Robert Mirabal

ETHEL

Eclectic string quartet unites with award-winning Native American artist and guest choir composed of KU and Haskell students

with guest artist

Thursday

FEB26

7:30 pm

Please be mindful of the following in the auditorium:

• Pleasesilencecellularphonesandelectronicdevices• Nofoodordrink• Nocamerasorrecordingdevices

This event is sponsored, in part, by the Lied Performance Fund.This event is made possible through the generous support of the Raymond Stuhl Chamber Music Fund.

February 26, 2015

20-minute intermission

MUSIC OF THE SUNwith special guest Robert Mirabal

and the University of Kansas and Haskell Indian Nations University Student Choir

Arrival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marcelo Zarvos

Chant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeff Peterson/ETHEL

Run to the Sun . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert Mirabal/ETHEL

Grandmother . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dorothy Lawson

Pisachi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate

Voices of the Sun* . . . . . . . . . Robert Mirabal

3 Solstice Songs* . . . . . . . . . Ralph Farris/Poetry by Harry SmithSolstice PeopleSong of the SunInner Landscape

Moment Mirabal . . . . . . . . . . Robert Mirabal

In the Eyes of “E” . . . . . . . . . . . Robert Mirabal/ETHEL

Quiet Season . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert Mirabal

Ascent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kip Jones

*with choir

ETHEL endorses the Avid/Sibelius family of software solutions.ETHEL endorses the beyerdynamic family of microphones.

ETHEL with guest artist Robert Mirabal

PROGRAM NOTESAbout Music of the SunFor thousands of years humankind has turned toward the sun for inspiration, be it spiritual, philosophical, or poetic. Ancient sun myths from around the world continue to fascinate scholars and laypeople alike. In many Native American cultures each day begins with “running to the sun” — a fusion of spiritual and physical discipline, a daily search for the sacred.

ETHEL, the pioneering string quartet, and Grammy-winning Native American flutist Robert Mirabal present a program inspired by the sun mythology of Native America. Using the instruments of the string quartet, Native American flutes (Tdoop - Pootse) and drums (Mooloo), as well as the spirited voices of students and community members, ETHEL and Mirabal unite to create a cross-cultural contemporary music event. This extraordinary collaboration grew out of the ETHEL/Mirabal work on TruckStop, which premiered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2008.

February 26, 2015

SMITH: 3 SUN SONGS Solstice People

We are the solstice people. We reckonby the sun. We count moons, love the Goddess,

but the sun is sovereign, definingin his circuits Time ─ day, equinox, year.

When we wandered, we followed his motions,hunting game, greens, nuts, before we planted

grains and settled on the loamy floodplains.Building temples where the new year’s first ray

penetrates to light the inner chamber,we celebrated the sun and reveled

also throughout the bright midsummer night.Longest & shortest days are best for love.

Song of the SunWe always knew the sun is fire,

greater than any earthly fire,hotter, utter, Ultimate fire.

We always worshipped the Sun Father.god of many names, essence the same,

knew he is the creator of dayand the seasons, sire of all life,

husband of the earth, the Great Mother.Let us sing solstice hymns to the sun.

Inner LandscapeThe flooded woods,

the redding budswhich heraldwinter’s end

wound my heartwith yearningwhite as snow,and memoriesof run off yearsrise with sighs,

and I gogently bornehere & there

like a seed on the rivulets of spring.

ETHEL with guest artist Robert Mirabal

ETHEL BIOGRAPHYAcclaimed as “unfailingly vital” by The New York Times, “brilliant,” “downtown’s reigning string quartet” by The New Yorker, and “one of the most exciting quartets around” by Strad Magazine, ETHEL invigorates the contemporary music scene with exuberance, intensity, imaginative programming and exceptional artistry.

At the heart of ETHEL is a quest for a common creative expression that is forged in the celebration of community. As cultural and musical “pollinators,” the quartet brings its collaborative discoveries to audiences through multi-dimensional musical repertoire and community engagement.

ETHEL’s 2014-15 season celebrates the diversity of regional American music, anchored by a national tour of the evening-length ETHEL’s Documerica. Described by The New York Times as “new music bonding with old images in rich, provocative and moving ways,” this program, directed by Steve Cosson, features montages by acclaimed projection artist Deborah Johnson in concert with commissioned work by Mary Ellen Childs, Ulysses Owens Jr., Jared Impichchaachaaha’ Tate and James “Kimo” Williams, and new music by the members of ETHEL.

Throughout the season ETHEL tours several critically-acclaimed signature programs, ranging from a collaboration with guitar virtuoso Kaki King, to the Music of the Sun concerts with Robert Mirabal, to the introspective program Grace, featuring ETHEL’s arrangements

of music by Ennio Morricone and Jeff Buckley. Other highlights include: a “Composer Portrait” of Missy Mazzoli featuring a premiere of her new quartet commissioned by ETHEL at Miller Theater; performances as the Resident Ensemble at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Balcony Bar; and a residency at Denison University culminating in a performance at the Tutti Contemporary Music Festival.

Always striving to demonstrate the unifying power of music, ETHEL has initiated innovative collaborations with an extraordinary community of international artists including David Byrne, Bang on a Can, Todd Rundgren, Carlo Mombelli, Ursula Oppens, Loudon Wainwright III, STEW, Ensemble Modern, Jill Sobule, Dean Osborne, Howard Levy, Simone Sou, Andrew Bird, Iva Bittová, Colin Currie, Thomas Dolby, Jeff Peterson, Oleg Fateev, Stephen Gosling, Jake Shimabukuro, Polygraph Lounge and Vijay Iyer.

ETHEL has served as the Ensemble-in-Residence at the Grand Canyon Music Festival’s Native American Composers Apprenticeship Project for ten consecutive years. The group’s ongoing dedication to working with indigenous people and music culminated in the 2010 release of Oshtali: Music for String Quartet (Thunderbird Records), the first commercial recording of American Indian student works.

Over the past five years, ETHEL has premiered more than 100 new works by 20th and 21st century composers

February 26, 2015

including: Phil Kline’s SPACE at the gala reopening of Alice Tully Hall; RADIO by Osvaldo Golijov at the debut of WNYC Radio’s Jerome L. Greene Space; ETHEL’s TruckStop: The Beginning and ETHEL’s Documerica at BAM’s Next Wave Festival; ETHEL Fair: The Songwriters at opening night of Lincoln Center’s Out of Doors; WAIT FOR GREEN with choreographer Annie-B Parson commissioned by Arts Brookfield; and HonBiBaekSan by Dohee Lee at Meet the Composer’s 3-City Dash Festival. ETHEL’s HomeBaked series has commissioned and premiered works by emerging NYC composers Andy Akiho, Hannis Brown, Anna Clyne, Lainie Fefferman, Dan Friel, Judd

Greenstein, Matt Marks and Ulysses Owens Jr. to date. ETHEL has debuted original scores in combination with new choreography by Aleksandra Vrebalov/Dusan Tynek Dance Company and Son Lux/Gina Gibney Dance; and works by contemporary music luminaries such as Philip Glass, Julia Wolfe, John Zorn, Evan Ziporyn, Steve Reich, John King, Raz Mesinai, John Luther Adams, JacobTV, Hafez Modirzadeh, David Lang, Kenji Bunch, Don Byron and Marcelo Zarvos.

Founded in 1998 and based in New York City, ETHEL is comprised of Ralph Farris (viola), Dorothy Lawson (cello), Kip Jones (violin) and Corin Lee (violin).

Individual BiographiesRalph Farris (artistic director, viola) is a founding member of ETHEL, a Grammy-nominated arranger, an original Broadway orchestra member of The Lion King and former musical director for The Who’s Roger Daltrey. He has worked with Leonard Bernstein, Martin Scorsese, Depeche Mode, Natalie Merchant, Harry Connick Jr., Allen Ginsberg, Yo-Yo Ma and Gorillaz. A graduate of Walnut Hill School for the Arts, Farris earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School.

Dorothy Lawson (artistic director, cello), founding member of ETHEL, has performed with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the White Oak Dance Project, Philharmonia Virtuosi, the American Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and numerous new music ensembles. Canadian-born, she completed degrees at the University of Toronto, the Vienna

Academy and The Juilliard School. She teaches in the Preparatory Division of Mannes College at the New School in New York City.

Kip Jones (violin) is known for his ebullient and innovative solo performances in a style he describes as “experimental folk.” A modern musical troubadour, he has performed at scores of eclectic venues such as Ecuador’s Ministry of Economic Inclusion, Tirana’s Liceu Artistik “Jordan Misja,” two miles inside Chom Ong Tai cave in Laos, the summer homes of nomadic Mongolian herders and platforms of most subway systems in North America. As a composer, his work has been commissioned by ensembles that include the Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra and A Far Cry.  A native of Minnesota, Jones earned his degree in violin performance from the Berklee College of Music.

ETHEL with guest artist Robert Mirabal

Corin Lee (violin) is an active soloist and chamber musician. As an experienced acoustic and electric violinist who incorporates technology into baroque, classical and contemporary music, Lee has soloed his “musically marvelous” (Steve Reich) electronic arrangements in prestigious venues through the United States including Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium. Other solo and chamber engagements include performances in Merkin Concert Hall, The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, The Harvard Club of New York, Zankel Hall at Carnegie, and Mary Flagler Cary Hall. Lee received degrees from Juilliard (B.M.) and Yale School of Music (M.M.). In addition to performing, Lee directs Liberated Performer, a program that helps musicians with performance anxiety.

Guest Artist Robert Mirabal Musician, writer, singer and storyteller, Robert Mirabal is Native America’s most dynamic and best-selling artist. In addition to the music and instruments he creates, he is also a celebrated painter, poet and playwright. He is the author of A Skeleton of a Bridge, a book of poetry, prose and short stories. Mirabal is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Award, three Grammy awards and the New York Dance and Performer’s “Bessie” Award for composition. www.mirabal.com

ETHEL gratefully acknowledges its supporters:

The Board of ETHEL’s Foundation for the Arts; The Aaron Copland Fund for Music; The Amphion Foundation; Bloomberg Philanthropies; Brooklyn Academy of Music; The Carnegie Corporation of New York; CECArtsLink; Chamber Music America; The Cheswatyr Foundation, The Delmas Foundation; The Greenwall Foundation; The Jerome Foundation; LEF Foundation; Meet the Composer; Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation; The Multi-Arts Production Fund, a program of Creative Capital supported by the Rockefeller Foundation; The National Endowment for the Arts; The Netherland-America Foundation; New Music USA; The New York State Council on the Arts; New York Community Trust, The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; OZ Arts; The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation; and The September 11th Fund.

Special thanks to Paul Tucker, Mirna Cabrera and the KU and Haskell students who are participating in the Music of the Sun choir.

Artists are represented by

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SEASON ANNOUNCEMENTDON’T MISS THE

Tuesday

MAR24

7:30 pm

OF KANSAS

lied.ku.edu 785-864-2787See complete season online

Bernadette Peters in Concert

Sponsored by

Tony Award-winning Broadway legend

Wednesday

MAR25

7:30 pm

OF KANSAS

lied.ku.edu 785-864-2787See complete season online

Stewart Copeland & Jon Kimura ParkerOff the Score: Reimagining chamber music

Wed MAR 25 7:30

The Police’s rock star drummer partners with the pianist known for his brilliant

suite based on Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring .

saxophones

KU Jazz Ensemble I

Steve Wilsonwith special guest

Tue MAR 31 7:30

SPRING 2015

MARCH APRIL

MAY

Paul Huang, violin

8

Bernadette Peters in Concert

24

Stewart Copeland &Jon Kimura Parker 25

KU Jazz Ensemble I with special guest Steve Wilson, saxophones

31

WILD KRATTS—LIVE!10

Million Dollar Quartet

11

The Sage of Emporia: A One-Man Show

17 & 18

The Ugly Duckling & The Tortoise and the Hare

19

Pilobolus Dance Theater

25

Elling Swings Sinatra19

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