Music For All Terps: Terrapin Brass Pop-Up Concert
Music For All Terps: Terrapin Brass Pop-Up Concert
Line-Up:
Duke Ellington: It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)
Duke Ellington: Sophisticated Lady
Eubie Blake: Charleston Rag
Program Notes:
The performance today will present works by two outstanding composers who are native to our region: Duke Ellington from Washington, D.C., and Eubie Blake from Baltimore. Duke Ellington (1899-1974) is one of the major giants of American jazz history and is recognized as one of the 20th century’s most distinctive composers. His world famous orchestra was one of the most influential ensembles in modern music history. It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing) (1931) is one of his signature dance numbers. The eminent historian Gunther Schuller has described it as a “prophetic” piece of music, even ground-breaking when it first premiered. Sophisticated Lady (1933) is one of Ellington’s atmospheric ballads; throughout his life, he composed a series of beautiful nocturnes that continue to be interpreted by musicians worldwide. The harmonic complexity and nuance that marks much of Ellington’s music is one reason that composers such as Igor Stravinsky and Paul Hindemith continually sought opportunities to attend Ellington’s performances.
Eubie Blake (1887-1983) claimed that he composed Charleston Rag in 1899, when he was only 12 years old. Originally titled Sounds of Africa, it did not appear in print until 1915, and by then Blake had changed the title to Charleston Rag. Instantly popular in both America and Europe, it was heard in venues from Los Angeles to Moscow throughout the 1920s and is still well known today, recognized for its creative structure and vibrant energy.
Bio:
The Terrapin Brass is the Graduate Fellowship Brass Quintet at the University of Maryland School of Music. Established during Spring of 2021, they officially started their rehearsals at the start of this Fall 2021 semester. The Terrapin Brass serve as ambassadors for the School of Music, where they provide music to and engage with local communities in Maryland. They will also perform formal recitals at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. Selected through a nationwide audition, its members are from Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Ashburn, VA, and Silver Spring, MD. Terrapin Brass consists of Julia Tsuchiya-Mayhew and Maria Carvell, trumpets, Emerson Miller, horn, Eusung Choe, trombone, and Cameron Farnsworth, tuba.
About NextNOW Fest 2021:
This Music For All Terps Pop-Up Concert is part of NextNOW Fest 2021—a key initiative of the University of Maryland's new Arts for All initiative.
