The School of Creative and Performing Arts at Northwestern State University will host the annual Southeastern Composers League Forum Feb. 23-24 in Magale Recital Hall. The Forum will feature five concerts of new music by 25 composers from throughout the southeastern United States. Admission to the concerts is free and open to the public. The event is being organized by NSU Assistant Professor of Collaborative Piano Dr. Chialing Hsieh.
Founded in 1950, the Southeastern Composers League is an association of art music composers and scholars located throughout the Southeastern United States. It is one of the oldest organizations of its kind in America. The League is comprised of composers from Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
Northwestern State faculty will perform the first concert on Feb. 23 at 5:30 p.m. Performers will be Paul Christopher, Sofia Tchetchelashvili, Dr. Francis Yang, Kelsey Wright, Dr. Andrej Kurti, Dr. Marcy McKee, Michael Rorex, Leah Forsyth, Dr. Christine Allen, Dr. Malena McLaren and Hsieh.
The Iridium Quartet featuring Associate Professor of Saxophone Dr. Paul Forsyth will perform at 7:30 p.m. The quartet has been called a “superb group” by Fanfare Magazine and praised by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Michael Colgrass as giving “a stunning performance … with elegance and grace.” Composers and audiences have commented “displaying an impressive balance of intense control and abandon with tremendous precision.” The quartet draws upon a rich history of over ten years of collaboration between saxophonists Paul Nolen, Marcos Colón, Forsyth and Eric Lau.
Three Saturday afternoon concerts will be at 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. The concert at 5 p.m. will feature Northwestern State students from the studios of Kurti, Christopher, Oliver Molina, McLaren, Dr. Dennette McDermott, Dr. Masahito Kuroda and Dr. Douglas Bakenhus.
Student performers will be Hope Spaw, flute, Daniel Larin and Alex Butler, soprano saxophone, Julio Galvan and Tristian Zamora, alto saxophone, Tyrell Redd and Eric Pannell, tenor saxophone, Zackary Killingsworth, and Nick Swank, baritone saxophone, Luis Osorio Betancourt, Emily Owens and Aura Hernandez, violin, Colin Horton, cello, Robyn Tan, piano, Justin Garretson, tuba, Luis Alejandro Gallo Quintero, oboe and Jorge Ojeda and Samantha Morris, clarinet.
Also performing are Paula Martinez Marrugo and Christian Hairr, bassoon, Josh Waldrop, horn, Cesia Corrales, viola, Luz Arietta-Jimenez, double bass, Ricardo Ventura, string bass, Alanna Benoit, Eb carinet, Rachel Hall, Taylor Burch, Morris, Emily Ortiz and Rebekah Clark, Bb clarinet and Travis Carrell, contrabass clarinet
Playing percussion will be Andrew Boyd, Caleb Callender, Brian Hammonds,
Nestor Mercado-Garcia, Cooper Hollis, Miguel Bustillo, Roger Jones, Emily Landers, Elias Castro, Austin Pierre, Luis Colon, Adam Trupp, Fabian Correa, Darius Williams, Kevin Hendricks, Lindsey Weatherford, Alanna Hailey and Steven Wimberley.
For more information on the Forum go to southeasterncomposersleague.org/forum.