KEARNEY – The upcoming New Music Festival at the University of Nebraska at Kearney features Omaha-based classical soprano Amanda DeBoer Bartlett and the music of 30 composers from across the globe.
The annual event, scheduled for Friday and Saturday inside the Fine Arts Building at UNK, includes four concerts, two presentations and countless opportunities to connect with today’s leading composers. Ten UNK students and nine faculty members will also perform throughout the weekend, and there are six guest performers.
The entire event is free and open to the public.
The featured concert with DeBoer Bartlett is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday in UNK’s Fine Arts Recital Hall.
Along with her solo work, DeBoer Bartlett is a member of the Chicago-based Ensemble Dal Niente, Hasco Duo and the Quince Contemporary Vocal Ensemble. She is also founder and director of Omaha Under the Radar, a three-day contemporary music, dance and art festival held in July.
“We are very excited to have Amanda return to UNK to speak and perform,” said Anthony Donofrio, an assistant professor of composition and theory at UNK and New Music Festival organizer.
An Omaha native, DeBoer Bartlett earned a Bachelor of Music degree from DePaul University in Chicago, master’s degree from the University of Buffalo in New York, where she studied with acclaimed contemporary interpreter Tony Arnold, and Doctorate of Musical Arts from Bowling Green State University in Ohio.
She will discuss the Tau Beta Sigma Women in Music Speaker Series at 5 p.m. Friday in the Fine Arts Building, Room 264. A Composer Conversations event will be hosted 11 a.m. Saturday in Room 219 inside the Fine Arts Building.
Three more concerts, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday and 1 and 4 p.m. Saturday, will also be hosted in UNK’s Fine Arts Recital Hall.
The New Music Festival, founded in 2002, is an annual celebration of contemporary and experimental music featuring UNK faculty and students and guest performers from around the world.
7:30 p.m. Friday
UNK Faculty Performers
Robert Benton, euphonium
Anthony Donofrio, marimba
Aaron Hynds, tuba
Sharon O’Connell Campbell, mezzo-soprano
Guest Performers
Erin Beave, Hastings High School band director, trumpet
Rick Puzzo, Chadron State College, marimba
Greg Simon, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, trumpet
Michael Stephens, Chadron State College, soprano saxophone
1 p.m. Saturday
UNK Student Performer
Kearney – Alexandra Lieb, cello
UNK Faculty Performers
Sharon O’Connell Campbell, mezzo-soprano
Ruth Moore, piano
Eunkyung Son, cello
Guest Performers
Yoo-Jung Chang, Quad City Symphony Orchestra and Grinnell College, cello
Evan C. Moore and Sam Thompson, Ball State University, percussion
4 p.m. Saturday
UNK Student Performers
Blair – Blaine Fisher, trumpet
Grand Island – Thomas Prentice, piano
Gretna – Cal Switzer, trombone
Kearney – Aaron Woolley, horn
Lexington – Alyssa Olsen, baritone saxophone
Colorado Springs, Colorado – Aidan Bentley
Natoma, Kansas – Terran Homburg
Pella, Iowa – Erin Van Hal, flute
Japan – Yuma Oishi, tuba
UNK Faculty Performers
Tim Farrell, trumpet
Brian Alber, clarinet
Duane Bierman, percussion
Featured Composers
DeBoer Bartlett, Michael Boyd, Maxime Daigneault, Marti Epstein, Jon Fielder, Benjamin Fuhrman, Fredrick Gifford, Anthony Green, Sean Harold, Tom Izzo, Stephen Jackson, Amelia Kaplan, Alison Knowles, Panayiotis Kokoras, Steven Landis, Steven Lilly, Caroline Mallonee, Jessie Marino, Douglas McCausland, Patrick McGraw, Tawnie Olson, Joo Won Park, Lori Reckling, Justin Rito, Jamie Leigh Sampson, Joe Sferra, Greg Simon, Michael Stephens, Peter Stevens and Emma Wilde.
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Writer: Tyler Ellyson, writing specialist, UNK News, 308.865.8529, ellysontd@unk.edu
Source: Anthony Donofrio, assistant professor of composition and theory, 308.865.8632, donofrioaj@unk.edu
Amanda DeBoer Bartlett is a very beautiful and talented singer.
I plan to see her on November 8th in Chicago with Ensemble Dal Niente at DePaul University.
Celebrating the opening of DePaul School of Music’s new buildings and concert hall renovations.