Upcoming Events

Fall 2023

All Music at Colby series events will be held in the new Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts (GCCPA), in the venue listed by each event. Please reserve free seats using the Colby Arts ticketing system.

Chamber Concert
Colby Music Department Faculty
Sat. Sept 30
7:30 p.m.
Performance Hall
(Funded by the Robert J. Strider Concert Fund)

Our opening concert in the Gordon Center features the talented cast of the Music Department faculty in three chamber works. The program includes the North American premiere of Colby assistant professor José Martínez’s Sobres uno Mismo, the world premiere of Visions in Glimpse by Shane Scott Cook, and the magnificent Sextet in C Major by Ernö Dohnányi.

atomic
Noa Even, saxophone
Thur. Oct 12
7:30 p.m.
Studio 1

Noa Even presents atomic, a multimedia program for solo saxophonists that addresses themes of human connection. Premiered in 2019, this long-term collaborative project continues with the addition of Nasim Khorassani’s theatrical work InContact@Zero for baritone saxophone and video. Khorassani explores the many emotional layers of grief after experiencing the untimely death of her beloved brother. The concert also features music by Emily Koh, Chris Biggs, and Assistant Professor of Music at Colby José Martínez.

Beginning of a New Chapter
Colby Symphony Orchestra
Director, Jinwook Park
Sat. Oct 21
7:30 p.m.
Performance Hall

Don’t miss Beginning of a New Chapter, Colby Symphony Orchestra’s first concert in the Gordon Center. This inaugural program presents works spanning four centuries: George Frederick Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks; Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World,” written during the Czech composer’s residence in the United States; Samuel Barber’s colorful and brilliant Violin Concerto with soloist Eunae Koh of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra; and Fanfare, a new composition by Colby’s own Samuel Xue ’24.

The Twenties Roar Again!
The Modernistics
Sun. Oct 29
3:00 p.m.
Performance Hall

Join us for exuberant songs and tap-dance numbers by George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, Irving Berlin, and other master tunesmiths of the 1920s. A joyful and stylish portrait of the era, delivered with a 21st-century groove! Among the many audience favorites are “Blue Skies,” “Fascinating Rhythm,” “I Want To Be Happy,” “Stardust,” and “Let’s Misbehave.” The Modernistics are the acclaimed singing and tap-dancing team of Ted Powers and Pamela Powers, with virtuoso jazz musicians Mark Leighton, guitar; Peter H. Bloom, flute; and Dave Zox, double-bass.

Subtlety and Swing
Colby Jazz Band
Director, Brendon Wilkins
Sat. Nov 4
7:30 p.m.
Performance Hall

The Colby Jazz Band’s debut concert in the Gordon Center will feature two renowned arrangers from the jazz Big Band tradition. “Just Waiting,” a beautiful ballad composed by Melba Liston, will show the finesse and subtlety possible in the Big Band genre. A timeless classic from the Count Basie Orchestra, “Whirlybird” written by Neal Hefti, is sure to be a crowd favorite.

New Era
Colby Wind Ensemble
Director, Brendon Wilkins
Sat. Nov 11
7:30 p.m.
Performance Hall

The Colby Wind Ensemble’s debut concert in the Gordon Center marks the beginning of a new era in the arts at Colby College. This concert will feature one of the winners of the composition contest, Emily Chauhan ’25. William Owens’s exciting work, Silversides (To Answer the Call), brings contrast to the program through its exciting finish.

Canções D’Além Mar
Choirs at Colby
Director, Néviton Barros
Sat. Nov 18
7:30 p.m.
Performance Hall

Choirs at Colby join forces to bring a concert with songs from other lands. Reflecting the diversity of our communities, the program will include songs in Ukrainian, Creole, Mohawk, Portuguese, Tamil, Arabic, Turkish, Chinese, Hebrew, Spanish, Zulu, and the lost language of the Kraos. Featured on the program is Ariel Ramirez’s “Misa Criolla”, performed with the Elqui Ensemble. Members of the Colby Eight will also join in portions of the concert.

Collaboration
Colby Symphony Orchestra
Director, Jinwook Park
Sat. Dec 2
7:30 p.m.
Performance Hall

Our second orchestral concert of the season, Collaboration, features solo percussionist Hayoung Song performing Emmanuel Séjourné’s Concerto for Marimba and String Orchestra (2006), as well as an exciting first-time collaboration with Colby’s Performance, Theater, and Dance Department and the Portland Ballet for Claude Debussy’s dreamy tone poem Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun and Maurice Ravel’s inexorable Boléro. The orchestra will also perform two contemporary works by Colby Assistant Professor of Music José Martínez: Images from Macondo, a sinfonietta based on striking moments in the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, and On the Other Side, which evokes the physical and psychological experiences of undocumented migrants found in a scorching tractor-trailer in a San Antonio parking lot in 2017.

Music in the Museum

All performances begin at noon in the Colby College Museum of Art

David Hyun-su Kim, Fortepiano
Fri. Oct 27

David Hyun-su Kim returns to Colby to present a program of Clara Schumann and Franz Schubert on a mid-19th-century Viennese fortepiano.

Duane Edwards Trio, New and Original Compositions
Fri. Nov 17

Colby Music Instructor Duane Edwards and his ensemble present selections from two solo releases, Time Machine (2019) and Birds (2023), and new compositions, playing improvisatory music in the spirit of jazz with modern takes on rock and Cuban music.

“The Journey,” Piano Trios by Women composers
Tues. March 5
(Funded in part by the Hazel Hoyt Witherell Memorial Concert Fund)

Christina Spurling (piano), Chris Nemeth (violin), and Marisa Solomon (cello) bring a program of piano trios in honor of Women’s History Month, featuring music by Florence Price, Lera Auerbach, and Clara Schumann.

Kamala Sankaram and Brian Shankar Adler, Crescent and Other New Works
Fri. April 12

This concert will present Crescent, a sonic exploration of global temperature data, microplastics, and the other impacts of catastrophic climate change. The program is rounded out with music inspired by philosophical explorations of the human condition as well as music from Sankaram and Shankar’s eclectic surf-noir band Bombay Rickey.

Spring 2024

Ragamala Paintings Alive!
Natraj
Sat. Mar 2
7:30 p.m.
Performance Hall
(Funded by the Ermanno Comparetti Concert Fund)

This collaborative work is a contemporary multimedia interpretation of Ragamala paintings dating from Mughal, India. Composer and musician Phil Scarff initiated the project and recruited Jayshree Bala Rajamani to contribute her choreographic vision and stellar dancing. Scarff composed the music, inspired by the selected paintings and guided by Rajamani’s interpretations. World-jazz group Natraj and Jayshree perform, and together bring these beautiful paintings to life through music, dance, images, spoken word, and special effects.

Orchestral Master Works
Colby Symphony Orchestra
Director, Jinwook Park
Sat. March 16
7:30 p.m.
Performance Hall

Our third program, Orchestral Master Works, presents two enduring Germanic orchestral pieces: Robert Schumann’s Romantic Symphony No. 3, Rhenish, and Carl Maria von Weber’s Overture to Der Freischütz, a magical, mysterious, and folk-inspired showcase of heroic horns and shimmering strings. The program also highlights the orchestra’s principal flutist and Colby Music Associate Nicole Rabata, who will perform Danish composer Carl Nielsen’s Concerto for Flute and Orchestra.

Afro Diasporic traditions of Puerto Rico and Cuba
Los Herederos
April 6
7:30 p.m.
Performance Hall
(Funded by the Freda M. Charles Music Fund)

Los Herederos will present Afro-Diasporic Traditions of Puerto Rico and Cuba. Bomba is Puerto Rico’s oldest Indigenous music that is widely practiced. Bomba is music, song, and dance as well as storytelling that dates back to 400-450 years ago during the days of slavery in the Caribbean region. The ensemble will also perform Afro-Cuban traditions such as Palo, which has deep roots in the Congo/Bantu regions of south-central Africa and is connected to socio-religious practices of Congo’s ancestors, as well as Yoruba Batá drumming and singing. Members of Los Herederos represent Babalawos (high priests of the Yoruba religion) and Omó Añá (priests of the sacred Batá drums).

Looking Forward
Colby Wind Ensemble
Director, Brendon Wilkins
Sat. April 7
5:00 PM
Performance Hall

The Colby Wind Ensemble features two major works in this concert to conclude the academic year. Dream Elegy by Jonathan Bailey Holland is a moving work that was inspired by the #blacklivesmatter movement. Marchad, Hijos del Arte, written by Spanish composer Inma Tinmard, is a tribute to the music students who will embark on a new journey after graduation.

New School
Colby Jazz Band
Director, Brendon Wilkins
Sat. April 13
7:30 p.m.
Performance Hall

The Colby Jazz Band features the works of living composers with this varied selection of compositions. “Point, Counterpoint” by Ellen Rowe is a straight-ahead swing chart that showcases the interactive nature of Big Band jazz. Brett Zvacek’s composition Ocho Ocho is an energetic mambo that connects this style of Cuban dance music with jazz.

My Favorite Things
Colby Collegium
Director, Néviton Barros
Sat. April 20
7:30 p.m.
Performance Hall

The spring Collegium concert is a collaborative project among all its members, with the program selected from the singers’ favorite choral works. Come and enjoy the tributes by the choir members to the special memories from their choral experiences.

Choral Masterwork
Colby Symphony Orchestra
Director, Jinwook Park
Choirs at Colby
Director, Néviton Barros
Sat. May 4 at 7:30 p.m.
Sun. May 5 at 3:00 p.m.
Performance Hall

“O friends, not these tones! Rather let us tune our voices more pleasantly and more joyously.” Our final and jubilant program of the year, Choral Masterwork, is a collaboration among the orchestra, invited vocal soloists, and Colby Choirs to present Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, an epic ode to community and the joy of life. In addition, the concert will celebrate the student winner of the annual Music Department Concerto Competition and will include the overture to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s beloved opera buffa, Le Nozze de Figaro. With its celebratory overtone as well as vibrant combination of ensembles, this concert is part of this year’s Center for the Arts and Humanities theme–Play!