By TYLER ELLYSON
UNK Communications
KEARNEY – Aaron Hynds is more than the audio guy for University of Nebraska at Kearney theatrical productions and concerts.
He’s also a talented musician and composer.
Hynds, a sound production coordinator in the department of music, theatre and dance, is the featured performer for this year’s UNK New Music Festival, scheduled for Friday (March 8) and Saturday (March 9) in the Fine Arts Recital Hall on campus.
“I’m very excited to have Aaron on the festival,” said Anthony Donofrio, an assistant professor of composition and theory and organizer of the UNK event. “He is a tireless promoter of contemporary music for tuba, as well as a scholar in contemporary performance techniques.”
Hynds will perform new music for the tuba, bass trombone and electronics during a concert 7:30 p.m. Saturday that also includes the world premiere of a piece composed by UNK junior Reiley Hillman, a music major and sound recording technology minor from Grand Island. Hillman’s piece is titled “Unfamiliar Ceilings.”
“Reiley has been studying composition with me for two years, and ‘Unfamiliar Ceilings’ is her most experimental and detailed piece thus far. Her craft and artistic imagination have greatly improved over the course of the school year,” Donofrio said. “We’ve been working on this piece for quite a while, and I’m excited to finally hear it come to life.”
Hynds, an audio engineer who supervises UNK’s sound recording technology minor, focuses on “exploring the numerous connections between the analog and digital realms” as a musician, so his work often includes electronic components. He’s been a featured performer on the tuba since 2007, appearing at Omaha Under the Radar, the International Summer Course for New Music in Darmstadt, Germany, Null Point music series in Buffalo, New York, Constellation in Chicago and New Music Gatherings in Baltimore and Bowling Green, Ohio.
Hynds earned Bachelor of Arts and Master of Music degrees from the University of Northern Iowa and University of Wisconsin-Madison, respectively, and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in contemporary music through Bowling Green State University.
UNK’s New Music Festival, an annual celebration of contemporary and experimental music, includes four concerts over two days featuring 29 composers, 18 UNK student, faculty and staff performers and five guest performers. All concerts are free and open to the public and will be livestreamed at www.unk.edu/academics/music/performing-art-live-stream-events.php
Other concert times are 7:30 p.m. Friday, 1 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Saturday, all in UNK’s Fine Arts Recital Hall. A “Composer Conversations” event is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday in the Fine Arts Building Room 219.
In addition to Hynds, the New Music Festival will showcase the UNK Brass Quintet (1 p.m. Saturday) and UNK New Music Ensemble (4 p.m. Saturday), as well as a piece composed by Donofrio titled “Interfere” (7:30 p.m. Friday).
Guest performers are Erin Cameron, clarinet and bass clarinet; Christopher DeLouis, alto saxophone; West Fox, percussion; Thomas Dempster, bassoon; and Isaac Pyatt, percussion.
UNK NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL
Fine Arts Recital Hall
All concerts are free and open to the public
7:30 p.m. Friday (March 8)
UNK Faculty/Staff Performers
Anthony Donofrio, percussion
Aaron Hynds, electronics
UNK Student Performers (listed by hometown)
Blair – Samuel Rosenau, percussion
Marian, Kansas – Terran Homburg, mezzo-soprano
Omaha – Miranda Niemeier, alto saxophone
Guest Performers and Composers
Erin Cameron, clarinet, bass clarinet
Christopher DeLouis, alto saxophone
Per Bloland
Alex Jacobsen
Aaron Israel Levin
Cara Haxo
Vera Ivanova
Jean-Patrick Besingrand
1 p.m. Saturday (March 9)
UNK Faculty Performers
Duane Bierman, marimba
Alison Gaines, double bass
Tim Farrell, trumpet
UNK Student Performers (listed by hometown)
Blair – Blaine Fisher, trumpet
Gretna – Cal Switzer, trombone
North Platte – Joshua Lindenberger, horn
Shizuoka, Japan – Yuma Oishi, tuba
Guest Performers and Composers
Thomas Dempster, bassoon
Ania Sundstrom
Lisa Neher
Charles VanTassel
John Mietus
Madeleine Moran
Alan Ahued Naime
4 p.m. Saturday (March 9)
UNK Student Performers (listed by hometown)
Blair – Blaine Fisher, trumpet
Blair – Samuel Rosenau, percussion
Bogota, Colombia – Carlos Vargas, guitar
Colorado Springs, Colorado – Aidan Bentley, trumpet
Grand Island – Aaron Borer, clarinet
Grand Island – Thomas Prentice, piano
Marion, Kansas – Terran Homburg, voice
Minden – Sydney Wilson, flute
Pella, Iowa – Erin Van Hal, flute
Guest Performers and Composers
Erin Cameron, clarinet, bass clarinet
West Fox, percussion
Isaac Pyatt, percussion
Stephen Lilly
Timothy Reed
Christine Burke
Leah Reid
Bonnie McLarty
Matthew Kennedy
Charles Halka
7:30 p.m. Saturday (March 9)
Featured Performer
Aaron Hynds, tuba, bass trombone, electronics
UNK Student Composer (listed by hometown)
Grand Island – Reiley Hillman
Guest Composers
Ray Evanoff
Christine Natalie
Jessica Rudman
Philip Schuessler
Frank Wiley
