2019-2020 marks the 25th Anniversary season of the Shenson Faculty Concert Series at Community Music Center. This series was established by the Shenson Foundation to support CMC Faculty as performing artists and ensure their work on stage is shared and celebrated in our community. Each year, the Shenson Foundation sponsors four free community concerts for CMC faculty music projects. The faculty members and their ensembles are selected by a committee of musicians from CMC’s Board of Directors. It’s always a pain-staking decision to select four recipients from a pool of talented faculty applicants.
This year’s series celebrates local composers, CMC faculty/staff songwriters and lyricists, excellence in virtuosity, and the power of music to speak amidst difficult political times. The series showcases four faculty concerts that span the genres of classical, Latin, contemporary, Americana, R&B, and experimental musical styles.
Martha Rodríguez-Salazar – Sunday, February 23, 2020 – 4:00 pm
Martha Rodríguez-Salazar (flute faculty, voice faculty, and choir conductor) is presenting ‘It Takes a Village’ with The Bernal Hill Players, which is comprised of Jennifer Peringer, piano; Rachel Condry, clarinet; Annelise Zamula, saxophone; Matylda Rotkiewicz, piano; and Sharon Wayne, guitar. ‘It Takes a Village’ is a concert of duos, trios and quartets by North and South American composers, in diverse styles, including classical, folk, tango, contemporary, and experimental. The emphasis of the program is on multiculturalism, women’s empowerment, and celebrating our vibrant local musical community.
Larry Dunn – Friday, April 10, 2020 – 7:00 pm
Guitar and songwriting faculty member Larry Dunn is putting together a concert celebrating four of CMC’s own singer/songwriters performing their original compositions in folk, country, blues, R&B, and bluegrass styles. They will be performing songs solo (individually) in a round-robin fashion, much like a Nashville singer/songwriter circle. Each artist will play four songs. Expect backstories, anecdotes, and even a bit about the songwriting process as relates to the song an artist performs. In addition to music by Larry Dunn, Erik Pearson, Maestro Curtis, and Anne Carol Mitchell will be performing original music.
Michael Long – Friday, June 19, 2020 – 7:30 pm
Michael Long, violin faculty member, along with guest performers Eiko Mitani, piano and Ben-han Sung, piano will be performing “Music in Times of Resistance.” This classical music concert highlights music written in or about extreme political circumstances and oppression. This program includes composers who not only dealt with dictators and political tumult, but who also used their compositions to confront or address this in some way, such as Poulenc, Shostakovich, and Schulhoff.
Christopher Basso – Sunday, June 21, 2020 – 4:00 pm
Piano faculty member Christopher Basso will be celebrating the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth with “Beethoven and His Influence” which will feature music of Beethoven and others who were directly inspired by him. The first part of the program is all-Beethoven and the second part of the program includes Für Elise and two composers’ take (including a world premiere) on Für Elise. The program concludes with Schubert’s Sonata in C minor, D.958 restating Beethoven’s Variations in C minor on an Original Theme, WoO 80.