The Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra is among the featured guest artists during SIU School of Music’s annual Outside the Box festival, which also highlights the works and performances by SIU faculty and students. (Photo provided)
March 14, 2024
SIU’s Outside the Box festival of new music starts Monday
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Outside the Box 2024 festival of new music will feature internationally known musicians and performers for eight days between March 18 and April 19 at various locations on campus. All of the workshops and concerts are free and open to the public.
Several elements make Outside The Box special, said director Christopher Walczak, associate professor of music theory and composition in the School of Music, which is within the College of Arts and Media.
“It's the kind of festival and the quality of concert music that you'd normally only hear in major metropolitan areas,” he said. “That’s one thing we set out to do from the beginning — to give people in Southern Illinois and specifically the Carbondale-SIU community the kinds of performances and music events that typically can be experienced only in larger cities.
“Secondly, the deep involvement and commitment to the festival by SIU music performance faculty is rare, I think. Of prime importance when considering whom to feature each year is how engaging the guests will be. It’s critically important that the featured guest artists are excited to interact with our students, faculty and members of the community.”
Loaded performance schedule
The Sampen and Bunce Duo kicks off the festival, now in its 17th year, at 7 p.m. Monday in the Old Baptist Foundation Recital Hall as John Sampen and Mark Bunce perform a concert of contemporary music for saxophone and electronics while showcasing their program in “Two Worlds.” Sampen is a distinguished artist professor in Bowling Green State University’s College of Musical Arts. Bunce, a 35-year veteran of the recording industry, is a composer and former recording engineer/electronics technician for the MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music and emeritus director of Recording Services at Bowling Green.
The SIU Clarinet Studio, under SIU visiting professor Eric Mandat’s direction, will present the annual Outside the Box Concert featuring the SIU Clarinet Studio at 7 p.m. March 27, at Old Baptist Foundation Recital Hall. The featured guest is Jessica Speak, an international performing artist and Stetson University clarinet adjunct professor. At 10 a.m. March 26, Speak will lead a discussion on “Building Musical Community Wherever You Are” in Altgeld Hall, Room 119.
The schedule also has a 7 p.m. April 18 performance in Shryock Auditorium by featured guest artists The Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra (LGCCO) from Taipei, Taiwan. The concert will include SIU School of Music faculty members Christopher Butler, Dick Kelley and Mandat. Earlier in the day, the LGCCO will demonstrate the sounds and techniques of traditional Chinese musical instruments and the role they play in new music performance during a workshop at 11 a.m. at Shryock Auditorium. The LGCCO ensemble “specializes in the fusion of traditional Chinese instruments and Western orchestral instruments,” Walczak said.
At 7 p.m. April 19, LGCCO, led by internationally acclaimed conductor Chih-Sheng Chen, will perform five newly commissioned world premieres by composers Kathleen Ginther, Gregory Glancey, Zoe Lin, Mandat and Walczak at Shryock Auditorium. The School of Music faculty who will perform are Joseph Bauer, bass; Christopher Butler, percussion; Jessica Butler, trombone; Anthony Gray, piano; Yuko Kato, piano; Richard Kelley, saxophone; Mandat, clarinet, and Jennifer Presar, horn.
Other performances include:
- March 28 — 7 p.m. Altgeld Hall, Room 112. Butler will perform a concert of eclectic and innovative new music for percussion and computer.
- April 9 — 7 p.m. Old Baptist Foundation Recital Hall. The SIU Improvisation Unit, under Mandat’s direction, will present a concert of mostly improvised music, with a special tribute to composer Morton Feldman.
- April 11 — 7 p.m. Shryock Auditorium. Performances by School of Music students.
Walczak said that student involvement in the annual festival is crucial.
“Perhaps most valuable part is that student performers are often afforded the opportunity to play on stage along with internationally renowned guest artists and SIU faculty,” he said, also encouraging the community to attend the festival performances.
“Putting on the concerts is a labor of love for all involved, and it means the world to feel such support from lovers of music in the Southern Illinois area,” he said.
For the complete schedule of events, visit the Outside the Box website.