Come celebrate the Total Solar Eclipse with a concert presented by Unity Point School along with 6 other schools to present a concert of chroal and band music.
The concert is headlined by the world premier of “Into the Darkness” written by Caroline KyungA Ahn.
The combined groups will be performing pieces composed or arranged in the seven years between the two eclipses that will have passed over Carbondale, IL.
The concert will include 4 total premiers!
“Into the Darkness” for Concert Band (2023)
– Caroline KyungA Ahn *World Premier
“The Jelly-Fish” (2023) for SAB Choir
-Amanda S. *World Premier
“A Solar Eclipse” (2023) for Choir
-Tom Wilhoit *World Premier
“Of Foxes, Dragons, and Leprechauns” for Concert Band (2018)
-Eric Mandat *Illinois Premier
Into the Darkness: Celebrating the Eclipse with Music
April 5, 2024 @ 7 pm
Tickets available at the door. Doors open at 6 pm.
Streamed Live on YouTube @UnityPointMusic140
HoneyBeez Snowballz and Winston’s Bagels by B-Rad will be providing food and snacks in Faner Mall (near Shryock) from 4pm – 7pm.
Embracing a wide spectrum of musical styles, Dr. Caroline KyungA Ahn writes music inspired by the natural world. Her music is described as ‘entirely delicate and lyrical’ yet has strong power that grabs the audience’s attention. Her recent style shows using a more minimalistic approach to music but still greatly focusing on timbre using a lot of repeating and perpetuating motions.
Born in Seoul, Korea, Dr. Caroline KyungA Ahn holds degrees from Yonsei University (BM in composition), Eastman School of Music (MM and MA in composition and pedagogy of theory) and Indiana University (DM in composition). Her compositions include orchestral, chamber, and theatrical works that have been widely performed in South Korea, the United States, and Europe and South America.
Dr. Ahan currently works as an Artistic Director and Assistant Professor at Anderson University where she teaches music composition, music theory and piano. She also works as a director of Piano and Composition Summer Camp at Anderson University. She serves as Committee on Cultural Inclusion at College Music Society and as a Conference Chair and a chair of Commissioned Composer program at IMTA.
Winner of 2018 Christine Clark/Theodore Front Prize of IAWM (International Alliance for Women in Music), Dr. Ahn’s achievements include being as one of the finalists of American Prize in Orchestra division, being chosen for ISCM New Music Days, the Excellence in Composition prize at the IBCF (International Brass Chamber Music Festival, KY) and a finalist for the Respighi Composition Competitions of 2014 season, and many more.
Commissioned include by Carmel Symphony Orchestra, Richmond Symphony, Anderson Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Metropolitan Chorus, National Museum of Korean Contemporary History, Noblesville High School Band, Unity Point School Consolidated School District, Kawum String Orchestra, Carmel City (IN) to write the opening and finale music of Carmel Festival (IN) in July 2012, New York Classical Players, Inspirare Trio, IKTUS Percussion Quartet, ISO Player group, IMTA Commissioned Composer of the year 2015, Indiana State Contemporary Music Festival, Cramped Spaces, Mirus Trio and many more.
Dr. Ahn is an Artist in Residence for both The Classic Art and Thegenbals Society (musical group and agency) in Korea and released an album entitled ‘Classical Ballad’ which is available on Amazon, iTunes and other streaming Sites.
Learn more about her commissions and awards on her professional website.
Contact Dr. Ahn:
kaahn@anderson.edu
D.M., Indiana University
M.M. and M.A., Eastman School of Music
B.M. Yonsei University
Artistic Director at Anderson University, School of Music Theatre and Dance
Amanda S. is a composer, flutist, and music educator from Greenfield, Indiana. Amanda writes music inspired by people, history, and nature. She focuses on designing a unique tonal pallet for each piece, then creating strong imagery that c0nnects to her ideas. She is excited to explore new styles and approaches to composing for orchestral instruments, voice, and electronic music. Amanda works closely with Sound Ecologies in Indianapolis and is excited to be a featured composer for their 2024 season. Amanda S. holds degrees from Butler University (Bachelor of Music in Theory and Composition) and Anderson University (Master of Music Education.) She will complete a Master of Music Composition degree this spring at Butler University where she currently studies with Dr. Michael Schelle and Dr. Frank Felice. She also studied composition with Dr. Caroline KyungA Aln while at Anderson University. She has been mentored by Robby Robinson and was a fellow in the Chinese Styles Composition Workshop by Xinya| Li in 2021.
Tom Willhoit is a composer and musician based in the St. Louis area. He is a graduate of SIU’s school of music (2023) and two-time winner of the Carl Deis Award for outstanding music composition. A Solar Eclipse was written specifically for Unity Point’s choir and is a short rock tune set to the words of Ella Wheeler Cox’s poem of the same name.
For more than 40 years clarinetist/composer Eric Mandat has been at the forefront of clarinet extended performance techniques exploration, particularly multiphonics, microtones, and timbral modulations. Through his work with these extended techniques, Eric has developed a deeply personal artistic expression as a performer and composer, and he is recognized worldwide as one of the foremost authorities on clarinet extended techniques.
Eric enjoys an extremely diverse performance career as a soloist and chamber musician. He tours regularly as a concert artist, premiering and performing his works throughout the world, and at international festivals in Europe, Asia, South America, and the United States. For 15 seasons he was a member of the Chicago Symphony’s MusicNOW ensemble, performing under eminent composer/conductors Pierre Boulez, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and George Benjamin, among others. As an improviser, Eric was a member of Tone Road Ramblers, an eclectic sextet dedicated to free improvisation exploration, for more than 25 years. He continues to perform regularly in solo and small group improvisation contexts. Eric’s ongoing solo improvisation projects with live electronics have received wide acclaim at performances throughout the United States and in Europe. The MIT Computer Music Journal lauded Eric’s “ebullient curiosity…infused with decades of thoughtful improvisational practice, resulting in another unforgettable performance” in its review of Eric’s improvisation presentation at the 2019 MOXsonic Experimental Arts Festival.
Eric has received numerous honors and awards for his work as a composer/performer, including a 2021 Artist Fellowship Award for Composition from the Illinois Arts Council. Eric has been awarded more than 25 artist residencies at the Ragdale Foundation and at Brush Creek Center for the Arts. His recent work Parallel Histories: an Excursion for two clarinetists and wind ensemble was premiered in Jue, 2016 by The President’s Own Marine Band at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., with two of his former students, Jay Niepoetter and Jihoon Chang, soloists.
Eric has taught at Southern Illinois University Carbondale since 1981, where he is currently Visiting Professor of Clarinet and Distinguished Scholar. Eric was the recipient of the 1999 Southern Illinois University Outstanding Scholar Award, the university’s highest honor for research/creative work. A dedicated and in-demand teacher, Eric has presented recitals, master classes, and lectures on extended performance techniques at more than 130 conservatories and universities around the world, and he regularly appears as guest artist at clarinet-specific events throughout the United States.
Eric received his degrees from the University of North Texas, the Yale School of Music, and the Eastman School of Music.
Eric Mandat is a Buffet Crampon USA Performing Artist and Clinician.
Participating Schools and Organizations:
This concert is sponsored and support by the following. We truly appreciate all the support given to allow this concert to happen!
