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Martin and string ensemble to present concertos in Slee
By AMY GREENAN
Reporter Contributor
A performance by organist and UB faculty member Roland E. Martin—accompanied by several stringed guests—will kick off the Department of Music's 2003-04 concert season on Aug. 29.
The performance, to be held at 8 p.m. in Slee Hall, North Campus, will feature concertos for organ by composers whose names most concert-goers are familiar with—Haydn and Handel—and one—Heinrich Schmidt—who is rather obscure.
Cellist Bryan Eckenrode is among the quintet of string players who will join Martin for this concert, as well as Sarah Abend-Fritz and Autumn Shepherd, violins; Brian Walnizki, viola, and Valery Wilshynsky, bass.
Martin has an active career outside the university, as well as being a member of the music department faculty. He serves as director of music of St. Joseph's University Church in Buffalo; conductor/music director of Opera Sacra; founder and director of Speculum Musicae, an ensemble for early music; director of the Freudig Singers of Western New York, and director of the Chautauqua Chamber Singers.
He has undertaken numerous European concert and recital tours as an organ soloist and also as a composer, performing in such venues as the American Cathedral in Paris and in the Basilica of San Marco in Venice. This past summer, Martin performed organ recitals throughout Germany.
As a conductor, he has worked primarily in the field of opera, including the performance of two operas by Gian Carlo Menotti, with the composer present. Martin has more than 40 works in publication—primarily shorter choral or solo vocal works, but a number of major works also have been commissioned, mostly by colleges, universities and choral societies.
His "Medieval Triptych," performed in Washington, D.C., was heard on national television during the Christmas season and also was broadcast on PBS.
Tickets for the Slee Hall concert are $5; UB students showing a valid ID are admitted free of charge. Tickets can be obtained at the Slee Hall box office from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, at the UB Center for the Arts box office from noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and at all Ticketmaster outlets. Tickets may also be obtained on the Internet at Ticketmaster.com.
For updated Slee Hall concert information, go to http://www.slee.buffalo.edu.