'Voices of Exile: The Jewish Experience' at SMSU
Published Tuesday, October 25, 2016
The music of composer Julius Burger will be featured during the “Voices of Exile: The Jewish Experience” festival which runs through Sunday, Oct. 30 at Southwest Minnesota State University.
This week-long festival celebrates the musical works of Burger, an Austrian/American Jewish composer who studied with Franz Schreker in Berlin in the 1920s. He established a successful career as conductor and accompanist before the rise of Adolph Hitler sent him into U.S. exile in 1938. He died in New York in 1995.
Dr. Daniel Rieppel is the festival’s artistic director, and SMSU alumnus Ryan Hugh Ross is a special guest and curator. After graduating from SMSU with degrees in Vocal Music Education and Vocal Performance, Ross accepted a full scholarship to pursue a Master’s of Music in Opera Performance at the Cole Conservatory at California State University, Long Beach. While there, he won the conservatory’s Vocal Concerto Competition.
Ross also launched a five-part concert/lecture series entitled “Rediscovered Beauty: Suppressed Composers,” dedicated to the generation of musicians, artists and composers who were suppressed and silenced by the Third Reich. This festival is part of that series.
“Ryan is one of our big success stories,” said Rieppel. “When he went to California for his master’s, he got involved with the notion of suppressed composers, he developed an interest.”
A Chamber Music Concert will highlight the festival on Friday, October 28 from 8-10 p.m. at the SMSU Campus Religious Center. The concert features Ross, baritone, Dr. Daniel Rieppel, piano, Ross Anderson, clarinet, and the Meadowlark Quartet. They will perform the music of Burger, Paul Schoenfield, Korngold and Mahler. Tickets are $5 for adults and free for all students.
The festival will conclude on Sunday, October 30, with a Grand Finale Concert at 4 p.m. at the Schwan Community Center for the Performing Arts at the Marshall High School. The finale features the Southwest Minnesota Orchestra with Rieppel, music director, The Meadowlark Quartet, and Ross. The highlight of the concert will be the American premiere of Burger’s orchestral lieder “Stille Der Nacht” and “Legende.” Tickets will be available at the door: $15/adults, $5/students and children, and $35/family.
The week-long “Voices of Exile – The Jewish Experience” festival events include:
Monday and Wednesday, Oct. 24 and 26:
Regional Masterclasses in southwestern Minnesota, including Willmar, Redwood Falls and Worthington.
Tuesday, Oct. 25
Vocal Masterclass: SMSU alumnus and guest artist Ryan Hugh Ross presents a vocal masterclass for SMSU Music Program students from Noon – 1:20 p.m. in CH 201.
Thursday, Oct. 27
“Faculty - New Work” lecture on the music and life of Julius Burger by Ryan Hugh Ross, assisted by Dr. Daniel Rieppel. Preview performance of music to be performed at the weekend concerts. This event is free and open to the public, and will be held in CH 201 from oon-1 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 29
Chamber music concert featuring Ryan Hugh Ross, baritone, Dr. Daniel Rieppel, piano, Ross Anderson, clarinet, and the Meadowlark Quartet performing the music of Julius Burger, Paul Schoenfield, Korngold and Mahler. This event will be held at the SMSU Campus Religious Center from 8-10 p.m. Tickets: $5/adults, free/all students.
Saturday, Oct. 30
Panel discussion and reception with special guests, New York City Attorney Ronald Pohl, who saved Burger’s musical estate from oblivion, and members of the Center for Austrian Studies at the University of Minnesota. The panel discussion will be held from 4-5:30 p.m. in the William Whipple Gallery in the SMSU McFarland Library, with a reception from 5:30-6:30 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.
Sunday
Grand Finale Concert at 4 p.m. at the Schwan Community Center for the Performing Arts, Marshall High School, presenting the American Premiere of Julius Burger’s Orchestral Lieder “Stille Der Nacht” and “Legende.” Featuring the Southwest Minnesota Orchestra with Dr. Daniel Rieppel, Music Director, the Meadowlark Quartet, and special guest Ryan Hugh Ross, baritone. Tickets will be available at the door: $15/adults, $5/students and children, and $35/family.
The October 28 and Oct. 30 concerts are funded, in part, by a grant from the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council through an appropriation from the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the state’s general fund.
The festival was made possible by significant support from the SMSU Dean of Arts, Letters and Sciences, Dr. Jan Loft, and by a special grant from the SMSU Foundation.
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