University Calendar
Guest Artist Master Class: William Bolcom and Joan Morris
Join the John J. Cali School of Music to observe a master class with William Bolcom and Joan Morris. Voice students and collaborative pianists will perform the songs of William Bolcom. Open to all Montclair State students, faculty, and staff. Refreshments to follow.
The Songs of William Bolcom
Amor
Alethea Wilhelm, mezzo-soprano, Crystl Baltazar, piano
Black Max
Maddie Meier, soprano, Crystl Baltazar, piano
New York Lights (A View from the Bridge)
Ian Castro, tenor, Ron Levy, piano
Toothbrush Time
Lauren Dwane, mezzo-soprano, Dmitri Korneev, piano
George
Ryan Kiernan, baritone, Steven Ryan, piano
This event is open to all Montclair State students, faculty, and staff.
William Bolcom and Joan Morris
Traversing Broadway, vaudeville and music hall, performing music from the ragtime era to the end of the 20th century, the duo of William Bolcom and Joan Morris have delighted audiences across the United States and around the world since 1973. On their travels throughout the United States, Canada, and abroad, Joan Morris and William Bolcom frequently give master classes focusing on "classic American popular song."
The duo has 25 recordings to their credit, from their Grammy-nominated debut “After the Ball” to recent collections of songs by Yip Harburg, Gus Kahn and Arnold Weinstein/William Bolcom. Their newest CD, Autumn Leaves, is a collection of 21 popular cabaret songs, including “Am I Blue,” “Swinging on a Star,” “Can’t We Be Friends,” and “As Time Goes By.”
"Bolcom and Morris may be the best thing to happen to American popular song since the invention of sheet music." — The Chicago Sun-Times
William Bolcom
Named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America and honored with a Grammy Award [Best Classical Contemporary Composition] for his ground-breaking setting of Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience [the album received a total of 4 Grammys], William Bolcom is a composer of cabaret songs, concertos, sonatas, operas, symphonies, and much more. He was awarded the 1988 Pulitzer Prize in Music for his 12 New Etudes for piano.
Joan Morris
Born in Portland, Oregon, mezzo-soprano Joan Morris attended Gonzaga University in Spokane prior to her scholarship studies at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. She continued speech and voice studies with Clifford Jackson and Frederica Schmitz-Svevo while appearing in off-Broadway and road productions and with harpist Jay Miller at the Cafe Carlyle, the Waldorf-Astoria’s Peacock Alley, and other Manhattan night spots.
From 1981-2009 Ms. Morris taught a cabaret class at the School of Music, University of Michigan. In April 2003 Ms. Morris wrote, produced, co-directed, and starred in a musical revue, The Police Gazette, based on materials housed in the Clements Library at the U of M. In December 2005 she wrote, produced, directed, and had a featured role in Barnum’s Nightingale, based on Jenny Lind’s concert tour of America in 1850 sponsored by P. T. Barnum. The latter two entertainments were presented at the Clements Library where Ms. Morris was Adjunct Curator. She retired from the University of Michigan in December 2009.
Don’t miss the All Terrain String Festival: Bolcom 4x4,
March 31 - April 2!
Visit peakperfs.org for more information.
No charge for undergraduate students (with valid MSU ID) — pick up your ticket at the Kasser Theater box office.
All others, $20!