|
|
CONCERTS
THE LIVING ROOTS OF MUSIC concert. Lauren Pelon traces the story of
music and instruments throughout history and performs music from the 1st to the 21st centuries on archlute, guitar, lute-guitar,
lyre, psalmodikon, recorders, gemshorns, cornamuse, krummhorn, schreierpfeife, shawm, rackett, pennywhistles, concertina,
ocarina, hurdy-gurdy, doucaine, bowed and plucked psalteries, Kiowa courting flute, percussion, Digitech Vocalist, Akai electric
wind instrument, Kurzweil sampler, Roland MIDI-pedalboard, and voice. Pelon's compositions are featured, along with music
from ancient Greece, medieval and renaissance Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas.
WOMEN IN MUSIC: SOMEONE WILL REMEMBER US concert. Lauren Pelon traces
the story of women in music and performs music from around the world. The concert celebrates music written by, or for, women.
Crossing the boundaries of time, distance and culture, Pelon sings and plays approximately 25 ancient and modern instruments
- some of which were traditionally played by women, some forbidden to women.
EARTH SONGS celebrates Earth Day (and every day) with songs from around
the world and Pelon's original compositions. The music and narrative reflect our engagement with Nature, our concerns about
our rivers, lakes soil, plant life, and the great personal and social issues we face in creating a sustainable life for the
Earth and its creatures, including ourselves.
WINTER GRACES features seasonal music and carols from many countries and cultures, performed
on voice and a variety of ancient and modern wind, string and free-reed instruments from around the world.
HARVEST OF THE HEART concert of Lauren Pelon's
own compositions (includes several recent original works, funded by Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council).
MUSIC FROM GOODHUE COUNTY TO THE WORLD concert of regional (Goodhue
County, Minnesota) and world music, performed by Lauren Pelon (ancient and modern winds and strings, and voice), John Reed
(violin, viola, mandolin, guitar), Kale Olson-Reed (violin, bass, percussion), and Kik Gheen (voice).
CRYSTAL SILENCE concert of renaissance-jazz featuring Susan Pascal
(vibraphone), Lauren Pelon, John Reed and Kik Gheen. The program ranges from jazz standards to renaissance dance tunes, ballads,
Celtic jigs and Pelon's original compositions.
PEARLS FALLING ON JADE concert of Chinese American music featuring Gao Hong (pipa), with Lauren Pelon and John Reed.
Final work of the concert combines Pelon's European archlute with Gao's Chinese lute.
FEET FIRST features Lauren Pelon's "Piece for Five Feet and One Leg," recently commissioned
by Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council. This composition, for two MIDI-pedalboards, ankle and knee rattles, is performed by
Lauren Pelon, John Reed and Kik Gheen. Every other selection in the concert program involves at least one foot as well as
voice and/or hands.
GATHERED WATERS. "The
Ballad of the Sea Wing," an original work recently funded by Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC), is the centerpiece
of the "Gathered Waters" program. Composed by Pelon, it is based on real characters and an historic event that occurred on
the Mississippi River in 1890. The concert also includes historical and traditional music and popular songs - a medley of
1800's music typical of the kind the Henry Rehder Quartet might have played on board the Sea Wing, music of Minnesota/Wisconsin/Michigan
immigrants, river songs and songs of the Great Lakes.
LAUREN PELON, GUEST SOLOIST, WITH ORCHESTRA. Lauren Pelon performs music arranged by Gordon Wright, Music
Director of the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra and the Arctic Chamber Orchestra, 1969-87; and composer and arranger, John Luther
Adams; as well as her own arrangements and compositions. Scores and parts are available. Repertoire includes German Dance,
K.V. 602, No. 3 (Wolfgang Mozart), for hurdy-gurdy and small orchestra; Freest Fancy (Judy Mayhan), and The Salley Gardens
(Anonymous, poem by W.B. Yeats), for soprano voice, lute, and orchestra; Celtic Dawn (John Du Prez), for soprano recorder
and strings; Dances from Terpsichore (Michael Praetorius), for soprano and tenor recorders, and orchestra; Up Into the Silence
(John Luther Adams, text by ee cummings), for soprano voice and small orchestra; Hey ho, to the Greenwood (William Byrd),
for soprano voice, gemshorn, electric wind instrument, and brass; and Grumbling Old Man, Cackling Old Lady (Anonymous, Irish),
for soprano and tenor recorders, and orchestra.
MUSIC AND LITERATURE PROGRAMS
THE STORY OF MUSIC, STORIES FROM HOME. Lauren Pelon collaborates with poet and storyteller,
Gary H. Holthaus, to present a combined program of music and literature. Pelon and Holthaus talk about the role and importance
of stories and music. Holthaus reads poems, stories and essays from his books, Unexpected Manna, Circling Back, Traveling Alone, Wide Skies, and
Shadows of Home to
music composed and performed by Lauren Pelon.
EARTH TONES. Lauren Pelon teams with writer Gary Holthaus to present a program of music,
poetry and stories that celebrate the earth and its natural rhythms.
CIRCLING BACK - a reader's theater version of Gary Holthaus' book-length narrative poem about the
American West, featuring Custer, mountain men, Sitting Bull and Buffalo Woman. Music for the production is composed, arranged
and performed by Lauren Pelon and John Reed.
THAT'S HOW WE CAME TO HAVE THIS PLACE is a reader's theater piece comprised of stories gathered from farmers in Southeast
Minnesota. That's How We Came To Have This Place carries the real stories of real people, the authentic voices of Minnesota
farm families and farm workers. Lauren Pelon composed songs and instrumental music to accompany the spoken words. The music
is performed by Pelon and John Reed.
A
QUARTET OF DAFFODILS features internationally acclaimed Jamaican poet and essayist, Lorna Goodison reading from her poems
and prose. Lauren Pelon composed/arranged music to accompany Goodison on several selections. The music is performed by Lauren
Pelon and John Reed.
THE ROOTS OF LYRIC.
This lecture/exhibit is an exploration of the roots of sound and rhythm, gesture and word. Lauren Pelon examines the connections
between music and literature in the songs of the ancient Greeks, Yupik Eskimos, West African Griots, French troubadours and
trouveres, English and Scottish balladeers; and in the works of Chaucer, Shakespeare, William Butler Yeats, and Rainer Maria
Rilke. A variety of wind, string and percussion instruments from China, Japan, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Russia, Europe, Africa,
the Middle East and the Americas are displayed along with quotes from poets, playwrights, novelists or essayists.
EXHIBIT-TOURS
A WORLD OF MUSIC musical instrument exhibit. Lauren Pelon takes participants on a tour of approximately
150 musical instruments that she has collected in her travels. The instruments are on display, and some are available for
participants to pick up and play. Information cards placed by each instrument give a synopsis of its history. Further information
and recordings of the instruments are provided by Pelon. Wind, bowed and plucked strings, and percussion instruments come
from China, India, Japan, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Russia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the United States, and Central and
South America.
LECTURE-DEMONSTRATIONS
THEATER OF INSTRUMENTS. Lauren Pelon collaborates
with musician/luthier, John Reed. Reed talks about the history and artistry of violin-making, Pelon talks about the history
and artistry of wind, string, and percussion instruments from her collection. Solo and duo performances feature the hand-crafted
instruments of John Reed, as well as antique and contemporary instruments from Pelon's collection.
IMAGES OF MUSIC, CELEBRATION OF SOUND. Lauren Pelon presents slides,
recordings, and videos of musical instruments now held in museums around the world. This demonstration draws from instrument
collections housed at Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Museo Municipal de Musica, Barcelona, Spain; Museodegli Strumenti
Musicali, Milano, Italy; Conservatoire Royal de Musique de Bruxelles, Belgium; Shrine to Music Museum, Vermillion, South Dakota;
Russian Institute of the History of the Arts, St. Petersburg, Russia; Kazakh Music Instruments Museum, Kazakhstan and the
Shanghai Museum in China.
SCHOOL PROGRAM.
This fast-paced performance is designed to hold the attention of students of all ages, musicians and non-musicians alike.
Lauren Pelon demonstrates the sound and historic place of approximately 25 ancient and modern wind, string and free-reed instruments.
The program incorporates music and instruments from ancient Greece and China, through medieval and renaissance times, to 19th
century America and on to contemporary times. Japanese, Arabic, American Indian, European and South African cultures are represented.
Songs are in English, Italian, Spanish, Zulu, Greek and Provencal.
CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS
CLASSES
FOR SMALL ENSEMBLES. Lauren Pelon works with small ensembles to prepare a concert performance. Pelon has arranged several
works for various instruments including violin, viola, cello, piano, oboe, and English horn. In Palhaco, a jazz ballad written
by Egberto Gismonti with lyrics by Joyce Yarrow, Pelon performs on winds and voice, and directs an ensemble comprised of piano,
cello and double bass. Other repertoire includes Una Montaņa Pasando (Garcimuņos), Pluie d'ete (Gheorghe Zamfir), Pastime
with Good Company (King Henry VIII), Kalenda maya (Raimbaut de Vaqueiras), and Si'Bheag, Si'Mhor (Anonymous, Irish). Scores
and parts are available. Pelon will, with advance notice, arrange the selections and print parts for available instrumentation.
NEW TECH RECORDING WORKSHOP. Using state-of-the-art
equipment (including a Digidesign ProTools digital audio recording system, Neumann U87 and KM 184 microphones, Mackie mixer,
Tannoy monitors, and Yamaha CD burner), Pelon will record a musical performance (piano solo, wind trio, string quartet...)
by the participating musicians and then edit, produce, and burn a CD with the help of participants. These sessions provide
an introduction to sound recording and require no previous recording experience. Musicians will leave with a CD of their performance.
COMPOSING & ARRANGING WORKSHOP. Lauren
Pelon and John Reed lead a workshop about composing music for television, radio, theatrical and literary productions. They
discuss the artistic choices necessary to create the music, how the music is composed and arranged to drive the script, complement
the spoken word and enhance the emotional content of the text.
|
|
| Kik Gheen, Lauren Pelon, John Reed |
|
