MUSIC

Rice University Shepherd School of Music presents a Faculty Recital - Cabinet of Curiosities: Music of Karim Al-Zand. Friday, February 4 at 8pm. Duncan Recital Hall - Alice Pratt Brown Hall. Due to inclement weather conditions on the original performance date, this Faculty Recital has been rescheduled for Wednesday, February 23.

Featuring an eclectic mix of solo, chamber, choral and orchestral works.

The music of Canadian-American composer Karim Al-Zand (pictured, photo by Tarek Al-Zand, b.1970) has been called “strong and startlingly lovely” (Boston Globe). His compositions are wide-ranging, from settings of classical Arabic poetry to scores for dance and pieces for young audiences.

His works explore connections between music and other arts, and draw inspiration from diverse sources such as 19th century graphic art, fables of the world, folksong and jazz. The themes of many of his pieces speak to his middle-eastern heritage as well. Al-Zand’s music has enjoyed success in the US, Canada and abroad and he is the recipient of several national awards, including the Sackler Composition Prize, the ArtSong Prize and the Louisville Orchestra Competition Prize.

He holds degrees from Harvard and McGill Universities and is currently on the faculty of the Shepherd School of Music (Rice University) in Houston. Al-Zand is also a founding member of Musiqa, Houston’s premiere contemporary music group, which presents concerts featuring new and classic repertoire of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Featured Performers:

Rachel Buchman, Brian Connelly, Cristian Macelaru, Robert Moeling, Michael Webster, Ivo van der Werf, Eric Siu, Amalia Bandy, Joanna Becker, Jesse Christeson, Patrick Corvington, Andre Dyachenko, Alexander Fioto, Robbert Garza, Molly Gebrian, Emily Herdeman, Makiko Hirata, Luke Hsu, Sam Jackson, Emily Klein, Jeewon Lee, Briana Lehman, Bella Leslie, Robert McCullagh, Paul Munger, Jeffrey Norhman, Natalie Parker, Aaron Perdue, Max Pipinich, Alexander Pride, Aaron Ritter, Emily Snyder, Douglas Surber, John Turman, Clara Yang, San Jacinto Chamber Choir (Paul Busselberg, dir.), Shepherd School Trumpet Studio (Marie Speziale, dir.), Shepherd School Crumhorn Collective

Scheduled Program:

Fanfare (2010)
for 6 trumpets

Cabinet of Curiosities (2009)
for clarinet and piano

Capriccios (2002–2009)
for solo violin

Swimmy (2010)
based on the children's book by Leo Lionni
for narrator, piano, clarinet, violin, cello

A Measure in Trance (2000)
for choir

Variations (2002)
for viola and piano

The Spinning Ballerina (2008/2010)
for chamber orchestra, after an illustration by J. J. Grandville