American clarinetist and composer Don Byron returns to MIT to present an innovative gospel concert, a premiere clarinet concerto performed by the MIT Wind Ensemble and a workshop on an opera-in-progress.
MIT has a long-standing tradition of commissioning new music and opera that is first performed by professionally-led student ensembles in an educational setting. Rome Prize recipient, Pulitzer Prize Finalist and 2007 Guggenheim Fellow Don Byron comes to MIT to collaborate with students and faculty to experiment in the concert hall and the music studio.
During his first visit in a series of three during the 2012-2013 academic year, Byron works closely with students from the Boston Arts Academy to present a gospel concert with his own New Gospel Quintet in October, 2012. In March, 2013, the MIT Wind Ensemble, conducted by Fred Harris, premieres a concerto written by Byron, with a clarinet solo by Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor of Music Evan Ziporyn. In April, 2013, Byron conducts a workshop on an opera-in-progress with members of the MIT community. The artist is well known at MIT, having visited campus to perform with his ensemble and Paul Auster, and in 2008-09, he was appointed a Martin Luther King Scholar.
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Don Byron, a singular voice in a broad range of musical contexts, is acclaimed as much for his restless creativity as for his unsurpassed virtuosity as a player. Byron has presented a multitude of projects at major music festivals around the world. Learn more about Don Byron.
Launched in 2009, Don Byron’s New Gospel Quintet grows out of his in-depth studies of gospel music. Learn more about New Gospel Quintet.
“Calling Don Byron a jazz musician is like calling the Pacific wet – it just doesn’t begin to describe it…”.
– Time Magazine
Join Us At These Public Events
Don Byron Composer Forum, March 13, 2013
Byron & Ziporyn: Concerto for Clarinet, March 16, 2013
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
5:00 PM talk | Lewis Music Library 14E-109
160 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA
Free and Open to the public. Reception follows.
Byron will speak about his new Clarinet Concerto to be premiered by the MIT Wind Ensemble; Evan Ziporyn, soloist, on March 16 in Kresge Auditorium.
Byron & Ziporyn: Concerto for Clarinet
With the MIT Wind Ensemble, Frederick Harris Jr, Kenneth Amis
Saturday, March 16, 2013
8:00 PM | Kresge Auditorium W16
48 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA
Open to the public | Admission free in advance or $5 at the door
Concert Program
World premiere of Byron’s Concerto for Clarinet; Ives, Fugue in C, Variations on “America”; Mendelssohn, Overture for Winds; Arnold, Four Scottish Dances; Bach, Fugue in G minor (for saxophone ensemble), Sonata No. 1 in G minor, Presto (for clarinet ensemble), arranged by Byron.
Founded in 1999 by Professor Frederick Harris, the MIT Wind Ensemble (MITWE) is composed of outstanding MIT student musicians studying a wide variety of fields. Since 2001, the MIT Wind Ensemble has commissioned 20 original works by MIT faculty and internationally renowned composers. Learn more about MITWE.
Evan Ziporyn, award-winning composer and clarinetist, is Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor of Music at MIT. Learn more about Evan Ziporyn.
Co-presented by MIT Music and Theater Arts.
Don Byron’s residency is made possible by the Arts at MIT Visiting Artists Program in collaboration with MIT Music and Theater Arts. The arts at MIT are rooted in experimentation, risk-taking and imaginative problem-solving.
