Middle Eastern Music to Jazz: Recent Student Performances

The end of the semester at Bowdoin always brings many live shows in which student ensembles perform the music they’ve been working on during the fall.

Check out Bowdoin Talks to see some of these videotaped concerts.

In the top video, the Bowdoin Middle Eastern Ensemble, directed by Eric LaPerna and Amos Libby, performs classical and contemporary music from the Arabic and Ottoman Turkish traditions. The musicians use traditional Middle Eastern musical instruments, like the oud (Middle Eastern lute) and qanun (72-stringed Middle Eastern zither), along with Western instruments.

In the video below, student musicians from Bowdoin’s Department of Music perform a midday concert of classical and jazz pieces for the final Common Hour of the semester.

Wind Quintet, Op. 79
August Klughardt (1847-1902)
I. Allegro non troppo
II. Allegro vivace
III. Andante grazioso
IV. Adagio – Allegro molto vivace

Emily Licholai ’18, flute; Alex Banbury ’20, oboe; Erin Harris ’20, clarinet; David Morrison ’19, bassoon; Ethan Hill ’21, French horn; Kathleen McNerney, coach

String Sextet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 36
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
I. Allegro non troppo
II. Scherzo – Allegro non troppo
III. Poco Adagio

Anne McKee ’20, violin; Devlin Shea ’18, violin; Benjamin Hoxie ’19, viola; Hanna Renedo ’18, viola; August Posch ’18, cello; Andrew Walter-McNeill ’19, cello; Kirsten Monke, coach

Nica’s Dream
Horace Silver (1928-2014)

Little Sunflower
Freddie Hubbard (1938-2008)

Monk’s Dream
Thelonious Monk (1917-1982)

Noah Eckstein ’21, alto saxophone; Dylan Hayton-Ruffner ’20, tenor saxophone; Will Sheppard ’18, trombone; Dan Mayer ’21, bass; Nick Cattaneo ’21, drums; Jack O’Connor ’21, piano; Titus Abbott, coach