MCC to Kick Off Spring 2021 ‘World of Music’ Concert Series

After a successful Fall semester run, Middlesex Community College’s Spring 2021 “A World of Music” will continue virtually throughout the semester. Performances will be recorded live and then streamed online for audiences to watch for free. The concert series will kick off with a performance celebrating Black composers in honor of Black History Month.

"We are looking forward to presenting this concert featuring a great variety of music by Black composers from around the world,” said Carmen Rodriguez-Peralta, MCC’s Chair of the Music Department. “This music deserves to be heard much more often than it is!"

At 7:30 p.m. on Friday, February 26, MCC’s Music department will release “Celebrating Black Composers from Europe, Africa, United States and South America,” recorded live at MCC’s Richard and Nancy Donahue Family Academic Arts Center in Lowell.

Middlesex faculty members will perform, including Todd Brunel on the clarinet and saxophone, Orlando Cela on the flute, Eunghee Cho on the cello, Rodriguez-Peralta on the piano, and Brazil-native Marcus Santos who will conclude the program with a drumming piece.

“My drumming piece features a diverse array of ethnic instruments from Cuba and Brazil,” Santos said. “I think it is important during these times to play this contemporary interpretation of an Afro Brazilian rhythm – that has been played since the 1700s – to represent justice.”

The performance includes a variety of styles from the 1700s to the present time, featuring works by Joseph Bologne (Le Chavalier de Saint Georges), Florence Price, Samuel Coleridge Taylor, “Blind Tom” Wiggins, Bongani Ndodana-Breen and Gerri Allen. There will also be a Jazz Improvisation for saxophone and drums, and Afro Brazilian drumming with a dancer.

More online performances – recorded at locations in both Bedford and Lowell – will take place throughout the semester. The Rasa String Quartet will air at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, March 19; the Lowell Chamber Orchestra: Miniature Universes will air at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 3; an MCC Student Recital will air at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 7; and the Lowell Chamber Orchestra: On the Double will air at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 15.

All events are free. Visit www.middlesex.mass.edu/worldofmusic/ for links to watch each of the recordings or contact Rodriguez-Peralta at peraltac@middlesex.mass.edu or 781-280-3923.

Register for MCC’s Spring Mini-mester II, an accelerated, eight-week session that starts March 29. Visit www.middlesex.mass.edu/registration/ or call 1-800-818-3434 for more information

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