Slosberg Music Center / Brandeis University

11/30/2023

Tomorrow!

The Brandeis Department of Music is thrilled to announce that reservations are now available to attend either/both a masterclass and discussion (talk and Q&A) with the sensational Midori. Midori is the 2023 recipient of the Brandeis Creative Arts Award.

Among Midori's many accolades, she was appointed a UN Messenger of Peace in 2007; elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2012; and was a 2021 Kennedy Center Honoree. A child prodigy, she made her debut with the New York Philharmonic in 1982 at age 11 and made the front page of the New York Times in 1986 (then age 15) for her performance at Tanglewood with Leonard Bernstein.

She'll be giving a masterclass to a few lucky Brandeis violin students! The talk/Q&A will take place afterwards.

The event will take place in Rapaporte Treasure Hall at the Farber Library, Brandeis University on Friday, December 1, 2023. The masterclass will be from Noon-1:30pm and the discussion will take place from 2pm-3pm. SEPARATE reservations are required through Eventbrite (links below). Seating is limited. Tickets are free.

Link for Masterclass tickets:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/masterclass-with-world-renowned-violinist-midori-tickets-755627711827?aff=oddtdtcreator

Link for Discussion/Talk/Q&A tickets:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/discussion-with-world-renowned-violinist-midori-tickets-759034100427?aff=oddtdtcreator

11/21/2023

Congratulations to the Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra and the choruses of Brandeis, Wellesley, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute for an amazing and completely sold-out 20th Anniversary Concert!

11/20/2023

The Brandeis Department of Music is thrilled to announce that reservations are now available to attend either/both a masterclass and discussion (talk and Q&A) with the sensational Midori. Midori is the 2023 recipient of the Brandeis Creative Arts Award.

Among Midori's many accolades, she was appointed a UN Messenger of Peace in 2007; elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2012; and was a 2021 Kennedy Center Honoree. A child prodigy, she made her debut with the New York Philharmonic in 1982 at age 11 and made the front page of the New York Times in 1986 (then age 15) for her performance at Tanglewood with Leonard Bernstein.

She'll be giving a masterclass to a few lucky Brandeis violin students! The talk/Q&A will take place afterwards.

The event will take place in Rapaporte Treasure Hall at the Farber Library, Brandeis University on Friday, December 1, 2023. The masterclass will be from Noon-1:30pm and the discussion will take place from 2pm-3pm. SEPARATE reservations are required through Eventbrite (links below). Seating is limited. Tickets are free.

Link for Masterclass tickets:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/masterclass-with-world-renowned-violinist-midori-tickets-755627711827?aff=oddtdtcreator

Link for Discussion/Talk/Q&A tickets:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/discussion-with-world-renowned-violinist-midori-tickets-759034100427?aff=oddtdtcreator

11/17/2023

11/17/2023

Slosberg Music Center will be closed from 5pm on Wednesday, Nov 22 thru Saturday, Nov 25 for Thanksgiving. We will resume normal hours when we open at noon on Sunday 11/26.

11/09/2023

The LSQ Music at Mandel performance has officially been rescheduled! New performance date is next week Wednesday, Nov 15 at Noon in the Atrium at the Mandel Center for the Humanities.

But first! Be sure to come to their Fall 2023 performance this Saturday, Nov 11, at 7:30pm in Slosberg! Featuring works by Zhou Long, Henri Lazarof, and the Brahms Piano Quintet in F minor, op 34, with pianist Lois Shapiro! Reserve tickets below!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lydian-string-quartet-fall-2023-tickets-695529376087?aff=oddtdtcreator

11/08/2023

Join us this Tuesday for a conversation about the intersections of neurology and music with Dr. Philip Pearl, Directory of Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology at Boston Children's Hospital & William G. Lennox Chair and Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Pearl will draw upon his research and experiences as both a musician and neurologist for an illuminating talk on his career journey, cerebral processing of music, and a case study of the uncinate seizures of George Gershwin. This talk is generously supported by UDR Collaborative Grant funding. 11/14/23, 6pm, Slosberg Recital Hall

11/08/2023

The LSQ regrettably needs to postpone their Music at Mandel performance today. Stay tuned for a new date!

11/07/2023

Please join the the Lydian String Quartet as they give a concert in the atrium of the Mandel Center for the Humanities tomorrow, November 8, at Noon. Pieces include Zhou Long's "Song of the Ch'in"; Henri Lazarof's String Quartet No. 11 "Remembrances"; and String Quartet "And Antigone Needed To Do Something With Her Hands And She Did It" by Walter W. Naumburg Professor of Composition, David Rakowski. Admission is free!

11/07/2023

It's the 20th Anniversary Season of the Brandeis Wellesley Orchestra and we're celebrating with music of Adolphus Hailstork and Beethoven's iconic Symphony No. 9! Featuring a chorus of 170 from Brandeis, Wellesley and the Worcester Polytechnic Institute! With soloists Deborah Selig, Stephanie Kacoyanis, Matt Anderson and Daniel Brevik. Reserve your tickets for the Brandeis Performance here!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/brandeis-wellesley-orchestras-20th-anniversary-beethoven-9-tickets-705501432777?aff=oddtdtcreator

11/02/2023

Today! Brandeis alum (PhD, composition, 2013) Peter Van Zandt Lane will be giving a colloquium today, Thursday, Nov 2, at 4pm in Slosberg Room 212. The title of his talk is "Composing with/for/about/against technology." Peter is Associate Professor of Composition at the University of Georgia. Free and open to the public!

11/01/2023

Brandon Qi (MFA, composition, '24) is giving an organ recital on the Noack Tracker Organ in the Slosberg Recital Hall! Sunday, November 12, 2023 at 3pm. Free Admission. Music by Bach, Brahms, Couperin, and new music by Brandeis composers. Be there!

10/27/2023

Tonight at 7:30pm in the Recital Hall at Slosberg Music Center! Associate Professor of the Practice of Music and violinist with the Lydian String Quartet Julia Glenn in concert with guest pianist, Mika Sasaki! Featuring works by Irving G. Fine Professor of Music and Dept Chair Eric Chasalow (East coast work premiere), Lera Auerbach, Grieg, Messiaen, Enescu, and a world premiere of a work written just forJulia by Lydia Winsor Brindamour. Reserve your tickets at link below!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/julia-glenn-and-mika-sasaki-folk-tales-and-fantasies-tickets-717176874337?aff=oddtdtcreator

10/25/2023

Congratulations to our amazing ensemble-in-residence, the Lydian String Quartet, on their pop-up concert in the lobby of Brandeis Univ-Spingold Theater. In addition to the Mozart Quartet in E-flat, it was a thrill to hear “And Antigone needed to do something with her hands and she did it," a composition by David Rakowski, Walter W. Naumburg Professor of Composition at Brandeis. The LSQ Fall 2023 concert will be on Sat, Nov 11, 2023 at Slosberg Music Center. Reserve your tickets today!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lydian-string-quartet-fall-2023-tickets-695529376087?aff=oddtdtcreator

10/13/2023

We are thrilled to welcome Michèle Duguay next week Friday to offer our first musicology colloquium of the academic year. The title of her talk is "Sonic Intimacy and White Femininity in Taylor Swift's Folklore." Free and open to the public! Rm 234 at Slosberg Music Center.

10/10/2023

Seniors: Fall applications for the Fisher Explorer Grants are due this Sunday, October 15! Have a project you're working on or always wanted to start? Check out the grants on the URCC website for more details! 🎻🎨

10/09/2023

Our latest Lydian concert review! - “the performances were outstanding.”

The Irving Fine Tribute Concert took place at Slosberg Music Center on Sunday night as half a program; the participation of a wind contingent from the Chameleon Arts Ensemble had to be cancelled because of illness, leaving only the top-rated Lydian String Quartet.

10/06/2023

Coming up: On 10/17 the Music UDRs are hosting a panel titled Surviving Dreams, Living Trauma, featuring presentations by Brandeis musicology and anthropology PhD students Marie Comuzzo, Anna Valcour, and Kalie Jamieson. Their works are unified by detrimental influences that young performers – instrumentalists, opera singers, and ballet dancers – may face during their training and throughout their careers, commenting specifically on gender and q***r stigmatization, financial exploitation, reinforcement of harmful values, and pressures on ideal body shapes. Join us to learn about these complex topics and engage with graduate student research.

10/05/2023

Today! We are excited to welcome Prof. Patricia Alessandrini of Stanford University to offer our first Composition Colloquium of the year.

10/03/2023

Announcing our 2023-2024 Musicology Colloquia Series!

Michèle Diguay, Harvard University
October 20, 2023 at 2:30pm

Jim Sykes, University of Pennsylvania
December 7, 2023 at 4:30pm

Andrea Moore, Smith College
February 8, 2024 at 4:30pm

Susan Youens, University of Notre Dame
March 21, 2024 at 4:30pm

10/02/2023

We celebrated faculty composer David Rakowski’s 65th birthday yesterday with an incredible performance by Collage New Music of works by Rakowski and his students! Of course, no birthday is complete without a cake with the birthday boy's face on it. Happy Birthday, Davy!

09/30/2023

Next Saturday, October 7th at 7:30pm: The Brandeis Music Department's Annual Irving Fine tribute concert presents Two for Four, Three for Five: chamber works by Irving Fine, David Rakowski, and Harold Shapero. With the Lydian String Quartet and Chameleon Arts Ensemble! Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/brandeis-university-department-of-music-66040529213

09/29/2023

Updated building hours for Fall 2023:

Sunday: 12-8pm
Monday: 8am-10:30pm
Tuesday: 8am-10:30pm
Wednesday: 8am-10:30pm
Thursday: 8am-10:30pm
Friday: 8am-9pm
Saturday: 10am-8pm

09/29/2023

Today's Lydian Lunch concert has been postponed due to illness. Stay tuned for the rescheduled date, and don't forget to get your tickets for the Lydian Quartet's Fall concert, featuring works by Zhou Long, Henri Lazarof, and Johannes Brahms! November 11th at 7:30pm. Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lydian-string-quartet-fall-2023-tickets-695529376087?aff=oddtdtcreator

09/28/2023

Join the Lydian String Quartet for a lunchtime concert tomorrow (Friday) at noon at the Shapiro Science Center!

09/27/2023

The 2023-24 Music Colloquium Series kicks off next Thursday, October 5th with Patricia Alessandrini, composer and Assistant Professor at Stanford University! Patricia Alessandrini is a composer/sound artist, educator and researcher actively engaging with notions of canonicity, representation, interpretation, perception and memory, often in a social and political context, through work which is for the most part interactive and/or intermedial. She performs research on embodied interaction - including instrument design for inclusive performance - as well as on digitally-mediated performance and computer-assisted composition.

09/24/2023

Next Sunday, October 1st: Join the Department of Music at Brandeis University in celebrating David Rakowski’s 65th birthday with an afternoon of lively music, food, and good company. David Rakowski, an eminent composer and a beloved teacher, will be featured in a birthday concert that includes his chamber works “Dream Logic” and “Thickly Settled”, plus “Secondary Dominance” from his famous 100 piano études collection. Also on the program are ten new études written by his colleagues and several former students in honor of his distinguished career and teaching. This program is to be performed by Collage New Music, conducted by David Hoose. Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/brandeis-university-department-of-music-66040529213

09/15/2023

Coming up next Friday, September 22nd: Contemporary music stars Quattro Mani play masterworks of the 20th and 21st centuries, including a premiere by Brandeis faculty composer Eric Chasalow! Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/brandeis-university-department-of-music-66040529213

08/31/2023

The Lydian Quartet serenaded students with a little Mozart in the lobby this afternoon - what's on your back to school playlist?

08/30/2023

Fall semester hours start tomorrow!

08/23/2023

Ensemble auditions for Fall '23 begin in just a few days! Visit https://www.brandeis.edu/music/ensembles/auditions to learn more about auditioning for one of our many ensembles!

08/01/2023

The Boston Chamber Music Society's new recording features our very own David Rakowski's Entre Nous, for oboe and string quartet! Commissioned by BCMS in 2016 and premiered in 2017, Entre Nous was performed and recorded in Jordan Hall in February 2023 with partial support from a Norman Fund grant for faculty scholarship. The recording is available for streaming or download on Amazon, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Spotify. The physical CD may be purchased from Boston Chamber Music Society. More info: https://www.musicalamerica.com/news/newsstory.cfm?archived=0&storyID=53390&categoryID=5

07/27/2023

For generations humans have relied on our capacity to sense in sound to navigate, understand, observe, attend, learn, commune, and to be moved. What is listening? Who listens? How have humans used it, understood it, and communicated about it? What powers does listening hold and what might it yield? Find out more this fall in MUS 136a.

07/24/2023

Registration is open for the fall! Join MUS 113 Intro to Conducting taught by Prof. Rob Duff and by the end of the semester you're guaranteed to be a better conductor than French composer Jean-Baptiste Lully!

06/22/2023

Congratulations to Ezzie Stone ('23), whose piece "Song of the Storm" was just awarded Grand Prize for Composition in the World Classical Music Awards!

"This piece, 'Song of the Storm' , was originally written for the Lydian String Quartet as part of their Fall 2022 New Music concert. The roots of the piece date back about 10 years to an idea I had when I was bored in freshman math. I developed it over the years and assembled the various parts with the help of David Rakowski. The piece tells the story of a great storm like the one from the story of Noah or from the Epic of Gilgamesh. My primary influences behind this piece were "The Prophet's Song" by Queen (Brian May), "Theme from Schindler's List" by John Williams, and the Sarabande from Handel's Keyboard Suite No. 4 (HWV 437). Other influences include Ennio Morricone, Bernard Herman, and Andrew Lloyd Webber." -Ezzie Stone

06/15/2023

Congratulations to the winner of the 2023 Henri Lazarof International Commission Prize, Njabulo Phungula! Now in its fourth year, the prize is awarded by Brandeis University and honors the late classical composer Henri Lazarof, MFA’59. Phungula's commissioned work will receive a world premiere at Brandeis University's Slosberg Recital Hall on Sunday, May 5, 2024. Learn more: https://www.brandeis.edu/lazarof/commission/2023.html

05/31/2023

Congratulations to Musicology PhD students Anna Valcour and Marie Comuzzo who will be presenting a panel this fall at the annual The Society for Ethnomusicology meeting in Ottawa! Their panel, titled "Surviving Dreams, Living Trauma: The Invisible Barriers That Stand Between Performers and Their Success," is sponsored by the SEM Section on the Status of Women and will explore the multifaceted layers of trauma that artists endure in the early stages of their careers in classical music and dance.

05/17/2023

Thanks to everyone who came out for last night’s Lydian String Quartet concert!

05/17/2023

We all need a break now and then - Slosberg will be closed from this Saturday, 5/20, through Sunday, 6/4, but staff will be available remotely. Email [email protected] for assistance during this time!

05/16/2023

Tonight! The Lyds return for a performance of Mozart's String Quartet in E-flat major K. 428 (one of six quartets dedicated to Haydn); the world premiere of LSQ Commission Prizewinner Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon's Alebrijes, infused with the spirit of Mexican dance; and F***y Mendelssohn's dazzling String Quartet in E flat major. The program will be preceded by a pre-concert talk at 7pm with Zohn-Muldoon. Tickets: brandeis.edu/tickets