In an apparent creative burst, Fort Lewis College has been staging a midwinter rush of performances. Some involve guest artists. Some are free, and if ticketed, the price sits well below the cost of a movie ticket.
Last week, Chicago puppeteer Blair Thomas presented a solo show of highly imaginative, edgy pieces. Starting with a zany hand-puppet interpretation of Garcia Lorca’s version of an old tale, Thomas transported the audience with an old-world, European sensibility.
He filled the FLC Main Stage with three different stages. After “The Farce of Don Cristóbal and the Maiden Rosita,” Thomas shifted to a marionette rendition of “St. James Infirmary.” He closed with Asian-inspired shadow puppetry coursing through 13 short poems underscored by Ben Johnston’s poignant Quartet No. 1.
Starting tonight, the college continues its burst of creative programming with three big offerings by the music department – all held in the Community Concert Hall.
Tonight at 7, Charissa Chiaravalotti, director of choral music, will present four groups singing world music: the newly formed Hawkappellas, and Chamber, Concert, and Men’s choirs. The Hawkappellas will open the program with a René Clausen arrangement of “What a Wonderful World.” Thereafter, expect a range of styles and sentiments, not to mention languages, as the musicians sing in Bulgarian, Russian, French and Finnish, among others.
Saturday: Having concluded a series of clinics during the afternoon, the FLC Day of Percussion will wrap up with a free concert featuring guest soloist Ted Atkatz and percussion ensembles from FLC, Adams State University and the University of New Mexico. Visitors may sit in on the clinics, but the big combined concert is the main event.
Atkatz is a rare performer who has bridged two musical worlds successfully. Eight years ago he walked away from a dream job – principal percussionist with the Chicago Symphony. Trained at the Manhattan School of Music, he also studied at Boston University and the New England Conservatory. All through, he played in bands, and he formed his own, NYCO, with jazz bassist Robert Kassinger. Meanwhile, he got tenure with the orchestra, and his other dream, to perform alternative rock full time, took over.
“I wanted to make sure that every time I played, I wanted to be passionate about it,” he said in an interview for The New York Times. “Based on that criterion, it was a no-brainer.”
Music for Saturday evening consists of works by Vince Wallace, Blake Tyson and Edgar Varese, and concludes with two specials. Atkatz, FLC’s Jonathan Latta, and the clinicians will perform “Away Without Leave,” by Bob Becker. The entire program ends with all ensembles performing “Brazilian Batucada.”
Thursday, March 6: The FLC annual Jazz Festival runs all day, similar to the Day of Percussion. It ends with a free evening concert featuring the winning high school jazz band plus the FLC Jazz Ensemble and special guest bassist Christian McBride. The Christian McBride Trio also will give a concert Wednesday night in the Community Concert Hall.
Well-known as an upright bass player, McBride also is accomplished on electric bass. He has been playing in bands since he was 17. Way back then, McBride performed with saxophonist Bobby Watson’s group, then legends like J.J. Johnson and Hank Jones. In 1997 and again in 2001, he was part of SuperBass, which released two live-in-performance CDs. Subsequently, McBride has created his own acoustic/electric, jazz, fusion and funk ensemble and released more CDs, including “Vertical Vision” and “Live at Tonic.”
In 2006, the Los Angeles Philharmonic invited him to the Creative Chair for Jazz, a position he held until Herbie Hancock took over in 2010.
Grammy awards in 2010 and 2011 followed for his Five Peace Band and his big-band album,” The Good Feeling.”
Now 41, McBride and his wife, jazz singer Melissa Walker, regularly tour and appear annually at the Montclair Jazz Festival.
The FLC Jazz Ensemble will perform several McBride arrangements and close with “Getting to It.”
jreynolds@durangoherald.com. Judith Reynolds is a Durango writer, artist and critic.
If you go
The Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College hosts three FLC music events: “From the Four Corners to the Far Corners, Choral Music from Around the World,” 7 p.m. today, $5/$1; “Day of Percussion,” evening concert, featuring Ted Atkatz, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, free; “Jazz Festival,” evening concert, featuring Christian McBride, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, free. For tickets and more information, visit www.fortlewis.edu/music or call Shauna Blaylock at 247-7087.
