Final Performance Tonight of Creo, ODU's Contemporary Music Ensemble
Creo, Old Dominion University's contemporary-music ensemble, will be joined by Buffalo Contemporary Dance and Second Wind Dance Company for a second F. Ludwig Diehn Concert Series performance tonight at the University Theatre.
A pre-concert talk at 7:30 p.m. will precede the performance, which begins at 8 p.m.
The program will open with a performance of Steve Reich's "Sextet," featuring Buffalo Contemporary Dance and Creo, followed by the world premiere of "Tsitsernakabert," a composition by Creo conductor and artistic director Andrey Kasparov that is dedicated to the Armenian Genocide of 1915. It will feature Second Wind Dance Company and Creo.
Leslie Wexler is choreographer of Buffalo (N.Y.) Contemporary Dance. Reich, the composer of "Sextet," is recognized around the world as one of the leading American minimalists. "Sextet" (1984) was commissioned by Laura Dean Dancers and Musicians and by the French government for the Nexus Percussion Ensemble. The work, in five movements played without pause, is for four percussionists and two keyboard players. Creo will be conducted by Lucy Manning, ODU visiting assistant professor of music.
"Tsitsernakabert (2007-2008) was inspired by the memorial of the same name, designed by the architects Sashur Kalashian and Artur Tarkhanyan and located in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. Atrocities committed against the Armenian people of the Ottoman Empire during World War II are referred to as the Armenian Genocide. Kasparov, an award-winning composer and musician, was born in the city of Baku, Azerbaijan, to a family of Armenian descent.
For the performance, Second Wind Dance Company, with choreographers Beverly Cordoba Duane and Christina Yoshida, will be joined by Creo, under the director of Kasparov. Peter Eudenbach, ODU assistant professor of art, collaborated with Kasparov on a visual component for the piece.
Creo, an ensemble in-residence at ODU, was founded in 1998 by Professor Kasparov. The group's name - a Latin root for "create," "creative," etc. - reflects Creo's aesthetics toward innovation and creativity. The core of the ensemble's repertoire consists mainly of the works composed after 1945 as well as earlier 20th-century compositions.
Tickets for the concerts are $15 for general admission and $10 for students, and may be purchased by calling 683-5305. The program is part of the Diehn Concert Series, which is funded by a grant from the F. Ludwig Diehn Fund of The Norfolk Foundation and by the Virginia Commission for the Arts.