Category: Music

Minnesota Ballet, Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra, local student dancers to perform “The Nutcracker” Dec. 4, 5 at Rozsa Center

The NutcrackerHOUGHTON — The snowflakes, the beloved Christmas music, the magical tale: Come to the Rozsa Center to experience the timeless Christmas tradition that is The Nutcracker ballet! Minnesota Ballet and Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra (with Joel Neves conducting) will present a fully-staged production, with live orchestra, of Tchaikovsky’s enchanting Nutcracker ballet at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Dec. 4 and 5, 2015.

The performance is presented with support by Minnesota Public Radio.

Student dancers from many area schools, including Houghton, Hancock, Baraga, Lake Linden-Hubbell, C-L-K, Michigan Tech, Gogebic CC and others will take the stage to create this magical Christmas fairytale with the Minnesota Ballet and Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra. Tickets are on sale now: $25 for adults, $10 for youth.

Special for The Nutcracker performances only, a $55 “family package” includes two adults and two youth tickets. Additional youth tickets can be added on for $6 each. No charge for Michigan Tech students with a Student ID/ Experience Tech fee. Advance reserved seating is now available. Tickets may be purchased by phone at 487-2073, online, in person at the Central Ticketing Office in the Student Development Complex or at the Rozsa Box Office the evening of the performance.

From Keweenaw Now.

KSO Fall Recital

KSO Fall RecitalDid you know that every fall, the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra (KSO) performs more intimate, free (dontaion suggested), informal concerts at a local church?

The symphony continues their “Fall KSO Recital Series” tomorrow. The Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra, with Joel Neves, conductor, has been a mainstay of the Upper Peninsula arts scene for more than thirty years.

The KSO counts among its musicians Michigan Tech students, faculty, staff, community artists and guest professionals from throughout the Upper Midwest.

The Fall Recital Series continues at 7 p.m. Thursday, November 19, 2015, at the Portage Lake United Church in Houghton. The suggested donation is $5, taken at the door.

From Tech Today, by VPA.

“Collecting Small Things,” Superior Wind Symphony in Concert

SWS Collecting Small ThingsThe Superior Wind Symphony will perform “Collecting Small Things” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, November 14, 2015, in the Rozsa Center.

The Superior Wind Symphony is the only Michigan Tech music ensemble composed entirely of non-music majors: chemists, engineers, physics and math majors make up the band. From bassoons to oboes, trumpets to saxophones, you’ll get to focus alternately on all of the wind and percussion families of instruments, while enjoying the prowess of the entirely non-music-major ensemble.

From Tech Today, by Bethany Jones.

Among the performers from VPA is Aaron Christianson, Theatre and Entertainment Technology major.

Local Student Dancers to Perform

The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker

Student dancers from many area schools, including Houghton, Hancock, Baraga, Lake Linden-Hubbell, C-L-K, Michigan Tech, Gogebic CC and others have begun rehearsals for their upcoming performances of “The Nutcracker.”

Young dancers will take the stage to create this magical Christmas fairytale with the Minnesota Ballet and Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra on Dec. 4 and 5, at the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are on sale now, $25 for adults, $10 for youth.

Special for the Nutcracker performances only, a $55 “family package” includes two adults and two youth tickets and additional youth tickets can be added on for $6 each. No charge for Michigan Tech students with a Student ID/ Experience Tech fee. Advance reserved seating is now available. Tickets may be purchased by phone at 7-2073, online, in person at the Central Ticketing Office in the Student Development Complex or at the Rozsa Box Office the evening of the performance.

From Tech Today, by the Rozsa Center.

Chamber Singers Perform at ACDA-MI Conference

FlintconScience: Michigan Tech Chamber Singers performed at the American Choral Directors Association Conference in Flint last Saturday, October 24, 2015. The ensemble was selected to perform by blind audition. ACDA-MI is the professional organization for choral conductors from Michigan. The choir presented a program entitled “Reflections on the Mass” that consisted of music fitting the spirit of each of the movements of the Mass Ordinary. The choir performed music of Leonard Bernstein, Duke Ellington, Josef Rheinberger, Ronald Staheli, Dale Trumbore and Roland Pitt.

From Tech Today, by VPA.

Backstage Jazz this Friday and Saturday

Jazz Showcase“Backstage at the Rozsa” opens its doors to the groovin’ sounds of big band jazz this weekend. The Rozsa stage becomes a pop-up jazz club, and the intimate club atmosphere is a perfect setting for Michigan Tech’s Research and Development Big Band and the Jazz Lab Band to loosen the reins on creativity and capture the flow of jazz.

Join Jazz Studies Program Director Mike Irish and the Michigan Tech jazz ensembles for Jazz Showcase: “Backstage at the Rozsa” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, October 30, and Saturday, October 31, in the Rozsa Center. Visit online for more information or tickets.

From Tech Today, by Rozsa Center.

Backstage Jazz Returns to Rozsa Oct. 30, 31

According to Irish, “Jazz was born in the tonks and joints of Storyville in New Orleans and has always found a home in the small but lively entertainment venues throughout the world: the ‘speakeasies’ of Chicago, the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, the Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan, Minton’s Playhouse in Harlem, Birdland in New York, Ronnie Scott’s in London, the Town Tavern in Toronto, the A – Trane in Berlin, the Shaft in Istanbul, the Blue Note and Vanguard in New York — and the Orpheum in Hancock, Michigan. Jazz is now enjoyed and practiced all over the world and is one of America’s greatest cultural exports. So sit back, and immerse yourself in the music! In the words of jazz legend Art Blakey, ‘Jazz washes away the dust of everyday life.'”

Read more at Keweenaw Now.

Whither Houghton: Huskies Pep Band Live

Whither HoughtonThe Huskies Pep Band invites you to a night of music and wacky shenanigans as they celebrate 40 years of Monty Python. A mix of classic tunes and current jams will be featured in addition to several Pythonesque skits. This event will be from 7:30-9 p.m. Friday, October 16, 2015. in the Rozsa Theater. Adult tickets are $13.00, youth tickets are $5.00 and students are free with ETF.

From Tech Today.

Join the Pep Band at Husky Statue First Anniversary

Husky StatueHappy Birthday Husky Statue

Michigan Tech’s iconic husky dog statue is turning one year old. Join us at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, October 14, 2015, for a special celebration. Members of the Pep Band will be on hand to play the birthday song and help mark the first anniversary of the statue’s dedication. The event is also a great way to thank Joan and (the late) Dan Lorenzetti, whose generosity made the husky statue a reality.

From Tech Today.

Choirs, Wind Symphony and Jazz, Oh My

A Musical Sampler
A Musical Sampler

A Musical Sampler will whet your eclectic musical taste buds! Ever wonder what the choirs at Michigan Tech sound like? Want to mash up an evening of Jazz and Wind Symphony? This Saturday night at the Rozsa, you have your chance to sample a bit of each all in one evening.

Michigan Tech’s department of visual and performing arts presents “A Musical Sampler, a celebration of music at Michigan Tech.”

The concert will feature the Jazz Lab Band, the Superior Wind Symphony, Concert Choir, conScience and the jazz ensemble AstroSax. The show will be 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets for the Musical Sampler concert are on sale now, $13 for adults, $5 for youth, and no charge for Michigan Tech students with the Experience Tech fee. Tickets are available by phone at 7-2073, online at Rozsa.mtu.edu, or in person at the Central Ticketing Office in the Student Development Complex.

From Tech Today, by Rozsa Center.

Mike Irish Interviewed by Just Jazz Guitar

Mike Irish - Just Jazz GuitarMike Irish (VPA) was interviewed for Just Jazz Guitar magazine. You can watch the interview on two supplemental videos online.

From Tech Today.

Video 1: Five Sax Arrangement of “Round Midnight” (An adaption of a Robert Conti solo guitar arrangement)

Arrangement by Mike Irish. Musicians: Rebecca Prich, Tonina Clements, Ben Sheff, Jake Reid, Nick Black

Video 2: Some Like It Cool – A Film About Mike Irish

A film by: Paul Kirby, Erik Doering, Peter Falk, Kevin Gray. Thanks to: Brittany Vanderwall, Kyle Frazier, Mike Christianson, Libby Meyer, Bob Hiltunen, Steve Jones, Orpheum Theater, Rozsa Theater. A special thanks to: Mike Irish, Erin Smith

Just Jazz Guitar Online features the greatest players, educators and writers in the field of jazz.