Music
Everyone Loves Puccini
John Near, D.M.A., William Martin and Mina Merrill Prindle Professor of Fine Arts
The most popular opera composer in the world, Giacomo Puccini, once declared, “The Almighty touched me with his little finger and said: ‘Write for the theater — mind you, only for the theater!’ And I have obeyed the supreme command.” What gives Puccini’s music the enduring quality everyone loves? Find the answer as we talk about and view complete productions of two glorious masterpieces: Manon Lescaut, Puccini’s ultimate story of youth and love set in 18thcentury France and Louisiana; The Girl of the Golden West, Puccini’s spectacular California gold rush opera, which he promised would be “a second Bohème, but more vigorous, more daring, and on an altogether larger scale.” Memorable scenes from his other operas will complete the pastiche that explains why everyone loves Puccini.
9:05 – 9:55am, two-week course
The Piano Music You Love
Marie Jureit, D.M.A., Charles Stewart Harding Mott Distinguished Professor of Music
Open your thought to a range of composers and styles from the beginning of piano music to the present day. Experience the favorite piano music of four great masters, with each composer representing the best of the Baroque, Classic, Romantic, and 20th-century style periods: Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Robert Schumann, and Serge Prokoviev. Their music will come to life and enrich your soul as this class explores society’s enduring passion for these masterworks through performance and lecture. Celebrating her thirty years of teaching at Principia College, Dr. Jureit reflects on the piano music that she has loved to perform and teach.
10:10 – 11:00am, two-week course
We Shall Overcome:
Folk Music of the 1960s
Robert Rockabrand, D.M.A., professor emeritus of music
If your time to you is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’
— Bob Dylan, 1963
The social consciousness expressed through American song is a tradition that extends as far back as the American Revolution. This music was composed by artists in response to specific historical events or circumstances and generally written for or about the common man. As the United States headed into the turbulent ’60s with the civil rights movement in full swing, singers like Dylan, Judy Collins, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, and Peter, Paul, and Mary (with a nod to Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger) led the artistic charge, reached out to a vast, receptive audience, and enormously influenced the social protest movement of the 1960s.
11:15am – 12:05pm, two-week course
Beethoven: Triumph and Joy
Marie Jureit, D.M.A., Charles Stewart Harding Mott Distinguished Professor of Music
With tremendous conviction, Beethoven once proclaimed, “I will seize Fate by the throat!” He embodied and championed the 19th-century Enlightenment ideals of fraternity, freedom of thought, reason, progress, and social justice. Beethoven bravely forged the revolutionary path of Romanticism in music. Triumphing over his own imprisonment of deafness, and facing down the tyrannical rule of Napoleon, Beethoven lived a courageous life consistently dedicated to exemplary standards of behavior. Through his piano music, string quartets, symphonies, and choral works as well as his only opera, Fidelio, we experience firsthand Beethoven’s path from despair to hope and the ultimate triumph of Spirit over adversity. His very life defines the word “luminary” in his substantial contribution to mankind.
2:15 – 3:05pm, two-week course
Confident Singing
Sara Rockabrand, M.M., retired professor of voice
Do you long to share the song in your heart? Whether you are a regular performer or have never sung in public, here’s a chance to develop and refine your basic vocal technique, get helpful input from an experienced voice teacher/ coach, and practice performing in a supportive class setting. This is an excellent opportunity for church soloists, teachers, and community theater participants. All are welcome. More advanced students are also encouraged to consider the course Stage “Presents.”
3:20 – 4:10pm, two-week course
