Faculty Artist Series Ensemble
The Faculty Artist Series at the University of Indianapolis held performances on Oct. 25 and Nov. 1 in the Ruth Lilly Performance Hall, located in the Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center.
The concert continued their season of faculty shows, and music professors agree that the series’ popularity is growing.
Rebecca Sorley, director of educational outreach and associate professor of music, has been performing for the Faculty Artist Series for as long as she has been teaching at UIndy.
“I’ve been full-time [teaching] for 10 years, and six years before that as an adjunct, and I’ve been playing all 16 years.”
At the Oct. 25 performance, Sorley was one of 11 musicians that evening. Among those 11 was accomplished flutist and UIndy student, Jennifer Page.
The concert consisted of a wide variety of musical styles, including a quartet performance, a sonata, percussion ensembles, a number of soloists and pieces ranging from classical Mozart to jazz.
According to Sorley, performing a variety of music requires many instruments.
The audience was treated to two flutists, one pianist, a saxophonist, bassist, violinist, violist, cellist, oboist and tuba player. “I think it’s pretty amazing that they’re [the performances] are free,” Sorley said.
Richard Ratliff, professor of music and director for artistic initiatives, enjoys the differences in the performances.
“We’ll have chamber music one week, ensemble the next and new music the next. There’s something for everyone,” Ratliff said. “In these days of multi-media pop culture, it’s hard for anyone to sit through an hour and a half of anything, but this is good not only for music majors, but students all across campus.”
The Nov. 1 concert was a prime example of the variety that both Ratliff and Sorley mentioned. That concert featured only five musicians, compared to the 11 on Oct. 25. The musicians, known as the Icarus Ensemble, included violinist Dean Franke, Mark Ortwein playing winds, pianist Gary Walters, bassist Peter Hansen and percussionist Jon Crabiel.
The group plays both classical and jazz, and the performances usually are of original compositions by its own members. The Nov. 1 concert also featured some different instruments.
“This was a jazz concert with jazz guitar and jazz pianists and bassoonists, which is unique,” Ratliff said.
The Icarus Ensemble first joined the Faculty Artist Series in 2007 and has performed in the Symphony on the Prairie as well as at the Jazz Kitchen.
According to Ratliff, the faculty performers are usually joined by guest performers, UIndy’s artist-in-residence Raymond Leppard, and student musicians.
“We like to have guest musicians and ISO [Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra] members join us, and it’s nice for audiences to witness student-faculty collaboration,” Ratliff said. “I don’t think any other series would be able to include all these different types of music as convincingly as we do.”
Sorley and Ratliff were pleased with the attendance numbers.
“Usually 250 people or so attend,” Sorley said.
The Faculty Artist Series continues its concert run this month with a performance on Nov. 8. That event will include Duo Enamorado, featuring the vocals of Elisabeth Hoegberg, and Thomas Tudek will do a selection of pieces performed on the guitar.
A Nov. 15 concert entitled “Classics to Moderns” will feature the music of Haydn and Beethoven. All faculty artist series events will be held in Ruth Lilly Performance Hall with free admission for students. L/P credit is also available.
