Music Department

Events Archive

2010-11

"A Garland of Music for the First of May" | View Program

The Reed College music department presented a concert on Sunday, May 1, at 7:30 p.m. in Kaul Auditorium. Performing groups included the Collegium Musicum, the Reed Orchestra, and student chamber musicians. Among composers represented were Mendelssohn, Britten, and Shostakovich.

Sacred Service by David Schiff | View Program

The Reed College Chorus, Collegium Musicum, and Orchestra, with soloists Cantor Judith Schiff, Robin Steitz, and Virginia Hancock, presented a concert performance of David Schiff's Sacred Service on Sunday April 24th at 7:30 pm in Kaul Auditorium. The composer conducted.

"It's All About Love" | View program

The Reed College Music Department presented a choral concert, "It's All About Love," on Sunday 5 December at 7:30 p.m. in Kaul Auditorium. The Reed Chorus performed the Liebeslieder op. 52 (love-song waltzes) by Johannes Brahms with pianists Neil Anderson and Cole Perkinson. The Collegium Musicum performed a cappella works on the theme of sacred love ranging from chant to the present and including music by Tallis, Palestrina, Lasso, Schütz, Stainer, Vergin, and Tavener. The concert was conducted by Virginia Hancock.

"Crescendo"

The Reed Orchestra Fall Concert, titled "Crescendo", took place on Sunday November 21st at 7:30pm in Kaul Auditorium.
The program was:
Elgar: Serenade for Strings
Mozart: Symphony #29 in A major
Beethoven: Overture to "Egmont"

The Reed Orchestra was directed by David Schiff, R.P. Wollenberg Professor of Music.

2009-10

"Dance into Spring"

The Reed College music department presented its spring concert, "Dance into Spring," on Sunday, April 25, at 7:30 p.m. in Kaul Auditorium.

The Reed Orchestra, conducted by Carlos Carrillo Cotto, performed his Concierto Matinal, with dances choreographed by Carla Mann and her students. The orchestra joined the Reed Chorus, directed by Virginia Hancock, for the Spring section (Der Frühling) of Haydn's Seasons (Die Jahreszeiten), and the Collegium Musicum, also under Hancock's direction, performed a group of English and Italian madrigals that herald the arrival of spring.

"America Sings!" | View program

The Reed College Music Department presented a choral concert, "America Sings!" at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday 6 December 2009 in Kaul Auditorium on the Reed campus. The Reed Chorus and Collegium Musicum, both conducted by Virginia Hancock, sang arrangements of spirituals and pieces by William Billings, Samuel Barber, and James Bernhard, among others.

Reed Orchestra

The Reed College Orchestra presented a concert on Sunday 22 November at 7:30 p.m. in Kaul auditorium. Under the direction of Carlos Carrillo-Cotto, the orchestra played Beethoven's Symphony no. 1 and Mozart's bassoon concerto, with soloist Sam Elgin.

2008-09

"Mendelssohn et al." | View program

The Reed College music department presented its spring concert, "Mendelssohn et al.," on Sunday, April 26, at 7:30 p.m. in Kaul Auditorium. The concert, which was free and open to the public, celebrated the bicentenary of the birth of Felix Mendelssohn in 1809.

The Reed Orchestra, conducted by David Schiff, played Mendelssohn's overture "The Hebrides" and the Nocturne from the Midsummer Night's Dream incidental music; and a group of students in the chamber music program, coached by John Hubbard, performed the Scherzo movement of his Octet. The orchestra joined the Reed Chorus, directed by Virginia Hancock, for the choruses from Part II of Elijah. The Collegium Musicum, also under Hancock's direction, performed short works not only by Mendelssohn, but by a variety of other composers with anniversaries in years ending '09 and '59.

"A Variety of Vocal Variations" | View program

The Reed College Music Department presened a choral concert, "A Variety of Vocal Variations," at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday 7 December 2008 in Kaul Auditorium on the Reed campus. The program, conducted by Virginia Hancock, consisted of sets of variations on traditional chorales by three great German composers.

This year 2008 was the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Hugo Distler, a successful teacher, organist, choral director and composer who, in despair over the actions of the authorities, committed suicide during World War II.  The Collegium Musicum sang the variations on "Es ist ein' Ros entsprungen" (Lo, how a rose e'er blooming) from his Weihnachtsgeschichte (Christmas story), a work strongly influenced by the music of the early Baroque composer Heinrich Schütz.  They also performed Johannes Brahms's motet "O Heiland, reiß die Himmel auf," op. 74/2, which consists of five variations on the stanzas of an Lutheran chorale for Advent.

The Reed Chorus sang Johann Sebastian Bach's motet Jesu, meine Freude, in which variations on the chorale are interspersed with biblical verses from the book of Romans; the work contains some of Bach's most vivid musical illustrations.

2007-08

"Rejoice in Spring!" | View program | View rehearsal photos

The Reed College Music Department presented a concert of music in English on Sunday, April 27 at 7:30 p.m. in Kaul Auditorium. The concert was free and open to the public.

The Collegium Musicum sang a cappella works by composers ranging from Renaissance English madrigalists to Americans Elliott Carter (one of the subjects of this year's Carter-Messiaen Project) and Jacob Avshalomov. The Reed Chorus was accompanied by Andra Brosy in Benjamin Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb, a setting of texts by the eighteenth-century religious poet and inhabitant of Bedlam, Christopher Smart.  Both groups were directed by Virginia Hancock; student conductors Aaron Deich and Brenna Wrye-Simpson also participated.

Reed Chamber Orchestra Spring Concert | View photos

The spring concert, directed by David Schiff, featured Beethoven’s Symphony #3 in E flat, "Eroica." 8 p.m., Thursday, April 17, in Kaul Auditorium.

"Heavy/Heavenly Music" | View program

The Reed College music department presented its fall concert, "Heavy/Heavenly Music," on Sunday, December 2, at 7:30 p.m. in Kaul Auditorium. The concert was free and open to the public.

The Chamber Orchestra, conducted by David Schiff, played Beethoven's Coriolan Overture and joined the Reed Chorus for Luigi Cherubini's Requiem Mass in C minor, composed in Paris after the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy for the anniversary of the execution of King Louis XVI.  During the nineteenth century it was held to be fully equal to Mozart's Requiem, and it was performed at Beethoven's funeral.  The Collegium Musicum, directed by Virginia Hancock, performed a group of motets by Renaissance composers, including several settings of the text "O sacrum convivium."  Olivier Messiaen's setting of the same text announced ROMP (Reediana Omnibus Musica Philosopha), a symposium in honor of the centenaries of both Messiaen and Elliott Carter, held in collaboration with Chamber Music Northwest on January 25-27, 2008.

June 25 - July 28 / Chamber Music Northwest Summer Festival

Concerts feature a wide range of classical and modern compositions. Pre-concert musical conversations: one hour before each concert, in Kaul Auditorium. Free open rehearsals: 11 a.m., Wednesdays, in Kaul Auditorium. Picnic dinners precede evening concerts, at 6 p.m., in the Gray Campus Center quad; dinner tickets sold on site. Concert tickets: 503/294-6400. For details, visit the Chamber Music Northwest website.

2006-07

"Isn't It Romantic?" - Parts I and II | View program for Part II

The Reed College Music Department presented a pair of concerts of music from the Romantic period on Sunday, April 15, and Sunday, April 22.

Part I, performed by the Reed Chamber Orchestra under conductor David Schiff, included Richard Wagner's "Siegfried Idyll" and movements from the Second Serenade of Johannes Brahms and the String Serenade by Antonín Dvorák.

Part II included Brahms's Zigeunerlieder (Gypsy Songs), Op. 103, performed by the Reed Chorus with pianist Dewey Kim. The Collegium Musicum sang nineteenth-century choral pieces by a variety of German and English composers, including Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, Stanford, Parry, and Sullivan. Both groups were directed by Virginia Hancock; student conductor Wil Horsley and pianist Jamie Barton also participated.

"A Bach Bash" | View program

The Reed College music department presented its fall semester concert, with the Chamber Orchestra, conducted by David Schiff, playing J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto no. 1 and the first movement of the harpsichord concerto in D minor with soloist Dewey Kim ’07. The orchestra also joined the Reed Chorus, directed by Virginia Hancock, for duets and choruses from Cantatas no. 78 ("Jesu, der du meine Seele") and no. 196 ("Der Herr denket an uns"). The Collegium Musicum, also directed by Virginia Hancock, peformed a group of a cappella pieces by German and English composers who lived before Bach. 7:30 p.m., Kaul Auditorium.

2005-06

"Mozart and Company" | View program | View photos

The Reed College music department presented "Mozart and Company" on Sunday 23 April 2006 at 7:30 p.m. in Kaul Auditorium. The Chamber Orchestra, conducted by David Schiff, played Mozart's Symphony no. 29 and joined the Reed Chorus for Mozart's Requiem Mass, as completed by his student Franz Xaver Süßmayr; the combined forces were conducted by Virginia Hancock. The Collegium Musicum, also directed by Hancock, performed part songs and canons by both Mozart and Haydn, his friend and contemporary, and a pair of English glees of the sort that inspired Haydn to compose part songs. The concert was the culminating event of ROMP (Reediana Omnibus Musica Philosopha), which focuses on Mozart, whose 250th birthday we celebrate this year.

"Encounters across the Centuries" | View program

The Reed College Music Department presented a concert of choral music, "Encounters across the Centuries," on Sunday, December 4th, at 2:00 p.m. in Kaul Auditorium on the Reed campus. Admission is free.

The singers of the Collegium Musicum, conducted by Virginia Hancock and student conductors Vera Alcorn and Elizabeth Raby, performed motets for the season of Christmas by Renaissance composers including Josquin des Prez and 20th-century French composer Francis Poulenc. The major work on the program, sung by the Reed Chorus, also conducted by Virginia Hancock, was Igor Stravinsky's Mass for mixed chorus and ten wind instruments.

2004-05

The Brahms Era | View program

The Reed College Music Department presented its spring concert, "The Brahms Era," on Sunday, April 24, at 2:00 p.m. in Kaul Auditorium. Admission is free.

The Chamber Orchestra, conducted by David Schiff, played Edward Elgar's Serenade and will join the Reed Chorus for two works by Johannes Brahms—Nänie, Op. 82, and the fourth movement of Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45. The Collegium Musicum, directed by Virginia Hancock, performed three choruses by Clara Schumann on texts by Emanuel Geibel, Brahms's Lieder und Gesänge Op. 93a, and his motet, "Es ist das Heil uns kommen her," Op. 29 no. 1.

Concert and Church

Sunday, December 5th, at 7:30 p.m. in Kaul Auditorium.
The Reed Chamber Orchestra under conductor David Schiff performed Haydn's Symphony no. 93, the first of the London symphonies, and the first movement of Luigi Boccherini's cello concerto with soloist Adam Percival. The vocal component of the concert, conducted by Virginia Hancock, consisted of two settings of the Roman Catholic Mass, both intended for the Christmas season. The singers of the Collegium Musicumwill performed the Missa Noe noe by Renaissance composer Jacques Arcadelt and the model on which it is based, Jean Mouton's motet "Noe noe." The Messe de minuit pour Noël by French Baroque composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier was sung by the Reed Chorus and accompanied by the Chamber Orchestra.

2003-04

"Death and Resurrection"

Sunday 25 April 2004, 7:30 p.m. in Kaul Auditorium.
The program, conducted by Virginia Hancock, consisted of works by the two greatest composers of the Baroque era in Germany. Heinrich Schütz's Musicalische Exequien was sung by the Collegium Musicum, with continuo players Elizabeth Hopkins, organ, and Adam Percival, cello. String players from the Reed Chamber Orchestra will accompany the Reed Chorus in J.S. Bach's Cantata 4, "Christ lag in Todesbanden," and excerpts from Cantata 12, "Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen." Admission is free.

Chorus/Orchestra/Collegium Winter Concert

Sunday, December 7, 2003 at 8 PM in Kaul Auditorium.
The title of the concert is "A Seasonal Celebration" Chorus and chamber orchestra performed excerpts from the Autumn and Winter sections of Haydn's The Seasons. Margo Meyer was violin soloist for both the Autumn and Winter concertos of Vivaldi. The Collegium performed works ranging from the Renaissance to the 20th century.