Charles Wuorinen receives honorary doctorate from UB, conducts Slee SInfonietta at June in Buffalo 2013!

Charles Wuorinen

We’re looking forward to Tuesday, June 4th, when University at Buffalo President Satish K. Tripathi will present June in Buffalo 2013 Faculty Composer Charles Wuorinen with an honorary doctorate from UB. The brief award ceremony will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Slee Hall, after which two recent works by Charles Wuorinen will be performed. First will be Wuroinen’s Piano Quintet, to be performed by the JACK Quartet and pianist Eric Huebner. Wuorinen will then pick up the baton and lead the Slee Sinfonietta in his It Happens Like This, a dramatic and sometimes jocular cantata in which the composer has set text from seven poems by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet James Tate. It Happens Like This will feature 12 members from Slee Sinfonietta, who will be joined by four vocalists: soprano Sharon Harms, alto Laura Mercado Wright, tenor Steven Brennfleck, and bass Ethan Herschenfeld.

The Slee Sinfonietta performing Ligeti's Piano Concerto

Charles Wuorinen has been a friend to the Center for 21st Century Music for many years now – his full biography can be found on our new webpage: Slee Sinfonietta Artist Bios, which includes full biographies and pictures of all of the composers, performers, and staff that make up the Slee Sinfonietta.

The Sinfonietta presents a series of concerts each year that feature performances of challenging new works by contemporary composers and lesser-known works from the chamber orchestra repertoire. Founded in 1997 by composer David Felder, and comprised of a core group including UB faculty performance artists, visiting artists, national and regional professionals and advanced performance students, the group is conducted by leading conductors and composers. More can be found on the history of the Sinfonietta at their program archives. 

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