Pianist to open series at UT with concert, class

Jill Dawe will open the Dorothy MacKenzie Price Piano Series at the University of Toledo with a weekend residency on Oct. 12-13.

This year’s Dorothy MacKenzie Price Piano Series at the University of Toledo will open Oct. 12-13 with a weekend residency by Jill Dawe, a faculty pianist from Augsburg College in Minneapolis.

Dawe, a native of Newfoundland, Canada, has master’s and doctorate degrees in piano from the Eastman School of Music. She has performed around the country and taught at the Chautauqua Institution, Oberlin Conservatory, and Lenoir-Rhyne College.

In Toledo, Dawe will perform Robert Schumann’s Papillons Op. 2, Debussy’s Estampes, and Mussorgsky’s mighty Pictures at an Exhibition, in its original version for keyboard.

The program is to begin at 3 p.m. Oct. 13 in the Recital Hall of UT’s Center for Performing Arts.

On Oct. 12, she will lead a master class starting at 10 a.m. in the same space. Both events are free and open to the public. For more information on the series and artists email Michael.Boyd@utoledo.edu or call 419-530-3419.

● Sunday at 1 p.m., WGTE will enter the national and international music scene with the launch of its new syndicated series, New Music from Bowling Green. A 13-week exploration of music by living composers who have appeared at Bowling Green State University, it will feature recent interviews with award-winning composers and selections from their music. Program originator and WGTE-FM program manager Brad Cresswell will be host.

The inaugural program will feature Samuel Adler, Jennifer Higdon, Kevin Puts, and David Lang. Their music will be recordings of performances by ensembles at BGSU, typically the Philharmonia but also the Wind Symphony.

● They are calling it their farewell concert — although many sincerely hope it is not — but soprano Judith Hauman Dye and pianist Frances Renzi, longtime musical partners, are set to perform at 3 p.m. Oct. 13 in the Toledo Museum of Art Great Gallery.

Both Dye and Renzi have been active in Toledo’s classical music scene for decades, earning accolades for fine programming and exquisite musicianship.

A Kentucky native, Dye studied at Interlochen, Tulane University, and in Paris on a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship. She has a master’s degree in music from the University of Michigan, was a Metropolitan Opera regional finalist, and has sung in recitals and opera productions nationally.

Renzi, who earned her master’s degree at the Juilliard School, is piano professor emeritus from UT, where she helped found the Toledo Trio. She’s an award-winning recording artist who maintains a busy international performing schedule in solo, chamber, and orchestral concerts.

Their program will include music by Rossini, Mozart, Hugo Wolf, Granados, Schubert, and Bernstein. Admission is free.

● Chamber ensembles from the Toledo Symphony will perform at 1 p.m. Oct. 13 in the renovated Ohio Theatre and Events Center, 3106 Lagrange St. On the program will be music for string quartet, brass quintet, and percussion trio.

Starting at noon, instruments from Rettig Music will be available for children younger than 12 to check out, and they are invited to attend free. Tickets for older children and adults are $7 at the door.

● Looking ahead to its 34th annual New Music Festival Oct. 17-20, musicians at BGSU also are maintaining an intense performance schedule. All events listed here are free to the public.

At 8 p.m. today, the piano and percussion quartet Hammer Klavier, with BGSU faculty member Thomas Rosenkranz, perform in Bryan Hall of the Moore Musical Arts Center.

The Concert Band will be joined by the Graduate Brass Quintet, the Trombone Choir, and the Clarinet Choir, Carol Hayward conducting, for an 8 p.m. concert Friday in Kobacker Hall. A Faculty Artist Series recital is to present violinist Penny Thompson Kruse at 3 p.m. Sunday in Bryan Hall. And guest artist Sang Woo Kang will perform at 8 p.m. Monday in Bryan Hall. Kang is a grad of Juilliard and the Eastman School, now teaching at Providence College.

● The Rhythm on the River Arts Series concludes with a 4 p.m. program Sunday in the Wright Pavilion, Grand Rapids, Ohio. Onstage will be the Otsego High School Show Choir and Band. The concert is free. You may wish to bring a blanket or lawn chair for seating.

● UT choral professor Stephen Hodge announces formation of the Festival Choir, open to university students and faculty and community singers. On the year’s schedule will be three major concerts.

Instead of weekly rehearsals, Hodge has structured this group to require no more than six rehearsals for each concert, held 2-3:30 p.m. Sundays. Although a year’s commitment is preferred, singers may sign up for a single concert.

The first performance will be Nov. 17 at Olivet Lutheran Church, and will comprise the Festival Choir and UT women’s and men’s choruses. Auditions for the new group are slated from 1-5 p.m. Sunday and 1-2 p.m. Oct. 13 in the UT Center for Performing Arts choir room. For more information, email Stephen.hodge@utoledo.edu.

The Christian Festival Choir also is seeking new members for concerts Dec. 5 and Dec. 8 at Reformation Lutheran Church, 4543 Douglas Rd. Rehearsals are 9 a.m.-noon Saturdays at the church. For more information go to www.toledoexaltation.org or call 419-865-5795 or 419-260-8284.

Send items for News of Music to Sally Vallongo at: svallongo@theblade.com.