New and recently composed music about the climate crisis. The concert samples from a venture that encompasses more than 60 new pieces for piano and piano/electronics by composers on six continents. This musical series asks urgent questions of the listener: How do our actions generate positive change for the environment? How can we live more mindfully and conscientiously as global citizens? What sustainable impact can we create for generations to come? This event is free and open to everyone.

Kenji Bunch is one of America’s most engaging, influential, and prolific composers. Through an expansive blend of classical and vernacular styles, Bunch makes music that’s “clearly modern but deeply respectful of tradition and instantly enjoyable.” (The Washington Post) Deemed “emotional Americana,” (Oregon ArtsWatch) and infused with folk and roots influences, Bunch’s work has inspired a new genre classification: “Call it neo-American: casual on the outside, complex underneath, immediate and accessible to first-time listeners… Bunch’s music is shiningly original.” (The Oregonian) Hailed by The New York Times as “A Composer To Watch” and cited by Alex Ross in his seminal book The Rest Is Noise, Bunch’s wit, lyricism, unpredictability, and exquisite craftsmanship earn acclaim from audiences, performers, and critics alike.

MAKING HISTORY

Mary Frances Early (M.M.Ed. ‘62, Ed.S. ‘67) played an integral role in the campaign for racial equality that helped open the doors for generations of students at the University of Georgia. Her triumph as the first African American graduate of UGA made her a central figure in the struggle to desegregate the University, and it serves as an example to all.

Luz means light, and light is what violist Amaro Dubois claims we are missing the most in this world of today. Dubois aims to change this with his debut Navona Records release, LUZ, a collection of works highlighting the beauty of Latin American music for viola and piano. Joined by pianist Tingting Yao, the violist brings to life several newly-commissioned works, a beautiful collaboration between eight composers from five different countries. Above all, Dubois aims to share passion, love, and peace, three qualities that undoubtedly shine throughout LUZ.

This event is free and open to everyone.

The Willson Center will welcome Angela Brown, a renowned operatic soprano who leads Morning Brown, Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides cultural enrichment opportunities to underserved communities, to UGA February 20-24 as the annual Delta Visiting Chair for Global Understanding. Brown’s week in residence will include a master class with students in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, and public events in the Hodgson School and the Delta Innovation Hub.

The University of Georgia Hugh Hodgson School of Music is hosting the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) National Conference on campus in Athens, Georgia February 15-18, 2023. This bi-annual event brings together band leaders from universities across the United States (and several countries worldwide) for seminars, continuing education opportunities, and to present their bands in concert.

Residency Complete Schedule:

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13

> ROOM 116, 1:50 PM

Tuba Masterclass

> EDGE HALL, 6:00 PM

PRESENTATION: Professional Music Career, Blending Popular and Classical Music, Q&A Session

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14

EDGE HALL, 6 p.m.

RECITAL

About Thomas Leleu

Thomas Leleu is the first tuba player to have ever won the award “Revelation Instrumental Soloist of the Year” at the annual French Grammy awards, the Victoires de la musique classique.

At only 35 years of age, Thomas Leleu is considered as “world star of the tuba” (TMC – french national TV). He is one of the few tuba player to exclusively lead a solo career. This iconoclastic artist stands where genres mix: a classical soloist, passionate about world music, modern music and pop…

He joined the Conservatoire de Paris (the CNSM) at age 17 and obtained the first prize for tuba and a degree awarded with distinctions. He studied as well at the Hochschule für Musik in Detmold (Germany) with Hans Nickel.

Thomas Leleu earned awards in several competitions throughout the world such as in Markneukirchen – Germany, Jeju – South Korea, and Luxembourg. He has been principal tubist with the Marseille Philharmonic Opera since he turned 19. In 2012 Thomas put the tuba in the spotlight by winning the “Revelation Instrumental Soloist of the Year” at the annual French classical music award, the Victoires de la Musique Classique. In 2017, he is ZDF/Arte « Stars of tomorrow » on the Arte channel in Berlin invited by Rolando Villazon. In 2019, he is nominated in 3 categories at the Opus Klassik in Germany (German Grammy) and at the VIA Awards in Germany.

Thomas is also regularly invited to perform at festivals and in Concerts Hall around the world: Konzerthaus de Berlin, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Germany), Mito Settembre Musica (Italy), Kissinger Sommer de Bad Kissingen (Germany), Festival de Pâques d’Aix en Provence, Festival de Radio France-Occitanie-Montpellier, Brucknerhaus of Linz (Austria), Esplanade Concert Hall (Singapore), Un Violon sur le Sable (in front of 50,000 people), Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Hong Kong City Hall, Maison de Radio France, Leverkusener JazzTage (Germany), Marvao International Music Festival…Throughout the world : USA, China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Macao, Hong Kong, Singapore, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Belgium…

He has also performed as a soloist with many orchestras : Orchestre National d’Ile de France, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Köln Chamber Orchestra, Junge Sinfonie Berlin, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique de l’Opéra de Marseille, Jeju Symphonic Orchestra (South Korea), Orquestra Sinfonica de Estado de Lara (Venezuela), Belgium Royal Air Force Band, Orquestra Sinfônica do Rio Grande do Norte (Brazil) ,Santa Fe Symphonic Orchestra (Argentina), Orquestra Sinfonica de Santo André (Brazil)…

Thomas is regularly invited to radio and TV shows on TF1-TMC (French national TV), France 2, Bayerische Rundfunk (Germany), ZDF, Arte, Europe 1, France Musique, Kosovo National TV, Radio Nacional de Argentina…

Many composers have dedicated pieces to him such as : Richard Galliano, Vladimir Cosma, Airelle Besson, Claude Bolling…

He has released several albums: « In the mood for tuba » (Fondamenta/Sony Music), « Impressions for tuba » with the Royal Orchestra of the Belgian Airforce, « Stories… » (Ars Produktion), Born to Groove (NoMadMusic/Pias), on this album, he proposes his own compositions around jazz and popular music.

Thomas regularly gives master classes in the most prestigious universities of the world : Juilliard School in New York, Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin, Universität der Künste (Berlin), Eastman School of Music in Rochester, Indiana University (Bloomington), Tokyo Music College, Carnegie Mellon University (USA), CNSM in Paris, New England Conservatory in Boston, Osaka Music College, Korea National University of Arts, Beijing Central Conservatory, El Sistema (Venezuela)…

Thomas has founded several unique and unprecedented ensembles with a tuba : Thomas Leleu Sextet (tuba and string quintet), tubaVScello, TL Trio (tuba, piano, vibraphone). In 2017, the show The Tuba’s Trip (around jazz and popular music) staged by Claude Tissier (ex Cirque du Soleil), in 2021, Born to Groove (jazz world and pop music) with which he performs in many Jazz festivals (Jazz à Vienne, Marseille Jazz des 5 Continents, Jazz à Alès…).

He is since 2011 a “Melton Meinl/Weston Artist – Ambassador Buffet Crampon“. He has developed with the firm the 2250 TL “ French Touch ” tuba which he is currently playing.

The program showcases the soprano’s formidable singing while making the material accessible to audiences with little or no exposure to opera or classical music. Through wry, candid explanations of opera plots that provide a context to the performances that is contemporary and colloquial, Brown invites young and untrained audiences to engage with an artistic medium to which they may never have felt connected.

Thank you for your interest in this event! Due to popular demand, the seats of this event are sold out. You are invited to add your name to our waiting list below. Should a seat become available, we can reach out to you and confirm your attendance. If you'd like to join us Thursday night, we will be opening up available seats to our waiting list at 7:25 p.m. There will also be a second room set up to view the concert remotely. All guests are invited to join Ms. Brown at a reception following the performance.

About Angela Brown

Brown has performed in operatic roles on stages around the world including the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, the National Opera of Paris, Venice’s Teatro de Fenice, and many more. Her 2004 Metropolitan Opera debut in the title role of Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida was spectacularly well received, leading to a New York Times review that proclaimed “At last an Aida,” and a front-page Timesprofile a week later that called her emergence from an understudy role “perhaps the opera season’s most appealing story.” Brown has earned international acclaim not only for her classical turns in operas by Verdi, Strauss, Wagner, and Puccini, but for her performances of gospel and sacred music as well as for roles in modern works such as Bess in George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess and Cilla in Richard Danielpour and Toni Morrison’s Margaret Garner.