We've finalized the initial lineup for ARTSaha!, Omaha's new music festival. More events and activities will be added soon. Keep checking www.artsaha.org for all the latest news.
SET SAIL FOR THE SUN: The ARTSaha! 2008 Commencement Concert
Wednesday, September 3, 7:00 PM (Early Start Time)
Strauss Performing Arts Center, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Tickets: FREE
Join us as we set sail for the sun in this ARTSaha! kickoff concert. The ANALOG musicians embark on the beginning of the festival journey with an eclectic program of contemporary flute music, led by Marcia Kamper of the Baltimore Symphony. The concert will conclude with the U.S. premiere of Stockhausen's "Friday's Greeting," a meditative, electronic piece.
IRON COMPOSER OMAHA: A quick draw composition contest
Thursday, September 4, 7:30 PM
Strauss Performing Arts Center, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Tickets: $10; $15 with reception (8:30 PM)
The smash hit Iron Composer Omaha returns for a second year and this time it's gone national! Five finalists, selected from nearly 50 applications, will debut compositions written just hours before based on a secret 'musical' ingredient. Following the live final performances, a panel of judges, led by the Omaha World-Herald's Bob Fischbach, will determine who is the Iron Composer. The concert will be emceed by KETV's Rob McCartney. Stay for the reception afterward to toast the winner and finalists; all reception proceeds will go to support ARTSaha!
THE WALLS COME TUMBLING DOWN: A Trumpet Choir Concert
Friday, September 5, 7:30 PM
Strauss Performing Arts Center, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Tickets: $10
A concert not for the faint of ear, dung is a trumpet choir of local and national artists. Evoking the entire history of the trumpet, "dung" is the name of Tibetan ceremonial horns and also derives from the Indian word for conch shells. The program will feature music by Gustav Holst, Elliott Carter, Sofia Gubaidulina, Joan Tower, Prince, and special performances of Stockhausen's trumpet music, including his specially designed Trumpet Tent!
MUSIC FOR A HOUSE: A Choose-Your-Own Adventure Concert
Saturday, September 6, 7:30 PM
First Central Congregational Church, 421 S. 36th St., Omaha
Tickets: FREE
There will be a new concert around every corner in this night of simultaneous performances at the First Central Congregational Church. ARTSaha will fill the many rooms of the church's campus with an eclectic collection of musicians and programs – from a classical program with Monument Piano Trio to a meditation room with ambient pieces, interactive installations and more. The audience is invited to roam between the different rooms and create their own concert experience.
DANCE REVOLUTION!: An Organ Vesper Series concert
Sunday, September 7, 3:00 PM
Presbyterian Church of the Cross, 1517 S. 114th St., Omaha
Tickets: FREE
Omaha Symphony clarinetist John Klinghammer joins Baltimore's Monument Piano Trio for this program of classical music inspired by dance forms. Featuring music by composers like Bright Sheng and Paquito d'Rivera, the program includes everything from tango to Tibetan folk dances. Presented as part of Omaha's popular Organ Vesper Series.
THE MICROSCORE PROJECT: Music in 30 seconds or less!
Thursday, September 11, 7:30 PM
Strauss Performing Arts Center, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Tickets: $10
New Zealander Johnny Chang (violin) and Californian Jessica Catron (cello) define a microscore as music that lasts less than 30 seconds. The Microscore Project will perform selections from the hundreds of pieces that have been written for the duo, including works by composers like Pauline Oliveros, Harold Budd and James Tenney. The concert will include world premieres of new music by Nebraska composers as well.
COSMIC PULSES: A tribute concert for Karlheinz Stockhausen
Friday, September 12, 7:30 PM (Revised Start Time)
Strauss Performing Arts Center, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Tickets: $10
ARTSaha! presents a night of Stockhausen including the U.S. premiere of "Cosmic Pulses," the last piece of electronic music written by the man known as the 'father of electronic music.' As trained onsite at the Stockhausen Foundation in Germany, ANALOG will present this sonic roller coaster with waves of sound encircling each listener and notes so low that humans cannot hear them so much as feel them. The rest of the program will include works from every era of his 50-year career.
IN A LARGE OPEN SPACE: A collaborative concert
Saturday, September 13, 7:30 PM
Strauss Performing Arts Center, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Tickets: FREE
ANALOG arts ensemble performs spatial music and collaborative compositions with advanced students of the University of Nebraska at Omaha. In addition to the piece by James Tenney which gives the concert its name, the collaborative ensemble will perform the results of a workshop with UNO students that ANALOG will run throughout the festival.