The SOU Woodwind Ensemble will present “Circusmuziek” at the Southern Oregon University Music Recital Hall on Monday, April 25. The concert, presented by the Oregon Center for the Arts at Southern Oregon University, will begin at 7:30 p.m., in-person with a simultaneous live stream on the Oregon Center for the Arts YouTube Channel.

The program will feature contemporary chamber music by the mixed ensemble “Quintet for 7 Reeds,” the clarinet ensemble “Panic in the Practice Room,” and the saxophone quartet “SAXISTENTIAL QUARTET.”

The concert will begin with “Tanguera” from “QuinteTango” by Mariano Mores, arranged by Silvia Coricelli, and “Circusmuziek” by Ton Ter Doest – the concert’s namesake – performed by the Quintet for 7 Reeds. The quintet is made up of oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bass clarinet and bassoon, and will feature SOU alum and current oboe instructor Lorin Groshong, SOU woodwind faculty Rhett Bender, undergraduate music student Jack Boulter and graduate students Randy Nguyen and Travis Muñoz.

The program will also include a performance of “A Real Slow Drag” from “Treemonisha,” written by Scott Joplin and performed by SOU music faculty members Bernadette Keller, Alexander Tutunov and Bender.

Following “Treemonisha” will be “Bagatelle for Clarinets” by Clare Grundman, and selections from “Suite for Clarinets” by T. Stewart Smith, performed by Panic in the Practice Room, which will include undergraduate music students Jack Boulter, Martin Bichinsky, Jackie Lu and Orion Danforth, and graduate student Randy Nguyen.

The concert will conclude with SAXISTENTIAL QUARTET – made up of undergraduate music students Amanda Esser, Jack Kovaleski and Reese Lanier, and graduate student Randy Nguyen – performing “Merry-Go-Round of Life” by Joe Hisaishii and Yudo Yamada, and “Ulla in Africa” by Heiner Wiberny.

A patron commented at a previous concert in February, that “it was the best student wind concert I have heard in 23 years of attending concerts in the SOU Recital Hall.”

About the composers:

“Circusmuiziek” by Dutch composer Ton Ter Doest is composed specifically for the reed quintet. Featuring seven short vignettes that combine the unique sounds of each reed instrument, Doest creates beautiful images in the minds of the audience.

Scott Joplin, the “King of Ragtime,” wrote two operas that were never performed in his lifetime. The score for Joplin’s first opera, “A Guest of Honor,” was lost in 1903, but “Treemonisha” was rediscovered in the 1970s and has since been performed to great acclaim.

Clare Grundman composed scores for film, television, radio and several Broadway productions. He is most known for his compositions and arrangements for symphonic bands, with many of his compositions inspired by folk music from around the world.

Heiner Wiberny is a German jazz saxophonist and flutist. Wiberny first studied romance studies, geography and school music in Cologne, and composition with Bernd Alois Zimmermann and Pavel Blatný.

Joe Hisaishii is best known for his work with animator Hayao Miyazaki, composing music for many of his films. “Merry-Go-Round of Life” was specifically composed for Miyazaki’s film “Howl’s Moving Castle,” with all of the imaginative wonder of the romantic fairy tale.

This will be the last concert the SOU Woodwind Ensembles perform this term. Tickets can be purchased at the OCA Box Office by calling (541) 552-6348 or emailing boxoffice@sou.edu. The OCA Box Office is open Monday through Friday from 3 to 6 p.m. General admission tickets are $10, and $5 for seniors and SOU alumni. SOU faculty, staff, students and members of OLLI receive two free tickets each. OLLI and SOU community members must call or email the OCA Box Office, as purchases cannot be made online. General public tickets can be purchased online at https://sou.universitytickets.com. For more information or to learn about upcoming events please visit oca.sou.edu.

Story by Gray Blair, box office staff for OCA at SOU