Syracuse University’s Contemporary Music Ensemble will feature works by alumni and student composers

Syracuse University’s Contemporary Music Ensemble will feature works by alumni and student composersApril 02, 2003Judy Holmesjlholmes@syr.edu

The Contemporary Music Ensemble in Syracuse University’s Rose, Jules R. and Stanford S. Setnor School of Music, College of Visual and Performing Arts, will present a concert that of works by the school’s faculty and students on April 9 at 8 p.m. in the Setnor Auditorium in Crouse College. The concert is free and open to the public.

Featured composers are Jason Ladd, a graduate music education major; Josh Coles, a graduate composition major; Bonnie Miksch ’92, a member of the music faculty at Colgate University; and Ping Jin G’92, a member of the music faculty the SUNY College at New Paltz. After graduating from SU’s Setnor School of Music, both Miksch and Jin went on to earn doctoral degrees at the University of Cincinnati’s widely acclaimed Conservatory of Music.

The program will include Miksch’s “How the Locust Stole the Moon” for alto saxophone and electronic tape, Jin’s “The Rite of the River God” for trombone and percussion, “Ladd’s “Blue Depths” for winds, strings and percussion, and Coles’ “The Five Elements” for soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano. The ensemble will also perform a group improvisation for voice, interactive digital electronics and assorted instruments.

The Contemporary Music Ensemble is a student-based chamber ensemble that is directed by SU’s Composer-in-Residence Daniel S. Godfrey. Godfrey, a 2001 recipient of the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, has composed some 50 works during his career. His recent accomplishments include a 1998 award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a commission from the Barlow Endowment for Music and a commission from the Koussevizky Music Foundation for his “String Quartet No. 3.”