Daphne Leong hosts the first CU on the Weekend of the year on Saturday, Sept. 30.
The College of Music鈥檚 yearly collaboration with the CU Office for Outreach and Engagement鈥檚 series continues this fall, and this time the college opens the season.
Since 2015, the Theory department has hosted 鈥淢usical Conversations,鈥� a discussion of the why and how of music that started with 鈥淭ake Me Out to the Ballgame鈥� and continued last year with George Crumb and an exploration of his musical depiction of grief. On Saturday, Sept. 30, Associate Professor of Theory Daphne Leong brings yet another approach to the eye-opening and popular series.
鈥淢y talk will focus on modernism and the way it challenged the arts, especially music,鈥� says Leong. 鈥淚鈥檒l be interacting with the audience and asking them what they鈥檙e hearing, drawing out their insights.鈥�
The talk, aptly titled will provide the audience with examples of modernist music鈥攚orks by Bart贸k, Schoenberg, Webern and others鈥攁nd delve into how the aesthetic changed pitch organization, types of sound and the shaping of musical time.
Leong says though the musical styles that grew out of modernism鈥攕uch as serialist, minimalist and textural鈥攃an seem like a different language entirely from the music most people are used to, we鈥檙e often more adept at gleaning meaning from such pieces than we may think.
鈥淧eople can often dismiss their reactions to music like this because they think they don鈥檛 know anything about it. But really, there is a lot that they know intuitively, and it鈥檚 exciting to explore these intuitions.鈥�
Throughout the talk, Leong will play music and couple it with discussion. The multimedia presentation ends with a performance: Leong鈥檚 quartet of College of Music faculty and alumni, Throw Down or Shut Up!, performs their namesake piece, written by Vineet Shende, along with another secret work.
鈥淲e want to keep the second piece a mystery, so that the audience can discover it along with us that day.鈥�
The 鈥淢usical Conversations鈥� series has proven popular with the Boulder community. The first two presentations were standing room only. Leong suspects the reason for its popularity is simple: People like learning about subjects that are brand new to them. 鈥淢usic is such a natural part of people鈥檚 lives. If you can experience it in a richer way, then that鈥檚 rewarding.鈥�
That鈥檚 why she鈥檚 focusing her talk on more contemporary鈥攁nd sometimes unfamiliar鈥攎usic.
鈥淲e鈥檙e living in the 21st century. Music from the 18th century is wonderful, but there are new adventures to explore now. Opening our ears to music of the 20th and 21st centuries can bring unexpected discoveries to our hearing of older music.鈥�
鈥淲hat do you hear? Listening to modernist music鈥� is Saturday, Sept. 30, at 1 p.m. in the Chamber Hall. Seating is limited to the first 115 people. Doors open at 12:30 p.m.; advance registration is not required. For more information, visit the.
