BENT INDIGENOUS
Sunday, October 17, 2004 at 7pm
ARTBURST – Unitarian Universalist Church of Birmingham
Get Bent!!! Flutist/composer Donnie Ashworth, clarinetist Christy Banks, and guitarist/composer Rusty Banks go local and modern with a concert of indigenous composers. Specializing in new works for flute, clarinet, guitar, and ambient electronica, Bent Indigenous mixes classical, avant-garde, bluegrass, rock, polka, and free improvisation in a unique fusion of vernacular and cultivated musical traditions.
CONCERT OF NEW MUSIC with guests Allen and Patricia Strange
Tuesday, November 16, 2004 at 7pm
UAB Alys Stephens Center – Reynolds-Kirschbaum Recital Hall
Featured guest artists electronic music pioneer Allen Strange and innovative violinist Patricia Strange present two works on the concert: one work for violin with live real-time processing, and a work incorporating video. Also works by BAMA composers Michael Angell, Robert Boury, Joel Davis, Dawson Hull, Ed Robertson, Robby Simpson, and LaDonna Smith.
ELLEN TWEITEN AND KURT CARPENTER, PIANISTS
Monday, January 17, 2005, 7:30pm
University of Montevallo – LeBaron Recital Hall
Dynamic pianists Tweiten and Carpenter handily execute contemporary music for piano solo, piano 4-hands, 2 pianos, piano and synthesizer, and piano with tape and percussion. Exceptional works by living Alabama composers Michael Angell, Kurt Carpenter, Monroe Golden, Cynthia Miller, and Ed Robertson promise to transport the audience to unique realms of creative sound expression. The program also highlights “Informed Sources,” a classic by George Cacioppo (1926-1984).
NEW MUSIC FOR A YOUNG AUDIENCE
Sunday, February 13, 2005, 2:30pm
Birmingham-Southern College – Hill Recital Hall (free admission)
The Birmingham Art Music Alliance presents an afternoon of New Music written for Young Audiences. Each of the works on this program was written with young listeners and performers in mind, and each of the composers will share their ideas and inspiration before their work is performed. The concert is free, and children of all ages are invited.
BAMA CON BRIO
Monday, February 21, 2005 at 7:30pm
Miles College
The BAMA Players, resident ensemble of the Birmingham Art Music Alliance, will perform works by Alabama composers in a wide range of styles for various combinations of flute, clarinet, cello, mezzo-soprano, piano, and electronics. The program will be repeated in part the following day, Tuesday, Feb. 22, 1pm, at Shelton State Community College in Tuscaloosa.
PAUL BOWMAN, GUITARIST
Monday, March 14, 2005 at 7:30pm
Samford University – Wright Recital Hall
Paul Bowman is an internationally-renowned classical guitarist who specializes in music by living composers. The Birmingham News printed, “The New York-trained German resident performed … with unbridled expression and virtuosity, bounding across the fingerboard with abandon… Bowman showed, as he did all evening, that high performance standards exist as much for new music as for old.” This program of works by Alabama composers will include music by Joe L. Alexander, Rusty Banks, Craig P. First, Monroe Golden, Dorothy Hindman, and Charles Norman Mason.
ARA SAXOPHONE QUARTET
Tuesday, April 12, 2005 at 7:30pm
Birmingham-Southern College – Hill Recital Hall
The Birmingham Art Music Alliance joins The Ara Saxophone Quartet in a concert of new music for saxophone quartet by Alabama composers. The Ara Saxophone Quartet is a young, dynamic ensemble that specializes in new music and performs internationally, and the composers of BAMA have written several new works especially for this concert. The saxophone quartet has a unique sound, ranging from the energy and visceral power of jazz-inspired timbres to a near-orchestral lushness, yet capable of the most serene pianissimos of any chamber ensemble. It is truly an American sound, exploited by today’s most interesting composers. The Ara Saxophone Quartet has won numerous competitions including the National Chamber Division of MTNA, and the Carmel International Chamber Music Competition.
NEW MUSIC AT AN EXHIBITION, Works for Mezzo-Soprano and Piano
Sunday, June 12, 2005 at 2:30pm
Birmingham Museum of Art – Modern and Contemporary Gallery (free admission)
Mezzo-soprano Kathryn Venable and pianist/composer Kurt Carpenter offer a program of solos, duets, and trios by living composers, presented in an intimate gallery setting of modern visual art. Featuring works by Carpenter, Donnie Ashworth, Robert Boury, Monroe Golden, and others.
LUNA NOVA
Tuesday, June 28, 2005 @ 7:30pm
Alabama School of Fine Arts – Hess-Abroms Recital Hall
The resident ensemble of the Associated Colleges of the South will play Oliver Messaien’s Quartet for the End of Time and new music by composers of the Birmingham Art Music Alliance. The concert will be accompanied by computer projections of the scores and attendant materials. Recently formed, Luna Nova is a collection of the finest musicians who are interpreting the music created in our own time.
TOURING AND OUTREACH CONCERTS
Various dates and venues across the southeast US
Performances by the BAMA Players: Donnie Ashworth, Kurt Carpenter, Craig Hultgren, and Kathryn Venable