A birthday party for Beethoven and a celebration of Valley composers is one highlight of the 2021-2022 Pacific Artist Series at Fresno Pacific University. The signature music series returns in-person after a year on hiatus due to the pandemic.
The first concert features Walter Saul, D.M.A., emeritus music at FPU, celebrating the 250th anniversary of the birth of classical composer Ludwig van Beethoven. Saul, a pianist and composer, will also perform selections by himself and fellow area composers Kenneth Froelich, John S. Hord and James A. Abbate. Saul taught composition, theory and piano at FPU for 17 years and created the Pacific Artist Series. Froelich is associate professor of music at Fresno State, Hord is a longtime member of the Fresno City College faculty and Abbate is a graduate student at FPU, luthier and business executive.
The music begins at 3:00 p.m. Sunday, September 26, in McDonald Hall Atrium on the main FPU campus, 1717 S. Chestnut Ave., Fresno. Admission is $15 for general audiences, $10 for seniors and $5 for the FPU community. Tickets may be purchased at the door, but advance reservations are requested (to aid social distancing) at eventbrite.com/e/pacific-artist-series-walter-saul-piano-recital-tickets-169342384631. More information at music@fresno.edu or 559-453-2267.
A weekend of early music is featured on Saturday-Sunday, January 22-23, 2022, with a masterclass, concert, lecture-demonstration and hymn sing. The featured performers are Andrus Madsen, harpsichord; Pehl Evans, Ph.D., traverso; and FPU choirs.
The master class will be at 1:00 p.m. and the concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and the lecture-demonstration and hymn sing will be at 3:00 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $15 for general audiences, $10 for seniors and $5 for the FPU community, payable at the door. All events will be in Butler Church, 4884, E. Butler Ave., Fresno. More information at music@fresno.edu or 559-453-2267.
Madsen is an active organ, harpsichord, clavichord and fortepiano performer who is the minister of music at Second Church, Newton, MA, and founding director of Newton Baroque. Evans is a baroque flutist who has performed across the U.S. with early music groups and is an assistant professor of music at FPU.
The PAS welcomes the Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers (CFAMC) Conference Friday-Saturday March 25-26, 2022. FPU choirs will be featured in concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, led by Jeffrey Wilson, D.M.A., music program director and director of choir activities at FPU. A chamber music concert featuring selections by CFAMC composers will be at 3:00 p.m. Saturday.
Both events are in Butler Church, 4884 E. Butler Ave., Fresno. Friday’s choir concert features a reduced admission price of $7 for general audiences, $5 for seniors and $3 for the FPU community. Tickets for Saturday’s performance will be $15 for general audiences, $10 for seniors and $5 for the FPU community. Payable at the door. More information at music@fresno.edu or 559-453-2267.