The UA School of Music will spend the weekend immersing itself in the works of two composers who helped shape contemporary music.
The Olivier Messiaen and George Crumb Music Festival: "Musical Mystics of the 20th Century," a program of recitals and concerts Saturday and Sunday, explores the evolution of the two composers, going back to their early works and following the progression of their composition later in their careers. The festival — possibly the first of its kind at the UA, according to organizer Daniel Asia — kicks off with a symposium Saturday presented by the two foremost scholars on the French-born Messiaen and the American-born Crumb — Jonathan Bernard of the University of Washington and Steve Bruns of the University of Colorado.
The festival will feature UA faculty artists and student ensembles — Wind Ensemble, Arizona Symphony Orchestra and the newly revived Arizona Contemporary Ensemble.
Asia, who teaches composition at the UA, said the Contemporary Ensemble has been dormant for nearly six years but students overwhelmingly lobbied for its return. It has 15 players who are largely regarded as the best of the UA's graduate and undergraduate students.
Asia said he organized this weekend's festival as an intellectual and entertainment endeavor.
"As things get worse, more complicated financially and culturally, that is the time to make something big and exciting happen," he explained.
The festival tips its hat to Messiaen's 100th birthday this year and Crumb's 80th, happening next year. "Mystics" in the title refers to both men's nods to spirituality in their music — Messiaen's from his unshakable Catholic devotion and Crumb's from a quiet interaction with nature. The works on the programs range from small chamber pieces to larger works for orchestra.
"These are two composers whose music is tremendously accessible," Asia noted. "People will be knocked over by this stuff.
"I won't say it's mainstream repertory, and that's the difficulty with Crumb. He doesn't have major orchestral works. He has lots of chamber works for odd combinations of instruments. . . . He's always looking for different kinds of sonorities, whereas Messiaen is looking for unusual combinations, but he's happy to use wind ensembles."
Asia has taught at the UA for 20 years and said this is the first time the university has put on a festival "quite on this scope."
"This has the wind ensemble, the orchestra, the contemporary ensemble revived for this concert, eight or nine faculty members. It's a very big deal for us," he said. "Next year we hope to include the choir and hopefully the opera department."
If you go
Olivier Messiaen and George Crumb Music Festival: "Musical Mystics of the 20th Century"
• Presented by: University of Arizona School of Music.
• When: 2 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday.
• Where: Holsclaw and Crowder halls, UA Fine Arts Complex, North Park Avenue and East Speedway.
• Cost: Free.
• Details: 621-2998.
• Schedule:
Saturday: 2 p.m., introductory symposium; 4, organ recital with Pamela Decker and Matthew Whitehouse; 7:30, Arizona Symphony Orchestra, UA Wind Ensemble and Arizona Contemporary Ensemble concert.
Sunday: 4 p.m., Chamber music recital featuring pianists Tannis Gibson and Michael Dauphinais, violinist Mark Rush, clarinetist Jerry Kirkbride and cellist Mark Votapek; 7:30, chamber recital featuring flutist Brian Luce, pianist John Milbauer, violinist Rush and the Arizona Contemporary Ensemble.
