He was so lovable as "Officer Clemmons" in PBS's Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood - a role he played for 25 years. But Francois Clemmons is, if anything, more lovable and vivid as himself: actor, professional opera singer, retired Middlebury music professor, mentor to hundreds of Middlebury singers, soon-to-be author and eloquent witness about what being black and gay in America has meant over the past 50 years. Clemmons will relate all that and more Saturday, September 22, in a discussion after the 7 pm screening of Won't You Be My Neighbor? in the Hop's Spaulding Auditorium. And, if you ask … [Read more...]
Videos
Joyful, eclectic, inspirational: a Dartmouth College Gospel Choir playlist
What does the Dartmouth College Gospel Choir have in store for its upcoming concert on Sunday, April 29? Get ready for a dynamic mix of new and old-school inspirational music from diverse times and artists, both sacred and secular sources. Here's a taste of the songs that will be a part of this joyful, eclectic soul-and-body-moving afternoon. Born in 1964 in Hartford, Connecticut, Kurt Carr acted and danced as a teen but found himself down to sacred music. After earning a BFA in classical music from the University of Connecticut. He worked with gospel luminaries Andrae Crouch and the Rev. … [Read more...]
Celebrating music’s life after death, May 5
In his 28 years, Scott Smedinghoff gave a tremendous amount of music to the communities he lived in, including the Upper Valley, where he was a doctoral student in Dartmouth's Department of Mathematics. A May 5 concert by the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble celebrates how music can live on after death, with a program that is dedicated to Smedinghoff and includes one of the last works written by a titan in wind band music. Titled For Scott, on Saturday, May 5, 8 pm, the concert features the world premiere of Shadowlight, by Cleveland- based composer Kevin Krumenauer, commissioned with a gift … [Read more...]
Habanero, habanera, what’s the difference?
Afro-Cuban jazz sensation Daymé Arocena, performing at the Hop Thursday, April 12, is the quintessential habanera - a female resident of Havana, which she sings about in "Me lleva la Habana (I come to Havana)": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1RksfBsu6w Habanera also refers to a 19th-century Cuban dance rhythm. Here's a classic habanera: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jebIpYs2UUI The habanera infused early jazz - the first of many times American jazz would be saturated with Afro-Cuban musical elements - such as Scott Joplin's Solace … [Read more...]
Fretboard wizard jams with the DSO on Vivaldi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiNEyI1PF6w What do musicians do with free time? Go to music stores, of course, and play everything in sight. Which is what mandolinist Carlo Aonzo did in November 2016 in Carter Vintage Guitars in Nashville (see above), when the world-renowned mandolin "god" was passing through that city with his trio. If it be music, Aonzo can play it on his mandolin. He will demonstrate this at Dartmouth the week of February 5-10, where he will give a free public mini-concert on Tuesday, February 6, and perform on Friday, February 9, with the Dartmouth … [Read more...]
Exit interviews: World Music Percussion Ensemble, October 25
The student and community musical group World Music Percussion Ensemble played in Spaulding Auditorium of the Hopkins Center for the Arts on Wednesday, October 25, with guest ensemble LADAMA. The groups collaborated to play a concert celebrating the cycle of the seasons. The performance was dynamic, high-energy and above all, fun. It was clear the audience was having a great time. I talked to a few audience members after the show who enthusiastically described their impressions. One of the students, a ‘20 majoring in biomedical engineering, described the show as upbeat and rich with … [Read more...]
Can long-distance relationships work? With art, yes
One Sunday this summer I relinquished an afternoon by the river to see Michelangelo by Exhibition on Screen at the Loew Auditorium in the Black Family Visual Arts Center. A high-definition video exploration of the artist's work, the presentation turned out to be the next best thing to looking up at the Sistine Chapel ceiling or walking all the way around Pietà in St. Peter’s during a guided tour. My experience as an art history major so far has propelled me to explore what I study beyond the classroom. The film brought me closer to Michelangelo’s most important pieces than I think I ever could … [Read more...]
Grammy-winning guitar quartet plays the music of Bach, Brazil, Renaisssance Spain and Pat Metheny, September 13
World-renowned for stunning precision, rich tonal colors and joyous music-making, the Grammy-winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet performs on Wednesday, September 13 at 7 pm in Spaulding Auditorium of the Hopkins Center for the Arts. The artists will also take part in a post-performance Q&A. The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet (LAGQ) will perform a program including the Hop co-commissioned Road to the Sun, written expressly for the group by jazz master Pat Metheny. Complementing this expansive musical journey are LAGQ’s own arrangements of J.S. Bach’s spirited Brandenburg Concerto … [Read more...]
Next phase in Hop’s innovative program linking new music and STEM subjects
How do STEM fields—science, technology, engineering and mathematics—inspire music, and vice versa? This question is at the heart of STEM Arts, a groundbreaking program by the Hopkins Center for the Arts in which innovative young composers “embed” among STEM subject faculty and students and, from that experience, create a new musical work, premiered at Dartmouth. Now in its fourth year, STEM Arts projects have brought together three emerging composers with Dartmouth researchers and students: Fay Wang (2013-14) and the Dartmouth Department of Biological Sciences; Tristan Perich (2015-16) and … [Read more...]
Ensemble’s dance “numbers” add up to a great concert May 26 & 27
Let's look at the numbers on the spring 2017 concert by the Dartmouth Dance Ensemble (DDE), taking place on Friday and Saturday, May 26 and 27, 8 pm, in The Moore Theater of The Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth College: FOUR choreographers (including one Beyoncé collaborator); FIVE ensembles playing live music for the dancers, including 31 members of the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble; NINETEEN dancers, a historic number for the Dance Ensemble! The dancers include undergraduates from all disciplines, graduate students and Dartmouth staff members. Dancers come with … [Read more...]
