Aimed at teachers, these programs enrich the classroom experience, help teachers stay up to date on research developments, and prepare students (and their parents) for college. Visit uctv.tv/teachers
Brahms' "Academic Festival Overture," which the composer offhandedly characterized as "a potpourri of student songs," features an unusual treatment of standard sonata form. What emerges is one of those rarities in classical music: a fun piece, full of antic humor, that invites the listener to laugh along with the composer. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 35725]
Virtuoso violinist Keir GoGwilt is the featured soloist in Robert Schumann's vibrant "Violin Concerto in D Minor." Once rescued from an early undeserved obscurity, this piece quickly became one of the most popular in the violin repertoire. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 35503]
Rossini's 1829 opera "William Tell" is rarely performed today, but its Overture lives on as one of the most popular works in the classical repertoire. The Overture is essentially an instrumental suite written in four parts and performed without pause. The best-known section is the last, the allegro vivace, famously used as the rousing theme music for "The Lone Ranger" radio and TV series (and notoriously so in "A Clockwork Orange). Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 35398]
In the 2018/2019 season the La Jolla Symphony performed Florence Price's "Violin Concerto No. 2," and inaugurates their 2019/20120 season with Price's "Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major." Florence Price was the first African-American woman to have a symphonic piece performed in the 1930's by a major orchestra, but her work has been sadly neglected in the decades since. The chance discovery of several scores in 2009, including the two Violin Concertos, has sparked renewed interest in her compositions. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 35399]
In this fun and informative program Conductor Steven Schick guides the audience through excerpts from Béla Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra and Florence Price's Violin Concerto No.1 as well as the complete William Tell Overture by Rossini. Schick places particular emphasis on the orchestra's organization and how the various sections interact with each other, with each of the musical selections serving as examples. He also invites questions from the audience. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 34845]
Originally written as the second (slow) movement of a string quartet, Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings" went on to become one of the most popular symphonic works of the 20th century in its final orchestral arrangement. The solemn character of the Adagio has led to its frequent use as mourning music, much to Barber’s distress since it was not his intention to write a requiem. It was broadcast following the announcement of President Roosevelt’s death in 1945, and performed by the New York Philharmonic to mark Barber’s own death in 1981. Indeed, the Adagio seems fated to be used whenever someone needs music that sounds both “ceremonial” and “American.” Whatever its unintentional cultural accretions, Barber's melody is still both beautiful and powerful after countless hearings. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 35009]
A close friend of Ralph Vaughan Williams, George Butterworth was a largely self-trained composer who was immersed in English folk music. His works grew directly out of his contact with the English countryside, as exemplified by "The Banks of Green Willow" with its evocation of pastoral life in all its idealized simplicity and tranquility; indeed, the composer characterized it as an "idyll." As was common in his music Butterworth bases this piece on several old English folk melodies, creating a series of brief fantasias on each of the themes before drawing to a peaceful conclusion. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 35011]
Though suspicious of German music in general Maurice Ravel was an unabashed fan of the waltz, and wrote several pieces that incorporated that distinctive rhythm. Of "La Valse," the composer wrote that “I had intended this work to be a kind of apotheosis of the Viennese waltz, with which was associated in my imagination an impression of a fantastic and fatal sort of dervish’s dance.” Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 35007]
As noted by the title, this piece centers on the talents of virtuoso trumpeter Peter Evans in a performance that is largely (though not entirely) improvised in performance. Evans’ tones are manipulated at times by the composer through digital signal processing, in what amounts to another interdependent and improvised performance; indeed, the watchwords for the entire enterprise are exploration and collaboration. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33855]
Pulitzer Prize-winner Julia Wolfe has taken particular pleasure in writing music for film, and we hear her "Fuel" with a film by Bill Morrison. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 34887]
Young Artist Winner Anne Liu performs Camille Saint-Saens’ witty "Second Piano Concerto," which has been described as “beginning with Bach and ending with Offenbach.” Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 34888]
Two things mark Beethoven's Symphony No. 8 in F Major, his shortest symphony and one of the least-performed. The first is its energy; contrary to classical sonata form there is no slow movement. The second is its unflagging good humor. The Eighth is full of high spirits, unexpected twists, unusual colors, and musical jests. In the symphony's lightness some listeners detect traces of the influence of Haydn and Mozart, but as with all of Beethoven's work the language is uniquely his own. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 34688]
In 1960 a young American art student named Patricia Patterson first traveled to Inishmore, largest of the Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland. The windswept landscape and its ancient culture made a deep and lasting impression, as did the relationships she developed during many visits and prolonged stays in the years since. Patterson has continued to draw on her vivid memories of Aran as inspiration for paintings and sketches. Series: "Portrait of the Artist" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 34756]
American composer Laurie San Martin writes music that creates a compelling narrative by exploring the intersection between texture and line. Critics have described her music as exuberant, colorful, forthright, high octane, tumultuous, and intricate. This piece's title, "nights bright days" is borrowed from Shakespeare's Sonnet 43, and reflects its late-night composition. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 34687]
Pianist Cecil Lytle and friends celebrate the Jewish folk traditions of Eastern Europe with spoken word, Klezmer music, and songs from the Yiddish theater. Featured performers include bassist Bertram Turetzky, singer Eva Barnes, and the Second Avenue Klezmer Band. Series: "Rebecca Lytle Memorial Concerts" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 34298]
Co-concertmaster David Buckley is soloist in the dynamic Second Violin Concerto of Florence Price, a prolific African-American composer that made her long career in Chicago, where her music was championed by the Chicago Symphony in the 1930s. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 34404]
Chinese-American composer Qingqing Wang celebrates this nation of immigrants in her stunning composition, the 2018 Thomas Nee Commission. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 34405]
Jennifer Granholm, former Governor of Michigan, identifies some of the most interesting policy ideas to address the problems of displaced workers, the skills gap and resulting inequality in an age of robots and artificial intelligence. Granholm teaches Public Policy at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School and is the chair of the American Jobs Project, a multi-state research initiative on creating industrial clusters in clean energy. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Public Affairs] [Business] [Show ID: 34013]
Since its premiere in Dublin in 1742 Handel's oratorio "Messiah" has become one of Western music's best-loved and most-performed choral works. Originally part of the oratorio's third section, which celebrates Christ's resurrection, the "Hallelujah" chorus has become a perennial Christmas staple, and arguably the best-known choral work in the repertoire. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 34361]
Since its premiere in Dublin in 1742 Handel's oratorio "Messiah" has become one of Western music's best-loved and most-performed choral works. "For Unto Us a Child is Born" is taken from the first (nativity) section of "Messiah," which celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 34360]
The Young People's Concert is a fun and informative "family-friendly" introduction to the symphony. Host/Conductor Steven Schick and the orchestra perform annotated excerpts from the 2018 season-opening concert, including Tan Dun's striking "Concerto for Water Percussion and Orchestra" and Igor Stravinsky's beloved ballet "Petrushka." The program features an audience Q&A in addition to the Conductor's commentary. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 34001]
Renowned composer John Luther Adams discusses “The Wind Garden,” his soundscape installation for the Stuart Collection at UC San Diego, with the Collection’s Mathieu Gregoire. Series: "Stuart Collection" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 30732]
San Diego-raised novelist and UC San Diego alumnus, Luis Alberto Urrea ‘77 is the featured speaker at the UC San Diego Library annual gala. Urrea, a 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist, has written about the border and has knitted together stories in a way that makes them familiar and impactful for everyone. Series: "Writers" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 33668]
Jazz has been hailed as "America's original art form," and the annual Jazz Camp at UC San Diego is a five-day immersive summer program designed for intermediate to advanced level jazz musicians, ages 14–adult. Students work directly with internationally renowned jazz artists, exploring styles ranging from classic bebop to contemporary open-form. The Camp culminates in a finale concert performed by eight student ensembles, each under the direction of a faculty member. This program showcases an ensemble mentored by saxophonist Charles McPherson. Series: "UC San Diego Jazz Camp" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33929]
Jazz has been hailed as "America's original art form," and the annual Jazz Camp at UC San Diego is a five-day immersive summer program designed for intermediate to advanced level jazz musicians, ages 14–adult. Students work directly with internationally renowned jazz artists, exploring styles ranging from classic bebop to contemporary open-form. The Camp culminates in a finale concert performed by eight student ensembles, each under the direction of a faculty member. This program showcases an ensemble mentored by flutist Holly Hofmann. Series: "UC San Diego Jazz Camp" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33928]
Jazz has been hailed as "America's original art form," and the annual Jazz Camp at UC San Diego is a five-day immersive summer program designed for intermediate to advanced level jazz musicians, ages 14–adult. Students work directly with internationally renowned jazz artists, exploring styles ranging from classic bebop to contemporary open-form. The Camp culminates in a finale concert performed by eight student ensembles, each under the direction of a faculty member. This program showcases an ensemble mentored by bassist Mark Dresser. Series: "UC San Diego Jazz Camp" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33927]
Asher Tobin Chodos’ adventurous arrangement of Ornette Coleman’s Lonely Woman places a quartet of jazz soloists within a symphonic context. Just as innovator Coleman sought to reframe jazz conventions in an idiosyncratic style, so Chodos’ arrangement seeks to reposition this 1959 work in a modern idiom, one that embraces and even expands upon the challenges of a composition that, in Chodos’ words, “occupies a middle ground between specificity and discrepancy.” Most importantly, this new take on a classic preserves the beauty and immediacy of Coleman’s original. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33857]
Jazz has been hailed as "America's original art form," and the annual Jazz Camp at UC San Diego is a five-day immersive summer program designed for intermediate to advanced level jazz musicians, ages 14–adult. Students work directly with internationally renowned jazz artists, exploring styles ranging from classic bebop to contemporary open-form. The Camp culminates in a finale concert performed by eight student ensembles, each under the direction of a faculty member. This program showcases an ensemble mentored by composer/pianist Anthony Davis. Series: "UC San Diego Jazz Camp" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33926]
Though acknowledging connections between World War II and his "Symphony in 3 Movements," which premiered in 1946, Igor Stravinsky stated the piece was not program music based on extra-musical events, insisting that "the Symphony is not programmatic. Composers combine notes. That is all." In truth the 3 sections were each written for different purposes, then combined into a whole that, while very appealing, is not quite unified in the sense of a traditional symphony. Stravinsky himself suggested that a more accurate title might be "Three Symphonic Movements." No matter its genesis or stated ambitions, this piece is driven by the same exuberant, triumphal spirit as contemporaneous pieces written during the War. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33854]
Jazz has been hailed as "America's original art form," and the annual Jazz Camp at UC San Diego is a five-day immersive summer program designed for intermediate to advanced level jazz musicians, ages 14–adult. Students work directly with internationally renowned jazz artists, exploring styles ranging from classic bebop to contemporary open-form. The Camp culminates in a finale concert performed by eight student ensembles, each under the direction of a faculty member. This program showcases an ensemble mentored by bassist Rob Thorsen. Series: "UC San Diego Jazz Camp" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33925]
Courtney Bryan’s remarkable "Yet Unheard," a work for orchestra and chorus, commemorates Sandra Bland’s tragic death in police custody in 2013. Using the text of Sharan Strange’s poem, soprano Helga Davis speaks to us in Bland’s voice, prodding us to relive the circumstances of her death and to seek answers to painful questions too long unasked. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33856]
The title "Un Sourire" translates as "A smile." Olivier Messiaen, who composed the piece to mark the 200th anniversary of Mozart's death in 1991, did not attempt to imitate Mozart's style. Rather, he based his piece on the knowledge that Mozart's music was not necessarily a direct expression of his emotional life. Messiaen fashioned his gentle homage to reflect that aspect of Mozart's music combined with his own love of birdsong. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33851]
Courtney Bryan’s remarkable As Yet Unheard, a work for orchestra and chorus, commemorates Sandra Bland’s tragic death in police custody in 2013. Using the text of Sharan Strange’s poem, soprano Helga Davis speaks to us in Bland’s voice, prodding us to relive the circumstances of her death and to seek answers to painful questions too long unasked. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33856]
Jazz has been hailed as "America's original art form," and the annual Jazz Camp at UC San Diego is a five-day immersive summer program designed for intermediate to advanced level jazz musicians, ages 14–adult. Students work directly with internationally renowned jazz artists, exploring styles ranging from classic bebop to contemporary open-form. The Camp culminates in a finale concert performed by eight student ensembles, each under the direction of a faculty member. This program showcases an ensemble mentored by trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos. Series: "UC San Diego Jazz Camp" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33924]
Jazz has been hailed as "America's original art form," and the annual Jazz Camp at UC San Diego is a five-day immersive summer program designed for intermediate to advanced level jazz musicians, ages 14–adult. Students work directly with internationally renowned jazz artists, exploring styles ranging from classic bebop to contemporary open-form. The Camp culminates in a finale concert performed by eight student ensembles, each under the direction of a faculty member. This program showcases an ensemble mentored by drummer Matt Wilson. Series: "UC San Diego Jazz Camp" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33923]
"When I sat down to write "Eating Flowers" I felt in many ways that I was responding to the energies of orchestral music whose colors I find irresistible: music of Ravel, Rimsky-Korsakov, Debussy, and Messiaen particularly. My piece does not quote or even explicitly refer to this older music, but the energy and the color was certainly an influence. I titled my piece "Eating Flowers" to capture the sense of having tasted the delicious and delicate colors of my favorite orchestral music, which nourished my own creative spirit after having been digested." --- Hannah Lash Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33852]
Toru Takemitsu's "A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden" grew of out several influences. One inspiration was the composer's dreams, including a vision of a flock of white birds led by a single black bird. Another was his love of traditional Japanese gardens. A spark was provided by the American avant-garde composer John Cage, whose concept of indeterminate music - in which passages are left to chance or improvisation by the performers - was tremendously appealing to Takemitsu. The image of a five-sided garden also informs the piece's structure: five brief sections are built on five-note themes based on the pentatonic scale. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33853]
A critic once commented that Schoenberg's "Five Pieces for Orchestra" requires "an orchestra of soloists," Schoenberg himself said that his aim was the development of "the emancipation of dissonance," in which no single note or key would be dominant over others. To this end melodies are fragmentary while the emphasis is on ever-shifting instrumental colors.; thus each of the five brief movements acquires a distinctive atmosphere. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33850]
Jazz has been hailed as "America's original art form," and the annual Jazz Camp at UC San Diego is a five-day immersive summer program designed for intermediate to advanced level jazz musicians, ages 14–adult. Students work directly with internationally renowned jazz artists, exploring styles ranging from classic bebop to contemporary open-form. The Camp culminates in a finale concert performed by eight student ensembles, each under the direction of a faculty member. This program showcases an ensemble mentored by saxophonist David Borgo. Series: "UC San Diego Jazz Camp" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33922]
Franz Liszt composed twelve “symphonic poems,” of which “Les Préludes” has proven to be the most popular. Its structure is deceptively simple, based loosely on sonata form but differing from the classical sonata in its development of a few basic themes, rather than contrasting very different thematic material in distinct movements. The attractiveness of the piece lies in Liszt’s ingenious transitions and transformations as the music moves from episode to episode, by turns turbulent and serene, until the various strands finally come together in the dramatic finale. Explaining the title “Les Préludes,” Liszt posed the question, “What else is life but a series of preludes to that unknown hymn, the first and solemn note of which is intoned by Death?” Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33849]
UC San Diego's Geisel Library hosts an annual Paper Theater Festival, celebrating an art form with roots in Victorian Era Europe. Paper theaters (also known as toy theaters) were used to promote productions. They were printed on paperboard sheets and sold as kits at the concession stand of an opera house, playhouse, or vaudeville theater. The kits were then assembled at home and plays performed for family members and guests, sometimes with live musical accompaniment. The theaters gradually declined in popularity during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but have enjoyed a resurgence in interest in recent years among many puppeteers, filmmakers, theater historians, and hobbyists. Presently there are numerous international paper theater festivals throughout the Americas and Europe, as well as several museums. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33264]
Emmanuel Jal, an internationally recognized hip-hop musician, former child soldier turned activist and entrepreneur, shares his story and music. Jal was born into the life of a child solider in the early 1980s in the war-torn region of Southern Sudan. He calls upon all of us to engage with our world and become global citizens through scholarship, leadership and service. [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33490]
Author and legendary athlete Kareem Abdul-Jabbar highlights remarkable African-American contributions to American society. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Education] [Show ID: 33606]
An American in Paris has always been one of Gershwin's most popular scores, and deservedly so. It offers great tunes, a breezy charm that evokes both the City of Light and the Jazz Age, and Gershwin's obvious affection for the French capital. Gershwin argued that this piece is structured in sonata form and is not just a series of episodes & impressions strung together with great skill; perhaps so, but no matter. Above all else, this is fun music. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33379]
Composer Francis Poulenc maintained that one need not be solemn to praise God, and that belief is echoed is his "Gloria." Indeed, listeners not otherwise informed may not guess it's the setting of a sacred text (in this case, the second part of the Roman Catholic Mass liturgy). Poulenc's score is by turns melodic, rhythmic, serene, piquant, high-spirited, slightly dissonant, subdued, or strident, but is never less than charming. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33377]
Aaron Copland originally composed "Quiet City" in 1939 for the play of the same name. The play failed, but Copland's piece went on to become one of his best-loved & most frequently performed works. "Quiet City" is essentially an urban nocturne, the aural equivalent of Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks," and is built around two themes: an evocative trumpet call, and a dotted figure for the strings. To round out the piece Copland added haunting interludes performed either by an English horn or an oboe (in this case an oboe). Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33383]
As was the practice in a time (14th Century) before the delineation between poet and composer was as sharply drawn as today, Guillaume de Machaut set his own texts to music. "Je vivroie liement" for solo soprano, solo violin, and chamber orchestra is an homage to courtly love set to a lively fiddle dance tune that evokes both Celtic & Gypsy styles. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33374]
There are no opening notes more famous or thrilling than the clarinet trill at the start of Rhapsody in Blue that suddenly spirals upward and broadens into a seductive, near-sleazy glissando, followed by the main theme. Arguably the single best-known piece of American symphonic music, Rhapsody is not quite a true piano concerto, nor is it pure jazz; rather, it's a musical melting pot that proceeds in a series of artfully connected episodes to a jazzy, triumphal conclusion. If you've ever wondered if an orchestra can swing, Rhapsody in Blue dispels all doubts. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33380]
Luis Urrea is a prolific writer who uses his dual-culture life experiences to explore greater themes of love, loss and triumph. Born in Tijuana to a Mexican father and American mother, Urrea is the critically acclaimed, best-selling author of 16 books. He talks with Steven Schick about his life and work, and their collaboration on a new version of Stravinsky's "L'Histoire du Soldat" with texts from Urrea's writings. Series: "Helen Edison Lecture Series" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33265]
The String Quartet in B Minor (Op. 33, No. 1) was the first of six quartets composed in 1781 by Franz Josef Haydn and popularly known as the "Russian" quartets. By this point in his career Haydn was a master of his craft, and with that confidence he began to experiment with the sonata form. This quartet is one of two that Haydn set in the key of B minor, a rare key for both Haydn and the string repertoire, and it has an uncharacteristically adventurous, questing quality. It moves from B minor through several keys, restlessly exploring rhythms, melodies, and modulations before "landing" back upon its home key in the breathless, virtuosic final movement. This piece amply demonstrates why Mozart held Haydn in high esteem. Series: "La Jolla Music Society: SummerFest" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33220]
"Like a semi-formal family dinner, this piece offers an environment for free interaction that is both structurally rigid & weirdly volatile. In this piece, the three principal actors - 2 solo pianos & a symphony orchestra - behave like relatives. We get along, we shout over each other, we stand at a respectful distance, and we shock each other into bemused & resentful silence. This is a work that calls for trust, sympathy & humor; I couldn't have written it unless I felt for the people involved a musical kinship verging on the familial." - Composer/Pianist Asher Tobin Chodos Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33385]
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