A Season to Celebrate for the School of Music, Theatre and Dance

The 2017–18 performance season is our first as Oakland University’s newly established School of Music, Theatre and Dance
(SMTD). “The creation of the school acknowledges the continual growth
of our programs in stature, reputation and the level of influence in the
region, state, nation and beyond,” said Jackie Wiggins, director of
SMTD. “We have designated this our SMTD celebration year and we invite
you to join the celebration.”

We have earmarked seven events to be part of the SMTD Celebration Series, and we joyfully launch the festivities with the world-renowned American Brass Quintet
on September 24, the first concert of the Chamber Music Society of
Detroit at Oakland series. On October 11 see Woody Allen’s musical Bullets Over Broadway, our opening mainstage theatre show. On November 30 the Oakland Dance Theatre and the Oakland Repertory Company will perform works choreographed by faculty and guest artists. Don’t miss the romantic comic opera Martha on January 11. On February 14 we offer an evening of jazz with artist-in-residence Regina Carter and pianist Xavier Davis. The award-winning OU Brass Band takes center stage along with guest musicians Mountain Town Brass on March 23. The Series ends with a special celebration at Orchestra Hall in Detroit, as the Oakland Symphony Orchestra and Oakland University Symphony Chorus
perform Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in that great hall on April 11. This
Music, Theatre and Dance Celebration Series is presented by Oakland
University Credit Union.

In addition to these highlights, we have
our usual wide range of performances by students, faculty and guest
artists, and something a little more unusual to open the season. For
five days Varner Hall will host “World Without Ice,” an
art installation featuring music, including ice domes suspended over
drums, and a film which incorporates the photographs of renowned climate
scientist Henry Pollack. There will also be an opening
lecture on September 5 and a closing concert on September 9. The event
is jointly sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences; The Judd
Family Endowed Fund; School of Music, Theatre and Dance; Department of
English and the American Studies Concentration.

The Oakland Symphony Orchestra,
Oakland University’s resident orchestra, has two concerts in the fall,
October 1 and November 5. First founded in 1976, the orchestra continues
to provide southeast Michigan with excellent performances of the finest
symphonic repertoire. The October concert will include Violin Concerto in D minor by Jean Sibelius with guest soloist Yevgeny Kutik, known for his “dark-hued tone and razor-sharp technique” (The New York Times).

The University Chorus and Oakland Chorale
enjoyed a truly amazing and very successful European tour this summer.
Their fall concerts are on November 17 and November 18, off-campus at St
Irenaeus Catholic Church.

Other highlights of the fall music program include Detroit-based Rela Percussion, which is unlike any quartet working in music today. Ensemble members Thom Monks, Mike List, Drew Parent, and OU alumnus and faculty member Patrick Fitzgibbon
are dedicated to exploring the styles and textures of every percussion
instrument. They perform an eclectic blend of classical, world, jazz and
electronic music. Rela will be in concert on September 22.

On October 3 the Oakland University Chamber Orchestra will open its season with two distinguished guest soloists. The Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s assistant principal flutist Sharon Sparrow will join them to premiere Concerto for Flute, Guitar and Strings by OU faculty member Terry Herald; and harpist Kerstin Allvin will be featured in Lyra Angelica for Harp and Strings by William Alwyn.

The World Music Concert on December 8 will also feature a guest, Chinelo Amen-Ra,
who has devoted his life to performing, studying and teaching the
rhythms of the African Diaspora. Playing with Chinelo will be Oakland’s
student ensembles Akwaaba African Ensemble, Ngoma World Percussion Ensemble, and Pan-Jumbies Steel Band as they present a program of music from West Africa and the Caribbean.

The professional work of our faculty will be part of our performance season. Composition faculty member Ben Furhman and Michigan-based composers Lyn Goeringer from Michigan State University, Jon Anderson from Wayne State University and Jay Batzner from Central Michigan University will present a Composers Concert of new and exciting works exploring the world of electroacoustic music on October 18.

Piano faculty member Tian Tian will perform as part of a Piano Concerto Ensemble on September 14, along with Loyola University Assistant Professor Brian Hsu and Jeannette Fang,
a member of the Garth Newel Quartet. The trio will perform works
written for two pianos by Lutoslawski, Rachmaninoff and others.

On October 9 Associate Professor of Music Kenneth Kroesche will give a faculty euphonium recital that will feature the premiere performance of Flow for Solo Euphonium & Electroacoustics by Benjamin Taylor.

And on October 27 tenor Drake Dantzler and pianist Victoria Shively will present an evening of art song by contemporary composers.

The
fall theatre season offers two main stage shows which could not be more
different in the challenges they present our students and the
entertainment they offer our audiences. Bullets Over Broadway
will have eleven performances between October 5 and October 15, with a
special SMTD Celebration Series performance on October 11. The musical,
which is based on Woody Allen’s Academy Award-nominated film, centers on
the creation of a new Broadway show. David, a young playwright in
desperate need of financial backing for the show, accepts the aid of a
mobster looking to please his showgirl girlfriend. It’s an offer David
can’t refuse. Audiences can expect big laughs, colorful characters and
the songs that made the 1920s roar.

Between November 9 and November 19, there will be nine performances of Marcus: Or the Secret of Sweet,
by Tarell Alvin McCraney, chair of playwriting at Yale School of Drama
and winner of the 2016 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the
movie Moonlight. The funeral of his best friend’s father
awakens in 16-year-old Marcus a need to know more about his own dead
father, and about himself. His journey of self-discovery is engaging,
sometimes provocative, and often humorous. The play has mature language
and subject matter.

Other theatre highlights this fall include three second stage productions: Animal Farm on November 13, 14 and 15; See Rock City & Other Destinations on November 27 and 28; and Island Song, on December 4 and 5.

Between November 30 and December 2, Oakland Dance Theatre and OU Repertory Dance Company
will give four performances of their annual showcase featuring works
choreographed by OU dance faculty, as well as guest artists Darby Wilde,
Lauren Edson and Shaun Boyle, along with a combined Eisenhower Dance
and Repertory Dance Company work by alumna Stephanie Pizzo. The November
30 performance is part of the SMTD Celebration Series.

Eisenhower Dance will also appear as guest artists in their always popular season opener On The Move, with performances on October 21 and October 22.

Details about all the SMTD Celebration Series events, and all our other performances, are available in the season brochure, online on the OU website, and in the events section of the MTD Facebook page.