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Center for 21st Century Music to be named for Morrises
Concert by soprano Laura Aikin to highlight naming program
By SUE HOFMANN
Reporter Contributor
AIKIN
Artists, students, scholars, musicians and friends of the arts will gather on Wednesday to dedicate the Robert G. and Carol L. Morris Center for 21st Century Music and thank the generous donors for whom it is named.
A performance by world-renowned soprano and UB alumna Laura Aiken and the Slee Sinfonietta at 8 p.m. in Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall, North Campus, will highlight the evening's program, which also includes a formal dedication ceremony and artists reception.
Benefactors Robert and Carol Morris of New York City provided a major gift to help establish the center in the College of Arts and Sciences and provide support for June in Buffalo, UB's internationally known festival and conference dedicated to emerging and renowned senior composers, and for the Slee Sinfonietta, UB's professional chamber orchestra-in-residence. The academic center will create and produce new work, presenting it to the public through concerts, touring, recordings, video, and film and print media.
World renowned soprano and UB alumnae Laura Aikin will return to her alma mater next week to perform a concert marking the official naming of UB's Center for 21st Century Music as the Robert and Carol Morris Center for 21st Century Music.
Aikin will perform with the Slee Sinfonietta, UB's professional chamber orchestra, at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall, North Campus.
Joining Aikin and the Sinfonietta will be bass Nicholas Isherwood, one of the leading singers of early music and contemporary music in the world today, in a program of modern music by the great 20th century composer/conductor Pierre Boulez, as well as that of UB faculty member David Felder.
The program will consist of three movements from Boulez' famous "Pli selon pli." sung by Aiken, as well as three works by Felder: "Chashmal" (2006), "Sa'arah" (2007) and "Dionysiacs" (2004).
"Chashmal" and "Sa'arah," featuring Isherwood and video by Emmy Award-winner and UB faculty member Elliot Caplan, make up the first two parts of a three-part work that maps the sounds of the bass voice over a landscape of elemental sounds. "Dionysiacs" is for flute ensemble and antiphonally placed chamber ensemble.
While at UB, Aikin also will give a recital with pianist and recital partner Donald Sulzen at 3 p.m. Sunday in Lippes Concert Hall. The concert, which also will feature cellist Natasha Farny, is the second in the Slee/Visiting Artist Series for 2007-08. The program includes the Richard Strauss works Poems by Hermann Gilm, Op. 10 and Five Little Songs, Op. 69, as well as Last Poems of Wallace Stevens by Ned Rorem.
In addition, Aikin will present a master class for UB vocal students at 10 a.m. Thursday on the Lippes Concert Hall stage. The class is free and open for public observation.
Aikin, who is now based in Berlin, is considered a leader among the generation of dynamic young sopranos today. Possessing a range of more than three octaves and an arresting stage presence, her repertoire embraces works from the Baroque to the contemporary on both the concert and operatic stages. In great demand in both Europe and America, she began her career as a member of the ensemble at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, where she has performed more than 300 times in such major roles as Lulu (Lulu), Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte), Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos), Amenaide (Tancredi), Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier), Adele (Die Fledermaus) and Zaide (Zaide). A regular guest in the world's leading opera houses, she also has performed at the Vienna State Opera, La Scala Milan, Bavarian State Opera, Opernhaus Zurich, the Liceu in Barcelona, Netherlands Opera and at the Bastille in Paris, among many others.
In the United States, Aikin has sung at the Metropolitan Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, Santa Fe Opera and most recently, the San Francisco Opera.
A Clarence native, Aikin received a bachelor of fine arts degree in music education from the UB.
Advance tickets for both concerts—purchased up to three business days prior to the concerts—are $12 for general admission; $9 for UB faculty/staff/alumni, WNED members with card and senior citizens; and $5 for students ($5). They may be purchased at the Slee Hall box office, the Center for the Arts box office and at all Ticketmaster outlets. Tickets purchased at the door are $20 for general admission; $15 for UB faculty/staff/alumni, WNED members with card and senior citizens; and $8 for students.
"UB boasts a long and storied arts tradition, yet today is one of only a handful of public universities committed to contemporary arts as an artistic focus," said Robert Morris, who earned a bachelor's degree in economics from UB in 1967. "We hope our gift will ensure that UB remains the creative home for artistic innovation and emerging artistic leaders, and continues to attract internationally acclaimed artists and world-class performers."
The Morris gift supports UB's strategic strength in Artistic Expression and Performing Arts as part of the institution's visionary UB 2020 strategic planning process, which is aligning resources with areas of academic strength and promise.
President John B. Simpson, citing earlier gifts from the Morris family to establish the Humanities Institute, the CAS Emergency Fund and the Morris Sports Performance Center, thanked the Morrises for their generosity and vision.
"UB is deeply grateful to Bob and Carol Morris for their ongoing commitment to our university and the many gifts they have provided in support of several of our most important projects across campus," Simpson said. "Their gift to the Morris Center for 21st Century Music will build significantly upon our extraordinary music program. In the process, this center will help us expand innovative programs and enhance our academic and cultural reputation within the region, the nation and the larger world.
"This is an exciting time for the University at Buffalo as we move forward in our pursuit of our ambitious agenda of academic excellence and leadership," Simpson added. "The Morris Center for 21st Century Music plays a significant role in advancing this mission and we are deeply grateful to Bob and Carol Morris for the confidence they have shown in UB and the investment they have made in the university's future."
The Morris family's tie to UB spans three generations. Robert Morris' parents, Ruth T. and Donald L., received degrees from the university, and one of Robert and Carol's sons, Alexander, earned bachelor's and master's degrees in architecture from the university in 1991 and 1994, respectively.
Robert Morris serves on the Dean's Advisory Council of the College of Arts and Sciences and is chair of the UB Foundation Development Committee. He earned a master's degree from Northeastern University.
He recently retired as partner and chief investment officer at Lord, Abbett & Co., an independent investment management firm in Jersey City, N.J., that manages more than $93.5 billion in assets. Before joining Lord, Abbett & Co. in 1991, he was vice president and manager of equity and equity investment research at Chase Manhattan Bank.