MacRae is the new Cordelia Wikarski-Miedel Artist in Residence;
Friday, Feb. 5, at 7:30 p.m.
TACOMA, Wash. – Alistair MacRae takes his beloved cello to some unlikely places. In days past you might have found University of Puget Sound’s new cello professor sweeping his bow alongside the German rock band, The Scorpions, or performing beside American tap dancer Savion Glover.
More often though MacRae is devoted to the sheer beauty of music from the classical genre, and it is with this passion in mind that he instructs students in Puget Sound’s School of Music, as the new Cordelia Wikarski-Miedel Artist in Residence.
MacRae, who joined Puget Sound this fall, will give his debut solo performance on campus with a collection of memorable cello works at an evening titled Songs and Dances for Cello, on Friday, Feb. 5, starting at 7:30 p.m., in Schneebeck Concert Hall. He will be accompanied by the university’s chair of piano, Duane Hulbert. Everyone is welcome to the Jacobsen Series concert. Ticket information is below.
“This recital program approaches two of the most essential and primal modes of human musical expression, song and dance, from the perspective of the cello,” MacRae says. “It includes two of the great works written for solo cello, crafted by Bach and Cassadó as suites of dance forms drawn from various cultures.
“I will also be playing my own transcription of one of the most loved sets of songs for voice and piano, Gustav Mahler's Rückert-Lieder. As a newcomer to the Puget Sound musical community, I’m looking forward to introducing myself to concertgoers with this very fun program. I’m also excited to collaborate, on the Mahler songs, with my fantastic colleague Duane Hulbert.”
The works performed on the evening will be:
Johannes Sebastian Bach: Suite No. 3 for Solo Cello in C Major
Gaspar Cassadó: Suite for Solo Cello
Gustav Mahler: Rückert-Lieder
Alistair MacRae, cello, came to Puget Sound with a wealth of experience as a teacher and chamber music coach, and with performing credentials spanning continents. He has appeared as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral principal throughout North America and in Europe, Asia, South America, and the Middle East. He has been featured on radio broadcasts across the United States and has recorded chamber music by Georg Telemann and Laurie Altman, music for the Discovery Channel, and ensemble CDs of music by Mozart and Scott Joplin. MacRae has appeared in Carnegie Hall’s Making Music series, and as a member of Soprello, Fountain Ensemble, the Richardson Chamber Players, and Berkshire Bach Ensemble. The principal cello of Princeton Symphony Orchestra, he has been heard at major New York chamber music venues and has performed with groups including Manhattan Sinfonietta and Suedama Ensemble.
MacRae is a passionate advocate for new music who has premiered new works at Princeton, Yale, Columbia, and Harvard universities. He has performed his own compositions and arrangements throughout North America. His eclectic collaborations also have found him on stage with the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Westminster Choir, jazz bassist Ben Wolfe, and the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, among others.
The Jacobsen Series, named in honor of Leonard Jacobsen, former chair of the piano department at Puget Sound, has been running since 1984. The Jacobsen Series Scholarship Fund awards annual music scholarships to outstanding student performers and scholars. The fund is sustained entirely by season subscribers and ticket sales.
FOR TICKETS: Tickets are available online at tickets.pugetsound.edu, or at Wheelock Information Center, 253.879.3100. Admission is $15 for the general public; $10 for seniors (55+), students, military, and Puget Sound faculty and staff. The concert is free for current Puget Sound students. Group ticket rates are available for parties of 10 or more by calling 253.879.3555 in advance. Any remaining tickets will be available at the door.
For directions and a map of the campus: pugetsound.edu/directions
For accessibility information please contact accessibility@pugetsound.edu or 253.879.3236, or visit pugetsound.edu/accessibility.
Press photos of Alistair MacRae can be downloaded from pugetsound.edu/pressphotos.
Photos on page: Top right: Alistair MacRae; Above: cello closeup, by Georg Feitscher
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