[352] MTSU’s Stones River Chamber Players wind down ‘Roads Less Traveled’ March 26 with ‘eclectic’ free concert

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — The Stones River Chamber Players, MTSU’s faculty ensemble-in-residence, will end their 2017-18 season Monday, March 26, with a free concert, “Roads Less Traveled,” comprising works from multiple composers.

The ensemble members, all of whom teach in MTSU’s School of Music, will perform at 7:30 p.m. March 26 in Hinton Music Hall inside the Wright Music Building.

“This free public concert will feature an eclectic array of music,” says MTSU piano professor and Chamber Players co-director Arunesh Nadgir, pointing to performances of “Dance King” and “King Tango” by Steve Rouse, four arias by Alesandro Scarlatti, “No Rush”byJin Zhang, “Blue Ridge”by Michael Burritt and “Noble Tafelmusik”by Robert Delanoff.

"Rouse’s works are written for the unusual combination of double bass and flute," Nadgir explains. "The dance-like interplay between the two instruments and thecombination of their two unique sounds will be fascinating to hear.”

Chamber Players flutist Deanna Littleand double bassist Tim Pearson will perform the Rouse pieces.

The Scarlatti arias, part of a set of seven composed in 1706 for soprano and trumpet, will be performed by MTSU soprano Dina Cancryn, trumpeter Michael Arndtand pianist Joseph Walker.

The program will then combine Chinese and Western instruments to continue the eclectic theme, Nadgir says.

“Zhang’s ‘No Rush,’ a trio for percussion, erhu and zheng, is a wonderful example of how different musical cultures can unite to create beautiful and exciting music,” he says. Percussionist Brian Mueller, zheng player Mei Hanand erhu playerWei Liangwill present the piece.

Mueller will return on marimba with Matt Jordanfor Burritt’s “Blue Ridge” marimba duet, which Mueller says “connects many different styles of music, including folk, jazz and pop.”

“Noble Tafelmusik,” the final program piece, will feature Little on flute, Rebecca Van de Venon oboe and Chamber Players co-director Adam Clark on piano.

“The entire composition focuses on exploiting the different sound colors of the three instruments involved," says Clark. "The charm and exciting character of the first movement, ‘Dance of the Polyps,’ results from the use of extremely high pitches, particularly in the piano part. 

“The second movement, ‘Stalactites,’ is a tone picture with a wide range of colors in all registers of the flute and oboe. The final movement, ‘Time for Raki,’ is dominated by a 9/8 measure, which is the basis of Turkish folk music.”

You can listen to streaming audio performances by the Stones River Chamber Players at http://www.mtsu.edu/music/srcp.php. For details on more MTSU School of Music performances, call 615-898-2493 or visit http://www.mtsumusic.comand click on the "Concert Calendar" link.