Faculty Artist Concert Series premieres
University of Indianapolis faculty members demonstrated their musical ability on Oct. 3 in Ruth Lilly Performance Hall.
The event began with two solo pieces, “Exordium-conjuro” and “Danza de las Diosas Negras” by guitarist and faculty adjunct Thomas Tudek. Tudek has taught Applied Guitar directed the Guitar Ensemble at UIndy for the past four years.
Following his solo performance, Tudek was accompanied by soprano Assistant Professor of Music Elisabeth Honn Hoegberg in four works from Manuel de Falla’s “Siete Canciones Populares Espanolas.” Hoegberg joined the faculty in 2001 and teaches Music Theory and Applied Voice. The melodic guitar was coupled with Hoegberg’s voice.
“You have to be fearless,” Hoegberg said. “It takes a lot of self-confidence to go out there and hit those high notes. You have to just know.”
Tudek and Hoegberg performing on stage together is not a rare occurrence. The two frequently performs off-campus, and calls themselves the “Duo Enamorado.”
Hoegberg, who was originally a violinist at Illinois State, will also play the piano for the UIndy Faculty Artist Combo this spring.
Following the “Duo Enamorado” was another twosome: faculty adjunct Cathryn Gross on clarinet and Director of Educational Outreach and Associate Professor of Music Rebecca Sorley on piano.
In addition to her performances at UIndy, Gross also plays in the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.
Following a brief intermission, Associate Professor of Music James Spinazzola offered a brief snapshot of jazz history.
He informed the audience that George Gershwin’s chord changes in his jazz hit “I Got Rhythm” is the inspiration for many other jazz songs.
Spinazzola, with faculty adjuncts Jack Helsley on bass and Art Reiner on drums, demonstrated these lessons with a performance of “The Eternal Triangle.”
“You hear where it came from, to where it ended up,” Spinazzola said.
“The Eternal Triangle” set a blues mood that was suddenly overpowered by a fast- paced progression in the piece. Sudden pauses, followed by a reemergence of the boisterous music, filled the hall.
“Knowing where the music came from really helped me to understand it in a different way,” said freshman biology major Judi Tanner. “I could actually enjoy the music since I had some background on it.”
The night was completed with a whimsical performance of “Kinderzirkus.”
“Kinderzirkus” was played by faculty adjuncts Glen Dimick on the tuba, Blake Schlabach on the trombone, Darin Sorley on the horn and Allen Miller and Larry Powell on trumpets.
The group performed nine pieces, each representing a different act from a circus performance.
“The pieces were very visual. The music put distinct images in my head so that I could really picture the circus while I was listening to it,” Tanner said.
The next Faculty Artist Concert Series performance will be on Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the Ruth Lilly Performance Hall of the Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center. The theme of the show will be “Classics to Moderns.”
