New York City based world fusion percussion ensemble Mecca Bodega will open our series with a concert in conjunction with the Davis Museum’s Fall Opening Celebration (6-8pm).  For more information about Davis Museum exhibitions, programs, and hours, visit: www.davismuseum.wellesley.edu.

Featuring imaginative rhythmists Marc and Paul Mueller, French horn player/keyboardist Alex Brofsky. and multi-instrumentalist Chris Merwin, Mecca Bodega uses instruments ranging from African drums and Brazilian percussion to hammered dulcimer, found objects, guitars, didjeridoo, and voice to create a sound that is fresh and challenging to the ears and spirit. Mecca Bodega has been featured on National Public Radio broadcasts of "New Sounds" on WNYC and Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion" with Simon 7 of Didjworks. They have recorded several film scores, including HBO's Subway Stories, directed by Jonathan Demme, and collaborated with Public Enemy and Stephen Stills on the soundtrack for the Spike Lee movie, He Got Game.  Recent tours have included performances at Lollapollooza, Woodstock (reunion), Celebrate Brooklyn Summer Festival, Merkin Concert Hall, and Avery Fisher Hall

The Triple Helix Piano Trio

Lecture-Recital:
Nostalgia and Opulent Expressivity, on the Threshold of the Future
Wednesday, September 30
12:30 pm, Jewett Auditorium

Concert:
Sunday, October 4
7:00 pm, Houghton Chapel

The award-winning Triple Helix Piano Trio, comprising of pianist Lois Shapiro, violinist Bayla Keyes, and cellist Rhonda Rider, has been in residency at Wellesley College since 1999.  As part of its residency, the versatile trio enlivens the campus with sophisticated, exciting concerts, and innovative, engaging lecture-recitals. Having explored, last season, the embodiment of German Romanticism, with a focus on the music of the Schumanns and Brahms from the mid-nineteenth century, Triple Helix Piano Trio now invites you on a continuation of that journey, tracing the musical legacy of the Romantic Period as the future unfolded. Triple Helix will embark on this journey by exploring music from the end of the 19th century--a Janus-like age both obsessed with the past and its preoccupation with "subjective inwardness", as well as reaching beyond tonality and searching for new paths of expression.  The fall Triple Helix program will feature a bouquet of songs by Johannes Brahms, Gustav Mahle Mahler, Arnold Schoenberg, and Alban Berg, Brahms F Major Sonata for Cello and Piano, Opus 99, and Alexander Zemlinsky’s Trio in D Minor, Op. 3.

Each fall, the diverse talents of the Classical Performance Faculty at Wellesley College are showcased; this year, the faculty has chosen the Bard as a muse, and will present a concert of music inspired by Shakespeare.  Performing Faculty members Eliko Akahori, piano; Kathy Boyd, flute; Gale Fuller, mezzo-soprano; Randall Hodgkinson, piano; Kathy Matasy, clarinet; Andrea Matthews, soprano; Mary Jane Rupert, harp; David Russell, cello; Lois Shapiro, piano; Suzanne Stumpf, flute; and Tom Zajac, recorder, will present a program including Stravinsky’s “Three Shakespeare Songs,” Ned Rorem’s “After Reading Shakespeare,” Felix Mendelssohn’s Suite from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Prokofiev’s Ten Pieces from Romeo and Juliet among others. Diego Arciniegas, Shakespearean actor and colleague in the Theatre Studies Department at Wellesley College, will bring Shakespeare’s words together with the music he inspired in a special interdisciplinary collaboration.

Hailed by audiences and critics alike for the sumptuousness of her singing, mezzo-soprano Gale Fuller has been described as "the sultriest voice in town" by the Boston Globe.  Her career is rich in concert, opera and oratorio performance; recent engagements include concerts with the Cabrillo Festival under the baton of Marin Alsop, Marcellina, in Boston Lyric Opera s production of Le Nozze di Figaro, premiere performances of contemporary operatic works by Thomas Oboe Lee and Charles Shadle, and recital tours in China.  Ms Fuller will be joined by fellow Performing Faculty members David Russell, cello; Suzanne Stumpf, flute; and Jenny Tang, piano, for her midday recital. The program will include Pizzeti’s I Pastori, Ravel’s Chanson Madecasses, songs by three American women composers, including our new faculty composer Jenny Johnson, and Poulenc’s Le Travail du Pientre. Maggie Devries of the Art Department, inspired by Poulenc’s conception of the working artist, has paired paintings with his music for a special interdisciplinary presentation.

The Firebird Ensemble

Saturday, December 5
8:00 pm, Houghton Chapel

Firebird Ensemble, directed by violist Kate Vincent, has been described as "ambitious and eclectic" by the New York Times and is fast gaining a reputation as being one of the premier new music ensembles in the United States. Known for its highly varied contemporary repertoire, virtuosic performances and wide audience appeal, Firebird Ensemble's repertoire spans a time period from the mid 1900's to the present day and includes music originating from diverse sources and genres.  Musically defined by eclectic programming with interdisciplinary influences, Firebird Ensemble aims to break down preconceptions about new music, to build enthusiasm for new compositions, and to create a unique concert atmosphere.

Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra

Saturday, November 21
8:00 pm, Houghton Chapel

Wellesley College Choir

Sunday, December 6
8:00pm, Houghton Chapel

Yanvalou, directed by Kera Washington, is an ensemble that performs the traditional musics of Africa and the Caribbean. The ensemble provides students with an opportunity to perform on authentic instruments and to experience a variety of cultures through their musics. Performances are presented in collaboration with the Harambee dancers.