Eclectic Music Drives Home the Legend of John Henry

Folk Hero’s Race Against the Machine Comes Alive Nov. 20 in College Park

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Andrew Zender, azender@umd.edu
(301) 405-8151

Friday, November 20, 2009 — College Park, MD. — Two of the most beloved bastions of American culture come together in Steel Hammer, an expressive musical tapestry that uses the sounds of Appalachia to retell the heroic legend of John Henry. At the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center's Dekelboum Concert Hall on Friday, November 20, 2009 at 8:00 p.m., the ever-eclectic sounds of the Bang on a Can All-Stars underscore the haunting vocal harmonies of Trio Mediæval in a brand-new version of the story of John Henry and his race against “the machine." There will be a Talk Back with the artists following the performance.

This new work by composer Julia Wolfe features cellist Ashley Bathgate, bassist Robert Black, drummer/percussionist David Cossin, guitarist Mark Stewart and clarinetist Evan Ziporyn – the Bang on a Can All-Stars – in their fifth appearance at the Center. The chorus of instruments from the Appalachian region will include mountain dulcimers, wooden bones, banjo, steel hammers and more, arranged for the contemporary Bang on a Can sound. Grammy-nominated Trio Mediaeval vocalists Anna Maria Friman, Linn Andrea Fuglseth and Torunn Ostrem Ossum, renowned for their pure and ethereal interpretations of folk and early music, will add another layer of color to the musical palette.

Despite being one of the cornerstones of American musical traditions, Appalachian music is often shrouded in mystery and misunderstanding. In “The Musical History of Appalachia,” a free engagement event before the performance, Dr. Barry Lee Pearson, UM Professor of English and President of the National Council for the Traditional Arts, will discuss and explore the history and evolution of the music of Appalachia through musical samples. The event will take place at7:00 p.m. in the Leah M. Smith Lecture Hall, rm. 2200.

To learn more about this performance, visit the Engagement page on the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center website at: http://claricesmithcenter.umd.edu/2009/c/engage09/e09-steelhammer.

Tickets to either performance are $37 for the general public and $9 for full-time students with I.D. Tickets are available by visiting www.claricesmithcenter.umd.edu or calling (301) 405-ARTS (2787).

In support of state employees during these trying economic times, the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center has joined the Maryland Citizens for the Arts Step Up program with a special ticket offer. The Center’s Step Up offer will allow state employees to purchase two tickets per ID to any performance in our 2009-2010 season at a 20% discount, with no limit on the number of performances. Online and phone purchases will be held at will call. Use promotional code STEPUP. ID must be presented when picking up tickets.

The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center is located at the intersection of University Boulevard (Route 193) and Stadium Drive in College Park, on the campus of the University of Maryland. A parking garage is located across the street from the Center.

The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center is supported by a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive. An agency of the Department of Business & Economic Development, the MSAC provides financial support and technical assistance to nonprofit organizations, units of government, colleges and universities for arts activities. Funding for the Maryland State Arts Council is also provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Additional support is provided through generous grants from the Leading College and University Presenters Program of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and from The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation.

About the Artists
Bang On a Can and Julia Wolfe
In 1987, Julia Wolfe, Michael Gordon and David Lang co-founded Bang On a Can – a group the New York Times has described as "fiercely aggressive, combining the power and punch of a rock band with the precision and clarity of a chamber ensemble." With her co-founders, Julia Wolfe has helped oversee the group's commitment to commissioning, creating, presenting and recording contemporary music in a variety of performance settings. Her work is distinguished by an intense focus on sound, particularly its relation to memory and experience as well as microtonal tunings or sounds found in nature and the urban world, an approach that provides an engaging musical perspective for the content of Steel Hammer.

Trio Mediaeval
Founded in Olso, Norway in 1997, Trio Mediæval has developed three distinct strands of repertoire: polyphonic medieval music from England and France, contemporary works and Norwegian medieval ballads and songs. Their 2007 recording, Folk Songs, was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Chamber Music Performance."