Dancing ‘Til the Springtime Comes Around
TTU Celtic Ensemble/Elegant Savages Orchestra
This event will be streamed online at https://www.youtube.com/user/ttuschoolofmusic 04.20.15 8pm (-6 GMT).
On Monday, April 20, at 8pm in Hemmle Recital Hall at TTU School of Music, the TTU Vernacular Music Center?, the College of Visual and Performing Arts, The Caprock Celtic Association? and the Roots Music Institute present Dancing ‘Til the Springtime Comes Around: a dance concert with the Elegant Savages Orchestra.
Admission is free. Students, families, and seniors are especially welcome.
TTU Celtic Ensemble
Dr Christopher Smith, director;
Ashley Allen (fiddle), Zac Barron (percussion), Heather Beltz (flute, whistle), Casey Brito (clarinet), Rachel Brown (clarinet), Anthony Cahill (clarinet, whistle), Xavier Degrate (fiddle, voice), Nikit Desai (viola), Rachel Elder (fiddle, dance), Carrie Evans (clarinet, low whistle), Joanna Gatlin (flute), Mark Gurrola (accordion, trumpet, piano), Sean Kennedy (tuba), Kathryn Mann (voice, dance), Marusia Pola Mayorga (cello), Garrett McNutt (viola, mandolin), James Patterson (percussion), Jaclyn Paul (percussion, voice, dance), Jakob Reynolds (fiddle, bouzouki, voice), Abi Rhoades (dance captain), Felicia Rojas (fiddle, voice, dance), Steve Stallings (guitar, voice), Stephanie Streseman (voice, dance), Nathan Thorp (voice), Morgan White (voice, dance), James Wilkinson, (ukulele, voice)
with assistance from: Dr Ben Robinette (voice/saxophone/repetiteur)
website: ttucelticensemble.com
About the Music
In the old agricultural societies of North Europe, the time for music and dancing was, especially, in mid-winter, when the short daylight and long nights of far northern latitudes left little time for farmwork but lots for ceili’ing, singing, playing, and dancing. But after a long winter, with the lambs born around Imbolc (St Bridget’s Day) and the green shoots and leaves of Eastre (named after the Anglo-Saxon goddess), there was still a little time for celebrating, with your neighbors, the Turning of the Year. This concert features chorus songs in English, and simple tunes and dances from England, Appalachian, France, Scotland, and Ireland.
Do sing along, and come down and dance with your friends!
Individual titles will be introduced from the stage
Co-sponsored by the Vernacular Music Center, the School of Music, and the Roots Music Institute (rootsmusicinstitute.com)
About Bassanda and the Elegant Savages Orchestra
Major inspiration for the Orchestra comes from the fictional country of “Bassanda,” a creation of Taos-based musicians and VMC partners Chipper Thompson (chipperthompson.com) and Roger Landes (rogerlandes.com), who for purposes of our January 2014 debut assumed their Bassanda personae (“The Rev” and “The General”) as guest performers. When TTU Theatre & Dance faculty member Nicole Wesley (alias “Bronislava Nijinska”) joined the creative team as choreographer, the die was cast, and we committed to exploring this symphonic approach to a “quasi-modernist” folkloric music and dance. We imagined the fictional “Elegant Savages Orchestra,” in which, as part of an “alternate-history” frame, it’s alleged that a Soviet satellite’s official state ensemble (the “Bassanda National Radio Orchestra”) had mutated, after the fall of Communism, into a free-lance ensemble engaged in a Never-Ending Tour. Correspondence, personal biographies, timelines, galleries, historical & archival commentary at:
www.elegantsavagesorchestra.com;
likewise search Facebook for “Elegant Savages Orchestra”
Special thanks as always to School of Music Director William Ballenger a/k/a “Vilyum Balandjeor”
VMC staff
Media contact: Director Christopher J Smith (christopher.smith@ttu.edu)
Administrative Coordinator: Abi Rhoades (thegoddessreborn@hotmail.com)
Administrative Assistant: Candice Holley (candice.holley@ttu.edu)
Documentarian: Marusia Pola Mayorga (marusia.pola@ttu.edu)
The Vernacular Music Center Scholarship at Texas Tech University
The competitive Vernacular Music Center Scholarship at Texas Tech University provides financial assistance to a student in the College of Visual and Performing Arts (in 2007-08, Ms Lauren Joiner; 2008-09, Ms Kalli Burk; 2009-10, Ms Jillian Schmitt; 2010-11, Ms Bridgette Mireles; 2011-12, Ms Emily Furillo; 2012-13, Mr Ben Robinette; 2013-14, Mr Jakob Reynolds; 2014-15, Mr James Patterson) who is a practitioner of one or more traditional performance idioms. For more information, please be in touch with Dr Christopher Smith at christopher.smith@ttu.edu
The VMC Outreach Scholars Program helps fund young performers of great promise for attendance at workshops, summer camps, and festivals, in order that they may develop teaching skills to share in future with their communities.
To find out more about the Outreach Scholars, and for news & information on VMC events: visit vernacularmusiccenter.org
Can I participate?
Yes! If you are interested in participating in one of the VMC ensembles or partners (Celtic Ensemble, Tzumba World Music, Early Music Ensemble, Irish Set Dancers, Caprock Morris, Americana Ensemble, Balkan Ensemble, Mbira Group, Elegant Savages, Mariachi Los Matadores, or other), feel free to contact their respective directors (see vernacularmusiccenter.com/ensembles.html). Auditions typically occur in the first weeks of each academic semester.
You can donate directly in support of the VMC Scholarship, Outreach Scholars, and Concert Series. Visit Give2Tech.com and search “Celtic Ensemble VMC Gifts” to make an online, tax-deductible donation.
VMC photographer: Dr Tiffany Holmes
tifholmes.com
Social Media Wrangler:
Christopher Hepburn
Brewmasters:
Milhouse Brewing Co.
Websites:
http://ttucelticensemble.com
http://vernacularmusiccenter.org
http://elegantsavagesorchestra.com
Facebook Event at: http://on.fb.me/1CvMLGG