FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 1, 2018
George Frideric Handel
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music is pleased to welcome the American Handel Festival Feb. 7-10, 2019.
The biennial festival of the American Handel Society will open with the Howard Serwer Memorial Lecture by Ellen Rosand, from Yale University, and include three days of academic panels and two major performances: Handel’s “Giulio Cesare” and “Parnasso in festa.”
IU Jacobs School of Music Opera and Ballet Theater will present “Giulio Cesare” Feb. 1, 2, 8 and 9 in Bloomington’s Musical Arts Center. The Handel classic will be conducted by Gary Thor Wedow in collaboration with director Robin Guarino and set designer Allen Moyer.
“Parnasso in festa” will be performed Feb. 9 by Concentus and the Baroque Orchestra, both ensembles of the IU Historical Performance Institute, under the direction of guest conductor Jeffrey Thomas (American Bach Soloists).
“We are honored to welcome the American Handel Society to Indiana University in February 2019,” said Ayana Smith, festival co-coordinator and associate professor in the Jacobs Musicology Department. “The conference and festival will bring notable Handel scholars and performers to Bloomington, creating a unique opportunity for students and faculty at the Jacobs School of Music.
“Additional collaboration between the Musicology Department, Historical Performance Institute and IU Center for Eighteenth-Century Studies will create an exciting environment for multifaceted exploration of Handel’s music and eighteenth-century narrative while intersecting with Opera Theater’s performance of Handel’s ‘Giulio Cesare.’”
Dana Marsh, director of the Historical Performance Institute and chair of the Jacobs Early Music Department, is also a co-coordinator of the festival.
Call for Papers
The American Handel Society invites submission of abstracts for papers on any topic connected with Handel’s life and music. Abstracts of no more than 500 words may be sent to program chair Norbert Dubowy at norbert.dubowy@gmail.com by Oct. 15.
Topics for an interdisciplinary panel on the theme of “Narrative Turning Points in the Eighteenth Century” are also invited.
Turning points may be interpreted broadly, from narrative structure (climax, revelation, catharsis) and narrative representation (transformation, identity, character) to historiographical or methodological changes with respect to narrative. Especially welcome are topics pertaining to theater, drama, spectacle, music or art, or any narrative themes related to the festival’s major performances: “Giulio Cesare” and “Parnasso in festa.”
Visit the festival web page for details concerning the conference program, registration, travel and accommodations.
MEDIA CONTACT
Linda Cajigas
Assistant Director of Communications
IU Jacobs School of Music
812-856-3882 | lcajigas@indiana.edu