Prof. Hilary Tann will trace the evolution of Japanese influences on her music over the last decade in a faculty colloquium titled, “Something Old, Something
New” on Thursday, Feb. 20, at 4:30 p.m. in Reamer Campus Center Auditorium. (A concert of the same title will be Feb. 21 — see story this issue.)
“My attempt to share my life (as a composer) will focus on the way in which my
first encounter with the musical language of another country (“something new”)
reconfigured my musical thinking (“something old”),” she said. “The
music of Japan, specifically the ancient music of the Japanese vertical bamboo flute,
continues to be a source of inspiration and joy to me.”
During the colloquium, Tann will use musical examples — on tape and performed by
violinist Michael Emery, concertmaster of the Schenectady Symphony Orchestra. Emery is to
perform “The Cresset Stone,” a meditation for violin solo.
Tann holds degrees in composition from the University of Wales at Cardiff and Princeton
University, the latter from which she earned her Ph.D. in 1981. A member of the Union
faculty since 1980, her compositions for chamber ensemble and full orchestra have received
performances and broadcasts in the U.S., Europe, and Australia. In 1989, she was accepted
as a house composer by Oxford University Press. Two of her chamber works are available on
CD; four more are to be released this year.