MARK AUERBACH
The Five College New Music Festival
On September 11-13, The Five College New Music Festival will present five different concerts: world premieres, music by Five College faculty composers, electro-acoustic works, and pieces by modern masters of the 20th and 21st centuries. In addition, the composition by the winner of the Festival’s nationwide Young Composers’ Competition will be performed with the winner present.
Coordinated by Professors Elizabeth Chang, Salvatore Macchia, and Jeff Cox (UMass Amherst Department of Music and Dance), and Eric Sawyer (Amherst College), the concerts will take place in Bezanson Recital Hall, and all events are free and open to the public. Performers include UMass Music and Five College faculty, advanced graduate and undergraduate students, and several local professional musicians not associated with the Five Colleges.
Bass player Salvatore Macchia is one of the coordinators of the Five Colleges New Music Festival.
Springfield Symphony Orchestra concert-goers may recognize several UMass Music Faculty musicians, who split their time between Amherst and Springfield. double bass Salvatore Macchia, oboeist Fredric T. Cohen, clarinetist Michael Sussman, and pianist Nadine Shank.
Composer David Sanford’s music will be performed at the Five Colleges New Music Festival.
Among the highlights are works composed by Mount Holyoke College faculty musician and composer David Sanford. Director of the contemporary big band The Pittsburgh Collective, composer David Sanford has received commissions from the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Speculum Musicae and the Meridian Arts Ensemble, and performances by the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra under Kent Nagano, the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra under Marin Alsop, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. His honors include the Rome Prize and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, and the Radcliffe Institute.
For details: www.5cnmf.com.
Get Me to The Show Ontime
With anticipated Interstate 91 repairs and traffic jams, plus casino construction in Springfield, and added traffic from Amherst to Hartford, allow yourself plenty of extra time to get to area theatres this fall.
If you’re Amherst-bound for programs at The UMass Fine Arts Center and Department of Music and Dance events at Bezanson Recital Hall, parking after 5 p.m. will still be free on the UMass campus. While one of the smaller lots, #62 opposite Bezanson Recital Hall, now has fewer spaces because of a new building, the parking options are many. In addition to the spaces still available in the current #62 lot, a new #62 lot has been created just north of Franklin Dining Common, off of Thatcher Road, less than a five minute walk to Bezanson. All other lots close to the Fine Arts Center and Bezanson Recital Hall–63, 32, 34 and 71–are available, as always. Accessible parking is available in the current #62 lot, as well as in front of and behind the Fine Arts Center Concert Hall. For details: www.umass.edu/music#parking
The Springfield Symphony Orchestra has made parking arrangements for its ticket holders.
During the upcoming concert season, the SSO will continue offering audiences free, secure concert night parking that is conveniently located to Springfield Symphony Hall. On concert nights, patrons simply present that evening’s ticket stub to the garage attendant as they exit, and there’s no charge to them. According to SSO Marketing Director Ann Rasmussen, “This arrangement is available at all seven downtown SPA (Springfield Parking Authority) garages – The I-91 South Garage (located directly across the street from Springfield Symphony Hall on East Columbus Avenue) is our primary garage”.
Rasmussen also recommends The Springfield BID Valet Service.”On weekends starting this fall, BID will once again offer this service for those coming downtown for an evening. BID has confirmed that this valet service will be in place for all 11 of our 2015-2016 concerts, at the corner of Main & Court Streets (across from the MassMutual Center). Park starting at 5 p.m., retrieve as late as midnight – and for SSO concertgoers, the same process as above applies – simply provide that evening’s ticket stub to the attendant and there’s no charge”.
Rasmussen provided the following links for additional information: . http://www.springfieldsymphony.org/concerts-events/sso-free-secure-concert-night-parking/
http://springfielddowntown.com/whats-happening/parkwithease/
Also in Springfield, CityStage & Symphony Hall offers complimentary parking at the Columbus Center and 91 South garages. For up to date parking information and detours, please visit citystage.symphonyhall.com or springfieldparkingauthority.com.
In Hartford, The Bushnell is surrounded by state office parking lots, which are free after 5 p.m. on weeknights, and on weekends. Bushnell Marketing Director Paul Marte recommends parking once at 5 p.m., and walking to downtown restaurants, and then walking back to The Bushnell. The area streets are well lit. Marte says that street closures and traffic issues are posted to their website, and customers who purchased tickets in advance are emailed. For details: http://www.bushnell.org/content/directions-and-parking
Hartford Stage is adjacent to the MAT Garage at 50 Church Street, and one block from The Church Street Garage (underneath The Hartford Hilton). According to Hartford Stage Marketing Director David Henderson, “Theatregoers receive a $6.50 rate at each location. For extra convenience, they can purchase the $6.50 parking vouchers when they order their tickets or when they arrive at the theatre.”
Keep in Mind…
Same Day Half Price Tickets to selected Berkshires theatre performances are available, subject to availability, at four locations. Stop at Mass MoCA in North Adams, Barrington Stage in Pittsfield, Lenox Visitors Center, or the Triplex in Great Barrington between noon and 4:30 p.m., and pick up some twofers. Cash only at these locations, and the program ends on Sunday, September 6. For details: www.berkshires.org.
Kevin Rhodes Performs at Tokyo Jazz Festival
Kevin Rhodes, Springfield Symphony Orchestra Music Director and Westfield resident, is one of the headliners at the internationally-acclaimed 14th Tokyo Jazz Festival in Japan. On Saturday, September 5, Rhodes conducts the Yokyo Philharmonic in the world premiere of The Piano Concerto by Bob James, featuring Steve Gadd, Carlitos del Puerto, and Kazumi Watanabe. For details on the Tokyo Jazz Festival: http://www.tokyo-jazz.com/
Rhodes, Music Director of The Springfield Symphony Orchestra, conducted the Paris Opera Ballet production of Swan Lake and the Vienna State Opera Ballet production of La Sylphide last Spring. The Springfield Symphony Orchestra 2015-16 season opens on October 3.
Mark G. Auerbach studied theatre at American University and the Yale School of Drama. He’s worked for arts organizations and reported on theatre for newspapers and radio.
