Music and Advocacy Presentation by Tanya Gabrielian
Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021
11:10 a.m., Davidson Music Center, Room 218
Pianist Tanya Gabrielian will discuss the ways in which she has combined a career as a solo pianist with her advocacy for mental health awareness, social justice and wellness. Musical examples will be included in the discussion. Gabrielian will be the guest solo pianist for the Cal Poly Symphony on its fall concert.
Free
W. Terrence Spiller Piano Recital
Friday, Jan. 7, 2022
7:30 p.m., Spanos Theatre
Pianist and Cal Poly Professor Emeritus W. Terrence Spiller will give a recital to benefit the Music Department Scholarship Fund.
The first half of the program will feature works by Clara and Robert Schumann, two of the most important musicians from 19th-century Germany, and one of the most important married couples in music history.
The second half will be entirely of French repertoire.
Tickets ($20 general, $10 students)
Bach Week | Jan. 18-22, 2022 
Bach Week Akademie: ‘Bach and the Organ’
Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022
6 p.m., Performing Arts Center
Today, we think of J.S. Bach as a composer who demonstrated complete mastery of his art. However, during his lifetime, he was known primarily for his knowledge of the pipe organ and his ability to improvise on it. Join Bach Week co-director David Arrivée for an exploration of Bach’s multifaceted relationship with this instrument, with musical examples played by university organist Paul Woodring.
Chamber Concert: Organ Showcase
Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022
7:30 p.m., Performing Arts Center
University organist Paul Woodring will present a survey of the organ music of J.S. Bach on the Forbes pipe organ in the Performing Arts Center. Come to the preceding Akademie lecture to explore the context of this music in Bach’s life.
Tickets ($10) for the lecture and concert
Instrumental Master Class
Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022
11:10 a.m.-1 p.m., Davidson Music Center, Room 218
For the first half, guest artist Leif Woodward, cello, will coach Cal Poly students in instrumental repertoire from the Baroque era, with a focus on historically informed performance. During the second half, he will coach students in effective continuo playing.
Free
Vocal Master Class
Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022
3:10 p.m., Davidson Music Center, Room 218
Guest artists Kerry Ginger and John Buffett will coach several Cal Poly voice students in repertoire from the Baroque era.
Free
Chamber Concert: A Musical Portrait of a Venetian Courtesan
Friday, Jan. 21, 2022
7:30 p.m., First Presbyterian Church, San Luis Obispo
The courtesan in Renaissance Venice held a unique social position. Despite a life filled with hardship and danger, she was able to circumvent many of the patriarchal restrictions on women making music. A study of courtesan’s music is therefore a tantalizing window from which to view the sound world of domestic life in Renaissance Venice. This concert will explore this world, from the performance of “high art” madrigals by Barbara Strozzi and San Marco maestri Willeart and Rore, to “bawdy” Carnival songs in dialetto. Rounding out the program will be instrumental dance music, creating a fun and festive atmosphere, with moments of tragedy and pathos interspersed.
Performed by the world-class period instrument ensemble Tesserae Baroque. Works for solo voice and small instrument ensemble featuring guest artist Rebecca Myers, soprano, will round out the program.
Tickets ($20 general, $10 students)
Special ticket price: $30 general, $15 students if you purchase both the Jan. 21 and 22 concerts
Pre-Concert Talk
Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022
6 p.m., First Presbyterian Church, San Luis Obispo
Bach Week co-director Scott Glysson will lecture on the history of the musical settings of Psalm 130 and the context of J.S. Bach’s Cantata, "Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir,” and Michel Richard Delalande’s "De profundis."
Bach Week Finale Concert: Out of the Depths
Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022
7:30 p.m., First Presbyterian Church, San Luis Obispo
Psalm 130, which begins with the line "Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord,” provided the text for one of J.S. Bach’s earliest cantatas, "Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir,” BWV 131. This poignant and arresting cantata, however, was not the only musical portrayal of this Psalm. The French composer Michel Richard Delalande wrote his powerful "De profundis” to the same text, though in a different language, around 20 years before Bach. A suite of French music, directed by the musicians of Tesserae Baroque, rounds out the program.
Tickets ($20 general, $10 students) for the lecture and concert
Special ticket price: $30 general, $15 students if you purchase both the Jan. 21 and 22 concerts
Chanticleer with the Cal Poly Choirs: Beauty of the Day
Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022
7:30 p.m., Performing Arts Center
The Grammy Award-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer has been hailed as “the world’s reigning male chorus” by The New Yorker, and is known around the world as “an orchestra of voices” for its wide-ranging repertoire and dazzling virtuosity. Founded in San Francisco in 1978 by singer and musicologist Louis Botto, Chanticleer quickly took its place as one of the most prolific recording and touring ensembles in the world, selling over one million recordings and performing thousands of live concerts to audiences around the world. The Cal Poly Choirs will join Chanticleer for the world premiere of “Beauty of the Day” by Nico Muhly.
W. Terrence Spiller: Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle VI
Friday, May 13, 2022
7:30 p.m., Pavilion, Performing Arts Center
Pianist and Cal Poly Professor Emeritus W. Terrence Spiller will give an all-Beethoven recital. It is the sixth in Spiller’s complete survey of the composer's piano sonatas.
Spiller will perform two of Beethoven's most famous “named” sonatas: “The Tempest,” and the mammoth “Hammerklavier.”
Spiller retired from full-time teaching in March 2021, but he will continue to teach applied piano in the Music Department.
Tickets ($20 general, $10 students)