This program  marks the beginning  of the New Music Ensemble at Towson.   The Ensemble was made possible by a generous gift from the Argosy Foundation.  The program for this concert was selected to relate in several ways to this remarkable gift. 

Since the Argosy gift was the result of a student wishing to celebrate and advance the academic program from which he graduated, two of the works on the program continue that spirit connecting back to composers  Frederick Fox and Eugene O'Brien, who were my own teachers and gave me much for which to be thankful. We present their music on this program as an acknowledgement not only of the musical beauty of the works but out of gratitude for their teaching.  

The program feature the notions of embarkation and exploration that are intended to celebrate the name of the philanthropic organization that provided the initial endowment grant--the Argosy Foundation.  One of the meanings of Argosy  is a large ship filled with needed supplies.  Thus, buoyant with endowed support, the Ensemble presents this  concert launching the New Music Ensemble like an exploratory vessel.  In at least one way each of the pieces on the program projects this idea of voyage and further reflects and refracts the metaphoric light of learning: Chen's Qi, explores the world of the human spirit in an internal voyage of illumination.  O'Brien's Embarking for Cythera sets off for the shimmering world of love offering a reaching musical line which shifts to a quiet floating calm. Of an Expanding Notion conjures a world of projections and patterns of energy exploring the possible futures of abstract musical ideas, departures, and repose.   This work is doubly resonant in that it was through a performance of this particular piece, in 1992, given by the American Camerata for New Music, that my work first arrived in Baltimore only weeks before I was invited to interview for my position on the faculty at Towson.  Soon upon my arrival in Baltimore I was put in contact with Jeffrey Mumford whose warm welcome into the musical community of the Baltimore/Washington area could not have been more appreciated.  His work, a diffuse light that knows no particular hour, invites an image of ambiguous daylight and its power to envelop, transform, and clarify our world.  Chiming with ringing echoes, Fox's Ambient Shadows closes the concert with prismatic pieces that invite us to consider the quiet after-ringing of intelligent sound and the opportunities for imagination that lie in shadowy silence.

Each of the composers presented on this program have contributed in some direct way to the musical richness of our time and place either through living and working in the area now or in recent times past, or by projecting their contributions through the gifts of teaching. We present this concert as a celebration of the continuing development of our music. 

William Kleinsasser, Director

For more information regarding NME events contact William Kleinsasser, NME Director 
at 410-704-2817; FAX 410-704-2841 or email wkleinsasser@towson.edu.

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