Cal Poly Humboldt Recital Series: Welcome Concert

Name: Cal Poly Humboldt Recital Series: Welcome Concert
Start: 2025-09-13T19:30:00-07:00
Location: Fulkerson Recital Hall

Schedule

Sat, 13 Sep, 2025 at 07:30 pm

UTC-07:00

Location

Fulkerson Recital Hall | Arcata, CA

Loud and exciting, dreamlike and atmospheric, improvisational and spoken word—the Cal Poly Humboldt Department of Dance, Music, and Theatre invites you to a concert full of dramatic contrasts. Join us Saturday, September 13th, 7:30pm at the Fulkerson Recital Hall at Cal Poly Humboldt for The Cal Poly Humboldt Recital Series: Welcome Concert. The concert will exhibit the broad variety of styles and sounds of the Music Department faculty. Pieces range from classics such as Beethoven to contemporary electronic video musical pieces by faculty member Brian Post. Tickets are $20 for General Admission, $5 for Children, and $5 for Cal Poly Humboldt students with ID. Tickets can be purchased at the door or online at tickets.humboldt.edu/dance-music-and-theatre.
The haunting melodies of Sir Karl Jenkins in his composition “Sakura” will begin the program. “Sakura” is from the album One World—”a work, for soloists, choir and orchestra, that heralds a vision of a peaceful and egalitarian planet that treats nature and ecological issues with respect and where human rights are universal. Where truth is truth and news is never ‘fake’, where leaders do not lie, transparency is a given and all faiths live together in peace. There is neither famine nor war.” The performance features Elisabeth Harrington, soprano, A Company of Voices: conducted by Stacy Young, Simon Oh, piano, and Michael Fabian, percussion.
Suite, by Darius Milhaud, was written in 1936 for Jean Anouilh’s play Traveler without Baggage—more significantly, for the play’s final scene, in which Gaston—a World War I veteran—is suffering from amnesia. His lost memory is the missing baggage of the title. This (mostly) jazzy piece ends with just violin and clarinet and features Cindy Moyer, violin, Virginia Ryder, clarinet, and Simon Oh, piano.
The department is excited to feature two videoscapes by faculty member Brian Post. In his words—“When The Past Is Present And The Present Has Past", is a videoscape based on a meditative reflection on letting go of linear time. Expressed through musical chant, sounding in a large space. Accompanied with sounds of breaking free from restricted existence. Resulting in peace within, without forever. “Spirit Guide,” is a videoscape based on an incomplete drawing of an unusual and exotic looking woman. I searched for months to find the right sounds and music to express the spirit within the drawing. When the piece was finished I felt that I was guided by the woman in the picture to the sounds and textures that I had used. The music was created using Ableton Live and the video was created using Gem and Jitter, two video design and coding applications.”
The audience will be treated to a true classic when Cindy Moyer, violin, and Simon Oh, piano, perform the 4th movement (Rondo: Allegro ma non troppo) of Beethoven’s Sonata in F Major, Op. 42, “Spring.” “[It] is a very cheerful Rondo. The opening melody returns 4 times during the piece, sometimes exactly the same, sometimes considerably varied.” muses Cindy Moyer. “[Rondo] is a Sonata for Piano and Violin with the Piano part being equal (or more than equal) to the violin part, so this is a great piece to introduce Simon Oh, our new staff pianist.”
Daniela Mineva, professor of music and director of keyboard studies at Cal Poly Humboldt, will then perform Das Schloss am Meere, TrV191( The castle by the sea) by Richard Strauss and movements from Carmina Burana by Carl Orff. Her sister, Nona Mineva, will join her as narrator. Strauss’ composition is based on German poet Ludwig Uhland’s Castle by the Sea, an atmospheric interrogation of a traveller returning from a mysterious mediaeval fortress. The work was composed for the distinguished German actor and director, Ernst von Possart. The Castle by the Sea is a miniature gothic masterpiece. Carmina Burana is a cantata composed in 1935 and 1936 by Carl Orff, based on 24 poems from the medieval collection Carmina Burana.
An intermission will follow. After, the program continues with “In A Landscape” by John Cage Arrg. Brian Post. “In A Landscape” was composed with the idea that the purpose of the music was “to sober and quiet the mind, thus rendering it susceptible to divine influences.”
Prepare yourself for an amazing improvisational performance by SoniX of Brian Post’s Urban Ambience. Composed in spring of 2024, Urban Ambience represents the overall hum of a city that is in motion 24 hours a day. In the music, like in a big city, there is always something happening somewhere. This one-of-a-kind performance features Garrick Woods, Cello, Colby Beers, Tabla, Saul Stewart, Bass, Ginny Ryder, English Horn, Bass Clarinet, Michael Fabian, Tenor Steel Drum, Accordian, and Brian Post, Piano.
Simon Oh will then delight with jaunty performances from Claude Debussy’s Preludes, Book I, movements No. 7, Ce qu’a vu le Vent d’Ouest (What the West Wind Saw) and No. 12, Minstrels. The newest addition to our faculty, we are so very excited to showcase his amazing talent. These two preludes capture “the intensively swirling wind and the humorous musician,” respectively.
We finish the evening with one of the most important Russian composers of the 20th/21st century—and one of the first major female composers—Sofia Gubaidalina. Quintet will be performed by Cindy Moyer, violin, Karen Davy, violin, Sherry Hanson, viola, Garrick Woods, cello, and Daniela Mineva, piano.
We hope to see you there.