Performance of Two Student Compositions Receives Enthusiastic Reception
On May 3, the Sarasota Piano Quartet gave the first public performance of two compositions by New College of Florida graduating seniors Alejandro Castaño and Adele Fournet at a free concert in Mildred Sainer Pavilion. The musicians – violinist Jennifer Best, violist Matthew Pegis, cellist Christopher Schnell and pianist Jonathan Spivey – performed Alejandro’s The Act of Faith and Adele’s Synthesis for an enthusiastic audience of students, friends, family and music lovers. Each young musician introduced his or her piece and answered questions from the audience.
Guided by New College Professor of Music Stephen Miles, this is the 8th year of a creative collaboration between New College and the Sarasota Orchestra, in which select New College student composers work with one of the Orchestra’s resident chamber ensembles. The students meet with the professionals five times throughout the academic year to hear their music rehearsed and to learn more about composing for specific instrumental combinations.
Alejandro Castaño was born in Bogotá, Colombia and lived in Tokyo, Japan. At the age of 13 he moved to Tampa, Florida where he attended an “Aerospace Engineering and Design” Magnet program through high school. In 2001, he started working on a B.A. in Political Science and Music at New College of Florida. Under the guidance of Professor Miles, Alejandro collaborated with the Sarasota Orchestra’s Brass Quintet and String Quartet ensembles in previous years. As a senior project, Alejandro composed a piece for a chamber group that will be performed on May 10th at 5 pm in Mildred Sainer Auditorium. He is also a member of the experimental group “The Red Fetish.”
Adele Fournet is a fourth year student at New College studying music composition along with a number of marvelously interesting academic disciplines, including sociology, philosophy and Spanish. She is originally from Fayetteville, Arkansas and says that she has thoroughly enjoyed her time at New College and in Florida. This past year she wrote an ethnography of female rock instrumentalists in Tampa as her undergraduate thesis, and will continue her work next year as an anthropologist, composer, and female rock instrumentalist in San Francisco. On February 27, Adele appeared at New Music New College “Crossroads” concert as a vocalist and keyboardist in the student band, The Done For.
For more information about the New College composers and music program, contact Linda Joffe, Associate Director of Public Affairs, at [email protected] or 941-487-4154.