Opening Concert of New Summer Series at Utah State University

Midsummer Night’s Magic, the new summer concert series presented by the Department of Music at Utah State University, gets underway Wednesday, June 25, with the flute-clarinet duo AirFare and its members Leslie Timmons (flute) and Nicholas Morrison (clarinet). Joining AirFare for the performance are music department colleagues Cindy Dewey, soprano, and Lynn Jemison-Keisker, piano/harpsichord.

The opening concert begins at 7:30 p.m. at USU’s Performance Hall (approximately 1090 E. 675 North, Logan). Admission is $10 and all proceeds support student scholarships. Tickets are available at the door.

 

Midsummer Night’s Magic is one of the first innovations of the music department’s new head Craig Jessop. Concerts will be presented through the summer on Wednesday evenings and feature USU faculty and student ensembles.

 

“I am thrilled to be able to offer this new summer concert series,” Jessop said. “I understand from my colleagues that there haven’t been many opportunities for our summer audience to hear concerts in the Performance Hall, and I think it is particularly fitting that, while many of our students are away from campus working to save money for college, the department is also making an effort to increase scholarship support.”

 

The program for the inaugural Midsummer Night’s Magic concert includes chamber music by John Rutter, Phillip Kent Bimstein, Valerie Coleman and Lester Trimble.

 

“Think of it as a sort of progressive dinner of chamber music,” said AirFare member Nicholas Morrison. “We start with British composer John Rutter’s Three American Miniatures for the flute and clarinet duo as a sort of appetizer. Then we move to southern Utah for Bimstein’s Halfmoon at Checkerboard Mesa, scored for flute, clarinet and prerecorded nature sounds.”

 

The main course is a consortium premiere of Valerie Coleman’s Portraits of Langston, inspired by the life and poetry of Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes, Morrison said. Jemison-Keisker, on piano, joins Morrison and Timmons.

 

“After a short intermission, soprano Cindy Dewey joins us for dessert — Lester Trimble’s Four Fragments from Canterbury Tales, a wonderful piece that is unique in its use of harpsichord instead of piano.”

 

“The concert series is an excellent opportunity for community members, summer citizens and students to be whisked away into a magic musical world in the beautiful Manon Caine Russell Kathryn Caine Wanlass Performance Hall during the summer when the hall typically stays closed,” Jessop said. “What better way to support student scholarships and hear the extraordinary talents to be found in our faculty and their outstanding students.”

 

Future Midsummer Night’s Magic concerts feature Logan Canyon Winds performing with members of the Caine Percussion Ensemble (July 2), the Lightwood Duo (July 9), Opera Gala (July 16), piano students of Gary Amano (July 23), the Fry Street Quartet (July 30) and the Michael and Cory Christiansen Guitar Duo (Aug. 6).

 

For more information on Midsummer Night’s Magic, contact the music department, (435) 797-3015.