Month: February 2016

World-renowned concert pianist and Joel Estes Tate Professor Joaquín Achúcarro recently celebrated 25 years of teaching at SMU Meadows School of the Arts. To honor him, Meadows hosted a tribute concert on Friday, February 19.

The concert featured performances by seven of his outstanding former SMU students, all of whom are winners of major competitions worldwide and perform internationally.  The concert was curated by two of them, recording artists Alessio Bax and Lucille Chung, who are also Meadows’ new Johnson-Prothro Artists-in-Residence. The couple also served as artistic directors of The Joaquín Achúcarro Foundation, founded in 2007 to showcase, educate and benefit the careers of pianists, while developing and maintaining the legacy of Joaquín Achúcarro in perpetuity.

[youtube width=”853″ height=”480″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRmLYPA8LYQ[/youtube]

“Joaquín can only described as a treasure – to Meadows, to SMU, to Dallas and right on up to the cultural life of the world,” said Sam Holland, dean of the Meadows School. “He is truly one of the greatest. It is a privilege and pleasure to be able to honor him for his 25 years of service, not only in the form of his extraordinary performances in our community, but for bringing pianistic talent of the highest quality to the Meadows School for the last quarter century.”

Read more

• 25 Years: Honoring Joaquín Achúcarro
• The Meadows Division of Music 

Photographer Kim Leeson was behind the scenes on the 25th anniversary concert. 

Sophomore Del Cook is a percussionist and a music composition major at the Meadows School of the Arts. His music includes works for chamber ensemble and solo marimba as well as several electro-acoustic pieces. Cook performs regularly with the Uda Essim Triangle, a trio composed of Cook, fellow student Matt Shaw and faculty member Kim Corbet, and he is a member of the Point Ensemble, a Meadows new music collective. He also plays percussion with the Meadows Symphony, Meadows Wind Ensemble, Meadows Percussion Ensemble and Meadows World Music Ensemble.

Read more about SMU Meadows’ Ensembles

These three electro-acoustic pieces were composed in collaboration with studio artist Stejara Dinulescu (’19), a fellow Meadows student (as well as a President’s Scholar and Meadows Scholar), for various art installations to be premiered in and around the Meadows School sometime in 2016.

Over the winter break, Del sent the three pieces to The Cutty Strange Radio Hour in response to a call for “Radio Transmission Art.” The show, hosted by Wave Farm’s WGXC 90.7FM in upstate New York, accepted the pieces, and they were aired on February 4.

Hear the Pieces (Soundcloud)

The magic of SMU Opera Theatre’s The Magic Flute began months before the show. Directed by Hank Hammett, conducted by Martha Raley Peak Endowed Centennial Chair Paul Phillips, and with the incredible work of Meadows Costume Shop and Meadows’ M.F.A. students in Theatre/Design, the show was strikingly vivid.

(Scene design by Darren Diggle; Costume design by Hunter Dowell; Lighting design by Russell Bockemuehl)

Photographer Kim Leeson brought her camera back stage to capture the work going on behind the scenes, and the orchestra’s work in conjunction with the incredible stage design. Take a look.

See more from The Meadows Division of Music

Conduct. Goodness. Honor. Truth. Spirituality. Morality. Adversity. Imagination. Whimsy. Innocence. Humor. Wonder. The Magic Flute, one of the most popular and appealing operas of all time, opened at Meadows’ Bob Hope Theatre on February 4. Full of enchanting, magical melodies and fantastical creatures, it brings Mozart’s genius to the fore in this, his last and greatest opera. SMU Opera Theatre’s presentation featured a new English translation by Kelley Rourke, with English supertitles.

Photographer Kim Leeson went behind the scenes to capture a dress rehearsal, bringing back these stunning photos.

The Magic Flute at SMU Meadows was directed by Hank Hammett, conducted by Paul Phillips, and runs February 4-7 (2/4-2/7 at 8:00 p.m.; 2/7 at 2:00 p.m.) at Meadows’ Bob Hope Theatre. 

Scene design by Darren Diggle; Costume design by Hunter Dowell; Lighting design by Russell Bockemuehl