Chamber Orchestra, percussionists give weekend concerts

On Saturday, Nov. 8, Xak Bjerken, assistant professor of music at Cornell, leads the Cornell Chamber Orchestra in a concert featuring works by Mozart, Dvorák, John Fitz Rogers (D.M.A. '96) and Stravinsky. Held in Barnes Hall at 8 p.m., the concert opens with a Mozart aria from Idomeneo, "Ch'io mi scordi di te," sung by soprano Judith Kellock with fortepianist Malcolm Bilson, both members of the music department faculty. This is followed by Antonín Dvorák's Serenade for Winds, op. 44, featuring only the wind section of the orchestra.

After intermission, the orchestra presents The Arc of Winter, written by John Fitz Rogers, which features Ithaca College School of Music faculty member Richard Faria on clarinet. The concert concludes with Igor Stravinsky's Concerto in E-flat Major, nicknamed the "Dumbarton Oaks" concerto.

Cornell percussion instructor James Armstrong and the other members of Los Pioneros perform Sunday, Nov. 9, at 3 p.m. in Barnes Hall. Courtesy of the Department of Music

Also featured this weekend, Los Pioneros, a percussion group specializing in the folkloric drumming and singing of Cuba, Haiti and West Africa, will give a concert Sunday afternoon, Nov. 9, at 3 in Barnes Hall. Cornell instructor James Armstrong, Vincent Ludovico and Levy Lorenzo are the members of Los Pioneros ("The Pathfinders"), and they meld many styles into a blend of traditional and original material, including a large repertoire from the Vodou and Santeria music cultures.

The majority of the works to be performed are traditional Afro-Cuban pieces, as well as Los Pioneros' arrangements of John Coltrane's Africa and Tito Puente's Philly Mambo, both which feature Jason Violette on the bass. Also included is the premiere of Mandy Fang's Thirsty Stone, scored for Los Pioneros and two violins, played by Ruth Roland and Keum-Hwa Cha. Fang is a second-year graduate student in the Department of Music, pursuing a D.M.A. in composition.