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Zen Sound, Suspended TimeJames Nyoraku Schlefer, shakuhachiMonday, Sept. 14, 7:30 p.m.Lorimer Chapel

(Funded in part by the Freda M. Charles Music Fund)Originally the instrument of Zen monks, the Japanese transverse bamboo flute (shakuhachi) has captivated the minds and hearts of listeners for centuries. Remarkably simple in design, it takes years to master. The sound is sensual and capable of great emotional depth. Shakuhachi grand master James Nyoraku Schlefer is a virtuoso performer of traditional and contemporary shakuhachi music and a composer of new music for Japanese and Western instruments.

A Little Something for Everyone!Colby Symphony Orchestra, Eric Thomas,guest conductorSaturday, Oct. 24, 7:30 p.m.Lorimer Chapel

The first orchestra concert of the season, conducted by Eric Thomas, director of Colby’s Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band, includes Soren Nyhus’s “Bittersweet Victory” (2014), written for the Noteflight video game composition competition; Geraldine Green’s jovial (and slightly mischievous) Bass Clarinet Concerto (1992), performed by Emily Berry ’16; Marianne Martinez’s Sinfonia in C (1770); and Howard Hanson’s lush and expressive Symphony no. 2, the Romantic (1930).

All Hallow’s Day ConcertColby College Chorale and Chamber Singers, Shannon Chase, directorSaturday, Oct. 31, 3:30 p.m.Lorimer Chapel

The Colby College Chorale and Chamber Singers perform a festive program of music evocative of the season and in celebration of Family Homecoming Weekend.

Old Love & New Love Michael Winther with Kimberly GrigsbySaturday, Oct. 31, 9 p.m. Page Commons, Cotter Union

(Funded by the Robert J. Strider Concert Fund, with additional funding from the Office of Alumni Relations and the Theater and Dance Department) A “first-rate singer of unusual refinement” with “a voice that traverses genres” (New York Times), Broadway singer/actor Michael Winther joins forces with Broadway musical director and

pianist Kimberly Grigsby for an evening of well-known standards and some lesser-known, newer love songs by top emerging theater composers and lyricists. “Mr. Winther stakes out the most fertile artistic territory in American music: the high ground where show tunes, art songs and the singer-songwriter tradition merge.”(Stephen Holden, New York Times)

Five Degrees of Increasing SeparationColby Wind Ensemble, Eric Thomas, conductor Saturday, Nov. 7, 7:30 p.m.Lorimer Chapel

Germaine Tailleferre (Overture for Orchestra) and Darius Milhaud (West Point Suite) were members of “Les Six”—French composers reacting to Wagner’s bombast and Debussy’s overt sensuality. Milhauds’ suite and William Grant Still’s “To You, America” were both commissioned for the West Point sesquicentennial. Still and Vincent Persichetti (Symphony for Band) both received Peabody Conservatory honorary doctorates in 1974. None has a connection with West Coast composer Julie Giroux (Culloden), but her composition, based on Scottish folk tunes, was too perfect to pass up.

Cover Me … or Not!Colby Jazz Band, Eric Thomas, conductorSaturday, Nov. 14, 7:30 p.m.Given Auditorium, Bixler Art and Music Center

John Coltrane’s “Lady Bird” draws on Tadd Dameron’s composition by the same name and foreshadows the famous Coltrane changes. Freddie Hubbard’s cool hard bop chart “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming” is a jazz rendition of the classic 16th-century hymn. Patty Darling’s “Idioteque” is a big-band arrangement of Radiohead’s hit. But Duke Ellington’s Such Sweet Thunder suite and Denis DiBlasio’s “Strong Like Bull!” are all their own.

If Music Be the Food of Love, Sing On!Collegium Chamber Singers and Players,Timothy Burris, directorThursday, Nov. 19, 7:30 p.m.Lorimer Chapel

The Colby Collegium Chamber Singers and Players explore music of 17th-century England. The late Renaissance and early Baroque in England produced a rich repertoire of both choral and instrumental works that celebrate the human in nature and the nature of being human. The program includes works by Henry Purcell, Matthew Locke, and John Wilbye.

A Little More Something for Everyone!Colby Symphony Orchestra, Janna Hymes, guest conductor Saturday, Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m.Lorimer Chapel

Janna Hymes is the music director of Maine Pro Musica and the Williamsburg (Va.) Sinfonia. A much sought-after conductor in the United States and abroad, maestra Hymes offers an eclectic program that includes the Shostakovitch Ballet Suite no. 1; Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, featuring Colby Applied Music Associate Eric Thomas as soloist; and Beethoven’s Symphony no. 2 in D Major.

46th Annual Service of Carols and Lights Friday, Dec. 11, 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 12, 3:30 and 7 p.m. Lorimer Chapel

A Colby tradition since 1971, the service includes readings, carol singing by candlelight, and the sounds of the Nickerson Carillon. Colby music ensembles provide a festive evening of traditional and contemporary seasonal music from around the world.

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For up-to-date information on performances, go to colby.edu/artsatcolby or colby.edu/musicdept

2015-16 Concert SeriesFALL SEASON

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Maine Saxophone Project Saturday, April 9, 7:30 p.m. Lorimer Chapel

(Funded in part by the Ermanno Comparetti Concert Fund)The Maine Saxophone Project started at the University of Southern Maine in 2006 and hasn’t stopped growing. The combo has roots in a Charlie Parker tribute band formed by Med Flory and Buddy Clark in 1972, which featured harmonized arrangements of Parker’s music. M.S.P. has expanded beyond Parker’s compositions to perform arrangements that explore new styles and colors.

Stylin’!Colby Jazz Band, Eric Thomas, conductorSaturday, April 16, 7:30 p.m. Given Auditorium, Bixler Art and Music Center

The Jazz Band’s final concert this season features idiomatic examples of various classic jazz styles. Gordon Goodwin’s “Race to the Bridge” has a harmonic scheme based on what jazz players call “rhythm changes.” Bob Minzer’s “Ouro Preto” is built on different Brazilian grooves, and “Swangalang,” his wonderful hybrid of jazz and blues styles, is referred to as a swinger. Michael Philip Mossman’s “Tanganova” draws on classic tango rhythms. Topping it off, the band adds a touch of R&B from Earth, Wind & Fire

In Spring Time, the Only Pretty Ring Time!Collegium Chamber Singers and Players, Timothy Burris, directorSaturday, April 23, 2016 7:30 p.m.Lorimer Chapel

The Colby Collegium Chamber Singers and Players celebrate nature’s renewal with music of spring. Instrumental excerpts from “Le Journal du Printemps” by Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer, as well as songs and madrigals of spring by Francesca Caccini, Thomas Morley, Clément Janequin, and Claudio Monteverdi.

Ola Gjeilo’s Sunrise MassColby College Chorale and Colby-Kennebec Choral Society, Shannon Chase, conductor;Colby Symphony Orchestra, Janna Hymes, guest conductorSaturday, April 30, and Sunday, May 1, 7:30 p.m.Lorimer Chapel

In an annual spring tradition these three large ensembles once again join forces. This year they present Sunrise Mass by Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo (b. 1978), an elegant and dramatic work for choir and string orchestra that boasts cinematic sweep and rich, emotional content. Continuing another Music at Colby tradition, the program will also include a performance by the winner of the Music Department’s annual student concerto competition.

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Members of BOOM (Baroque Orchestra of Maine)Wednesday, Oct. 8, noon Lower Jetté Gallery

Heidi Powell (baroque violin), Timothy Burris (lute and theorbo), and Raffael Scheck (baroque cello) perform music by Bach, Corelli, Handel, and Pasqualino de Marzis.

The Andre Segovia Continuum Mark Leighton, GuitarWednesday, Nov. 11, noonWilliam D. Adams Gallery, Museum Lobby

Music composed for, transcribed by, or reintroduced into the repertoire by Segovia during a career that spanned nearly the entire 20th century. Compositions by J.S. Bach, Isaac Albéniz, Heitor Villa-Lobos, and Francisco Tárrega.

Poetry and Lyric: 20th-Century SongShannon M. Chase, mezzo-soprano; Yuri Lily Funahashi, pianoThursday, Feb. 25, noon Lower Jetté Gallery

Shannon M. Chase, choral conductor and applied music associate in voice, joins forces with pianist Yuri Lily Funahashi.

Trancing in the Palace Kabbalah, Altered States, and Morton Feldman’s Palais de Mari (1986)Thursday, March 10, 7 p.m. Paul J. Schupf Wing for the Works of Alex Katz

Morton Feldman (1926-1987) was a central figure in the so-called New York School of American painters and musicians of the 1940s-70s. Associate Professor Emerita Ursula Reidel (German), Associate Professor Steven Nuss (music), and pianist Nathan Trivers perform and discuss Feldman’s last work for piano. They suggest that Palais de Mari is the product the composer’s intense engagement with aspects of Kabbalistic thought and devotional practices.

For up-to-date information on performances, go to colby.edu/artsatcolby or colby.edu/musicdept

An Evening of Gypsy JazzAmeranouche Saturday, Feb. 6, 7:30 p.m.Lorimer Chapel

(Funded in part by the Hazel Hoyt Witherell Memorial Concert Fund) The award-winning trio Ameranouche plays acoustic Gypsy-inspired music mixing flamenco, bebop, and jazz swing. Whether playing a 1930 musette waltz or an Andalusian-inspired original tune, Ameranouche’s Gypsy flamenco swing style is always fresh, virtuosic, and totally enjoyable.

Renaissance and Baroque Traditions of Improvisation EnsaladaSunday, Feb. 14, 3 p.m.Lorimer Chapel

(Funded in part by the Ermanno Comparetti Concert Fund) Though often associated only with jazz, a rich tradition of instrumental improvisation flourished in “classical music” throughout Europe from the late 15th century through the mid-18th century. Ensalada presents a rich and varied program of examples of these traditions of melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic improvisation.

From Russia with LoveColby Symphony Orchestra, Janna Hymes, guest conductor Saturday, March 5, 7:30 p.m.Lorimer Chapel

Three staples of uniquely Russian classical music are featured: from Mikhail Glinka, early-19th-century father of the Russian orchestral style, his rousing opera overture Ruslan and Lyudmila; from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, late-19th-century romantic and master melodist, his Symphony no. 2, The Little Russian; from Aram Khachaturian, Soviet-endorsed, then condemned, then endorsed again, his Masquerade suite of five dances.

Where Artistry ResidesColby Wind Ensemble, Eric Thomas, conductorSaturday, April 2, 7:30 p.m.Lorimer Chapel

A composer’s inspiration can come from anything or anywhere: baseball (Carolyn Bremer’s “Early Light”), ribbons and word substitution (Joan Tower’s “Fascinating Ribbons”), the ferocity of nature (Percy Grainger’s “Hill Songs 1 and 2”), Genghis Khan (Julie Giroux’s “Khan”), devotional paintings (Vaclav Nelhybel’s “Trittico”). Five programmatic journeys promise a wide-ranging, magical ride.

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For up-to-date information on performances, go to colby.edu/artsatcolby or colby.edu/musicdept

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