Piano professor Min Kwon of Harding Township, New Jersey, is organizing the New York City concert. She says the idea for a Carnegie Hall concert came about last year, when several of the participants, all artists with accomplished careers outside the classroom, performed Franz Schubert's "Trout" Quintet on campus at Nicholas Music Center.
According to Kwon, it was kismet.
"We were amazed at how easy it was to make music together, even though it was our first time playing together," says Kwon, who made her debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1987. "It felt good, and the performance went so well that we felt like we needed to do it again for a wider audience."
Rutgers faculty performers on October 6, in addition to Kwon of Harding Township (Morris County) on piano, are: Yoon Kwon (Metropolitan Orchestra) on violin, CJ Chang (Philadelphia Orchestra) on viola, Jonathan Spitz (New Jersey Symphony Orchestra) of Tenafly on cello, Timothy Cobb (New York Philharmonic) on bass, Fred Hersch (Guggenheim fellow; 2011 Jazz Pianist of the Year from the Jazz Journalists Association, six Grammy nominations) on jazz piano, and director of jazz studies Conrad Herwig (twice voted No. 1 Jazz Trombone in Downbeat International Jazz Critics' Poll) of Somerset on jazz trombone.
Kwon describes the program as "a fusion of classical and jazz. The first half showcases Latin music in jazz and concert music, with lots of tangos written by Argentinians, such disparate artists as Alberto Ginastera and Carlos Gardel, and written and arranged by American composers like Samuel Barber and John Williams, but also our very own Rutgers composers." Aldridge arranged Schubert's Erlkönig; jazz faculty member Bill O'Connell contributes arrangements to Ginastera's Danza de la moza donosa and Francis Poulenc's Hommage à Edith Piaf.
Look for original compositions Tango Bittersweet, by Hersch, as well as Bossa Nova Variation, by Aldridge.
The participating artists are "in high demand everywhere," Kwon says. "This is why the fact that they are all joining forces to celebrate Mason Gross, in one night, onstage at Carnegie Hall, is very special."
The Classical, Jazz, and Chamber Music Extravaganza is set for 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 6, 2014, at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, 881 Seventh Avenue at 57th Street, New York City. Tickets are $30 for the general public, with discounts available in person at the Carnegie Hall box office for Rutgers alumni, employees, and seniors, and all students with current ID. More information is available by calling 212-247-7800 or by visiting www.carnegiehall.org. The concert is presented by The Douglas and Inyoung Boyd Foundation.
About the Music Department
The Music Department at the Mason Gross School has a faculty of 34 full-time and approximately 70 part-time members. There are approximately 455 students enrolled in its seven degree programs: bachelor of music, bachelor of arts, master of music, master of arts, artist diploma, doctor of philosophy, and doctor of musical arts. The mission of all music degree programs is to develop well-educated professional musicians who have a deep historical and theoretical understanding of all aspects of music. The program provides students with traditional, well-grounded conservatory training while preparing them for the changing world of the arts in the 21st century.
About Mason Gross School of the Arts
Founded in 1976, Mason Gross School of the Arts is the flagship public arts conservatory of New Jersey. Part of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, the school is home to the departments of Dance, Music, Theater, and Visual Arts as well as the Brodsky Center for Innovative Editions, Mason Gross Extension Division, Arts Online, and the Rutgers Center For Digital Filmmaking. Its faculty and alumni rosters include arts professionals recognized nationally and internationally, including Kristin Davis, Calista Flockhart, Avery Brooks, Cleo Mack, William Pope.L, Alice Aycock, Sean Jones, and Cristina Pato. The school's enrollment of 752 undergraduates and 281 graduate students across four departments, combined with a faculty of 219, ensures students the opportunity to work closely with accomplished artists within their fields.
About Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Established in 1766, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is America's eighth oldest institution of higher learning. The Rutgers system educates more than 65,000 students and serves the people of New Jersey at universities, research centers, and clinical practices throughout the state. The flagship, Rutgers University–New Brunswick, is one of the nation's premier public research universities and is the only public institution in New Jersey represented in the prestigious Association of American Universities. Rutgers University is also a member of the Big Ten Conference and its academic counterpart, the Committee on Institutional Cooperation—a consortium of 15 world-class research universities.
