Bowling Green State University's College of Musical Arts is already outstanding in its Wood County field for the quality of education and student/faculty performances it presents for the region.
Still, maintaining a position at the cutting edge of the academic music world also requires bringing in outside talent, the better to inspire. Such is the thinking behind the BGSU Festival Series, which offers town and gown direct contact with innovators and top talent from around the country.
The 2011-2012 season, just announced as the college year gets under way, reveals the shape of concerts to come in Kobacker Hall of the Moore Musical Arts Center. Think fusion, innovation, and exploration and you have the idea.
All concerts begin at 8 p.m., with free lectures for ticket holders starting at 7:15 p.m. in Bryan Recital Hall, adjacent to Kobacker.
Opening the series on Sept. 23, the Turtle Island String Quartet, winner of several Grammy Awards, will bring its exciting mix of jazz, popular, folk, and classical styles to town. Members David Balakrishnan, Mark Summer, Mads Tolling, and Jeremy Kittel will perform works from their recent album, "Have You Ever Been?," and perhaps offer a few surprise numbers too at the 8 p.m. performance. A Turtle Island concert can encompass world music, rock, jazz, and bluegrass.
Back by popular demand for a Nov. 19 concert will be the New York Voices. Already a fixture of summer sessions at BGSU, this tight vocal group also has Grammy Awards to its credit. The Voices perform with the Boston Pops and artists including Bobby McFerrin and Nancy Wilson. Their repertoire comprises jazz, pop standards, rhythm and blues, classical, and Brazilian styles.
The New Year will bring a super-splashy concert on Jan. 19 by the combined forces of the Toledo Symphony and the BGSU Wind Symphony plus the award-winning Glassmen Drum and Bugle Corps.
Resident conductor Jeffrey Pollock will conduct John Corigliano's "Circus Maximus," the "Spartacus" Ballet Suite by Aram Khachaturian; Hector Berlioz's Roman Carnival Overture, and "The Pines of Rome" by Ottorino Respighi.
Fans of From the Top, the National Public Radio broadcast series that introduces the country's most promising young musicians, will be cheered to learn that Christopher O'Riley, program host and go-to accompanist, will be in town for a Feb. 11 concert. A respected performer in his own right, O'Riley performs with top orchestras and broke new ground with a recording of his transcriptions of music by Radiohead.
The final program, on March 28, will give free rein to Jacqueline Leclair, a faculty oboe instructor, a leader of the BGSU MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music, and an in-demand performer worldwide.
Leclair's group, Alarm Will Sound, a 20-member band committed to innovative music, will present a concert of cutting-edge music derived from composers from Johann Sebastian Bach to Frank Zappa.
Season tickets are now on sale and range from $60-$138. Single and group tickets will be available Sept. 16 for Turtle Island String Quartet and Sept. 26 for the remaining series performances. Parking is free in lots C, 16, 1, and 18. For more information, contact the box office, open noon-6 p.m. weekdays at 419-372-8171 or 800-589-2224.
Contact Sally Vallongo at: svallongo@theblade.com
First Published September 1, 2011, 4:15 a.m.
