Halloween concert to feature Trans Nebraska Players
CHADRON – Chadron State College’s Dean of Liberal Arts Dr. Jim Margetts will play the piano with the Trans Nebraska Players Sunday, Oct. 31 at 3 p.m. in the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center’s Chicoine Atrium. Other members of the group, formed in 2009, are University of Nebraska Kearney faculty members Dr. Franziska Brech, professor of flute, and Dr. Noah Rogoff, professor of cello, and University of Nebraska-Lincoln faculty members Dr. Clark Potter, professor of viola, and Dr. David Neel
The concert, “Shakespeare Reimagined,” features arrangements of orchestra music inspired by Shakespearean plays. Between 2017 to 2019 various members of the Trans Nebraska Players were invited to perform at the University of Cambridge and the idea for this program was realized, according to Margetts. During the pandemic, many musicians who had performed there within the last four or five years were invited to create a video to share online while live performances were suspended.
University of Nebraska Kearney’s Shakespeare scholar Marguerite Tassi selected the texts that will be spoken by retired University of Nebraska Lincoln Professor James Hejduk before, during, or after each piece.
According to Margetts, much of the music was arranged by Potter, who conducts the Lincoln Youth Symphony.
“Clark took a massive orchestral score for Midsummer Night's Dream and condensed it for our group,” Margetts said.
In recognition of the CSC Music program’s 2021-22 Celebrating Women in Music theme, the quintet will add one number to their Chadron performance from a set of three pieces composed for them by Maria Newman. They premiered the entire set at a national flute conference in New Orleans in 2013. Newman, a cousin of Randy Newman and daughter of Alfred Newman who was a major Hollywood composer in the 1930s and 40s, became friends with Potter after they met at a summer music camp. She based each piece in the set on different haunted houses in New Orleans’ French Quarter.
“This year, since our concert is on Halloween we thought we would perform one of the haunted house pieces she wrote. Maria’s an energetic, fun person and I think that comes through in her music. There are a lot of surprises in the song,” Margetts said.
The Program
Arthur Sullivan’s Bouree: and Danse Grotesque from Masquerade Suite from the Merchant of Venice.
Edward Elgar’s Interludes I and II from Falstaff: Orchestral Study (with texts from The Merry Wives of Windsor and 2 Henry IV).
Henry Purcell’s Chaconne from The Fairy Queen (an adaptation of Midsummer Night’s Dream)
Felix Mendelssohn’s Overture and Nocturne from Midsummer Night’s Dream
Korngold’s Garden Scene from Much Ado About Nothing
Tchaikovsky’s Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture
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Category: Campus News, Music