drums; Caitlin Kirchner, violin; Blane Dille, alto saxophone; Patrick Lang, violin; Tyler Dworak, violin; Aaron Cornelio, viola; and Nathan Franz, viola.

Faculty performers will be Ed Martin, piano; Drew Whiting, soprano saxophone; Dylan Chmura-Moore, trombone; and Eli Kalman, piano.

Concert 2

The 7:30 p.m. concert will feature works by professional Wisconsin composers selected through a blind submission process.

UW Oshkosh student performers will be Megan Wilson, clarinet; Blane Dille, alto saxophone; Danny Noonan, trumpet; Sarah Williams, piano; and Cam Anderson, Logan Fisher, Jim Keuler, Mason Lee and Seth Scherer, percussion.

Several UW Oshkosh faculty members also will be performing: Eli Kalman, piano; Linda Pereksta, flute; Sharon Tenundfeld, viola; Ed Martin, piano; Allison Shaw, vibraphone.

 

Admission to the concerts is free and open to the public.

A small reception for participants will be held between the concerts, around 6:30 p.m., in the Music Hall lobby.

New Music Winners

Primary School (K-8) category

First place, Zoe Kraus, Appleton

Honorable mention, Siddharth Nadkarni, Hartland

Honorable mention, Marcus Wakefield, Oshkosh

Honorable mention, Greta Thoresen, Sheboygan

Honorable mention, Nora Otte, Van Dyne

High School Category

First place, Alexandra Semina, Brookfield

Honorable mention, Gabe Lemke, Madison

Honorable mention, Emily Warnke, Appleton

Undergraduate Category

First place, Christian Jesse, UW Oshkosh

Honorable mention, Darren Deal, Lawrence University

Honorable mention, Scott Keith Horton, UW La Crosse

 

Learn more: