A World of Music
SPRING 2023
Lowell Chamber Orchestra
The Lowell Chamber Orchestra, with guest conductor Geneviève Leclair, will present
a concert inspired by imaginary places and tales. Works by Charles Ives, Carl Nielsen,
Georges Hüe, Igor Stravinsky, and the world premiere of Pasquale Tassone’s Rhapsody for Flute and Strings, with Orlando Cela as soloist, will be performed.
Saturday, February 18 at 7:30 pm
Donahue Family Academic Arts Center, Theatre, Lowell Campus
Recording of Tassone's Rhapsody for Flute and Strings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M7LGuYKeTg
Aroma Duo
MCC faculty member Johnny Mok, cellist, and pianist Tianhong Yang will perform a varied
program of works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Franz Liszt,
and new works by Turkish composer Fazil Say, and Afghan composer Arson Fahim.
Friday, April 14 at 8:00 pm
MCC Concert Hall, Bedford
Please note this concert has been rescheduled from the
original date and location of March 10 in Lowell.
Recording of concert:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq3kkVGOefY
Jeannette Lee, Mezzo Soprano, and Friends
MCC’s newest faculty member, Jeannette Lee, will sing works by Johann Sebastian Bach which evoke a variety of emotions and feelings. Arias from his Saint Matthew Passion and various cantatas will be featured. She will be joined by Matthew Lee, McKena Stickney, Chen-Yu Lee (Flutes), Tyla Axelrod (Cello), Xiangyi Chen (Piano), and Janet Ross (Soprano).
Sunday, April 23 at 3:00 pm
MCC Concert Hall, Bedford Campus
Recording of concert:
https://youtu.be/HDT3zg0_DaI
Wong Pleng Khmer
Led by Cambodian music master Sovann Khon, who plays the Tro Sau (a bowed string instrument), this ensemble will perform a variety of Cambodian traditional music. Wong Pleng Khmer also includes Takhe, (a 3 stringed instrument); Khim (a stringed instrument similar to a hammered dulcimer); Skor Daey (made of wood and python); Chhing (a bell-like instrument); and Roneat Ek (a percussion instrument similar to a xylophone.)
Saturday, April 29 at 11:00 am
Donahue Family Academic Arts Center, Recital Hall, Lowell Campus
Co-sponsored by MCC Interdisciplinary Weekend: Arts and Culture of Cambodia
Student Recital
MCC student singers and instrumentalists will perform, and a few electronic works by Music Technology students will be featured.
Monday, May 8 at 12:30 pm
MCC Concert Hall, Bedford Campus
Recording of concert:
https://youtu.be/Nm9Fidmmq-0
Latin American Music Featuring the Cello
Noted Peruvian cellist Jesús Castro-Balbi will join MCC faculty members Carmen Rodríguez-Peralta, pianist, and Orlando Cela, flutist, for a colorful program of music from Mexico, Peru, Argentina, and Brazil, as well as a piece by a Peruvian-American. Works by Samuel Zyman, Edgar Valcárcel, Alberto Ginastera, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Camargo Guarnieri, and Gabriela Lena Frank will be featured.
Friday, May 12 at 8:00 pm
MCC Concert Hall, Bedford Campus
Cello Master Class
Jesús Castro-Balbi will give a public lesson to four cellists who have connections
to MCC.
James Yu, class of 2023
Margaleet Katzenblickstein, class of 2022
Aidan Klingsberg, dual enrollment student in 2020-21
Nathaniel Abreu, class of 2020
Saturday, May 13 at 11:00 am
Donahue Family Academic Arts Center, Recital Hall, Lowell Campus
Both events are co-sponsored by the MCC Foundation
All concerts are free and open to the public
For more information, contact Carmen Rodríguez-Peralta, Director of A World of Music,
at 781-280-3923 or peraltac@middlesex.mass.edu
For directions:
MCC Concert Hall in Bedford
https://www.middlesex.mass.edu/transportation/directions/bdirect.aspx
Academic Arts Center in Lowell
https://www.middlesex.mass.edu/academicartscenter/directions.aspx
MCC Music Faculty At-Home and MCC Musical Connections performances
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOEBeNUAl_TcbcnCdB73wLA
Selected live concerts from Fall 2022
Lowell Chamber Orchestra
The winner of the LCO concerto competition, Roi Karni, bassett clarinet, performed
the Clarinet Concerto by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk2pSQUi_8A
Raley Beggs, Guitarist
MCC faculty member and noted guitarist Raley Beggs performed a program of colorful music for solo guitar by Francesco da Milano, Francisco Guerau, Isaac Albéniz, Giulio Regondi, Maurice Ravel, and Johann Sebastian Bach.
Selected live concerts from Spring 2022
Lowell Chamber Orchestra
The Lowell Chamber Orchestra, conducted by MCC faculty member Orlando Cela, presented works from the Baroque Era, combined with later pieces inspired by this era. The Double Concerto for Recorder and Traverso by Georg Philipp Telemann, featuring Aldo Abreu and Orlando Cela as soloists, and the Suite from Castor et Pollux by Jean-Philippe Rameau were performed. Suite Française après Gervaise by Francois Poulenc and the world premiere of Greyed Rainbow by Dana Kaufman reflected the influence of the Baroque.
Featuring MCC Music Faculty
MCC Music faculty members Todd Brunel, clarinetist; Orlando Cela, flutist; Johnny Mok, cellist; and Carmen Rodríguez-Peralta, pianist performed works for various combinations of instruments by Gabriel Fauré, Mikhail Glinka, Manuel de Falla, Guillaume Connesson and Carlos Gardel. A piano solo by Larry Bell and Jazz improvisations for bass clarinet were also featured.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdkIo54lTd0
Selected live concert from Fall 2021
The Black Cat
Celebrate Halloween year round by experiencing The Black Cat by Larry Bell for cello, piano and narrator, based on the short story by Edgar Allan
Poe. Additional haunting music by Gabriela Lena Frank, Edvard Grieg and Camille Saint-Saëns
is featured. MCC faculty members Carmen Rodríguez-Peralta, pianist, and Orlando Cela,
flutist, are joined by Sam Ou, cellist, and Larry Bell, composer/narrator.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jsY7d_Qywg
Live Concert from Summer 2021
Rasa String Quartet performing a colorful and varied program by Florence Price, Amy Beach, Wei-Chieh Lin, José Elizondo, Felix Mendelssohn and some traditional Danish folk music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjWlp0HCPbE
Selected live recording performances from Spring 2021
Celebrating Black Composers from Europe, Africa, United States and South America
MCC faculty members Todd Brunel, clarinet/saxophone; Orlando Cela, flute; Eunghee Cho, cello; Carmen Rodríguez-Peralta, piano and Marcus Santos, drums presented a colorful program illustrating a variety of styles from the 1700’s to the present. Works by Joseph Bologne (Le Chevalier de Saint Georges), Florence Price, Samuel Coleridge Taylor, “Blind Tom” Wiggins, Bongani Ndodana-Breen, and Jazz greats Geri Allen and Duke Ellington were featured. There was also a selection featuring Afro-Brazilian drumming with guest dancer Kaitlyn Jolly.
Lowell Chamber Orchestra: Miniature Universes
The Lowell Chamber Orchestra, conducted by MCC faculty member Orlando Cela, performed
Dance Preludes (third version) by Witold Lutosławski; Sinfonietta, Op. 1 by Benjamin
Britten, and Symphony No. 5 by Franz Schubert.
https://youtu.be/q0SS7O2byYU
Selected live recording performances from Fall 2020
Piano Recital of Carmen Rodriguez-Peralta
Works by J.S. Bach, Larry Bell, Beethoven, Debussy and Ginastera
Recorded by Bedford TV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9njSegpDIC8&feature=youtu.be
Lowell Chamber Orchestra: Hidden Landscapes
The LCO, conducted by Orlando Cela, performed works by Bongani Ndodana-Breen, Evan Williams and Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland.