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Irish Traditional Music Group, The Consequences, Will Perform at Mountain City Traditional ArtsFrostburg State University’s Mountain City Traditional Arts will present the new Irish traditional music group, The Consequences, on Tuesday, May 14, at 7 pm. at 25 E. Main St. in Frostburg. The concert is free and open to the public. No tickets are required, though donations are greatly appreciated.Driven by a passion for exploring the colors and complexities of Irish music, The Consequences are a band founded by Lexie Boatright (concertina and harp), Jake James (fiddle), Cara Wildman (bodhrán and dance) and Ryan Ward (piano and piano accordion). Award-winning soloists in their own right, the quartet comes together to create a dynamic and enthralling sound with a combination of traditional and original tunes.Boatright is a multiple All-Ireland award-winning harpist and concertina player. She is the executive director of the Baltimore-Washington Academy of Irish Culture. Boatright also regularly teaches across the Irish music summer school and festival circuit.James is a two-time All-Ireland fiddle champion from Queens, New York City. The Irish Echo called his 2018 album “Firewood” an “outstanding debut solo recording.” Since then, he's released “In Reel Time” with fellow NYC flute player Brenda Dowling and toured throughout the United States, Canada and Japan with several esteemed groups.Wildman is a highly sought-after bodhrán player at the cutting edge of the instrument's modern development. She credits a large part of her musicality to growing up playing western swing in Dorchester, Texas. She has toured with Joanie Madden, Oisin Mac Diarmada’s Irish Christmas in America, Máiréad Nesbitt and more. Wildman was the 2021 All-Ireland Fleadhfest champion.Known for his driving, yet sensitive, and dynamic accompaniment style, Ward is an award-winning pianist and accordion player hailing from New York City. He is a Senior All-Ireland Accompaniment Champion, has performed extensively across the Feis circuit and is a highly sought-after accompanist in the New York area.MCTA is a program of FSU and a founding member of Maryland’s Folklife Network. It receives support from the Maryland Traditions Program of the State Arts Council.For more information, call 301-687-8040.

FSU’s Department of Music Presents Dr. Joseph Yungen in Faculty Artist Series ConcertFrostburg State University’s Department of Music will present Dr. Joseph Yungen in a Faculty Artist Series concert on Tuesday, May 14, at 7:30 p.m. in the Pealer Recital Hall of FSU’s Woodward D. Pealer Performing Arts Center. This event is free and open to the public. The concert will also be livestreamed; the link will be posted at www.frostburg.edu/concerts.Yungen will perform “Prelude and Fugue in D Major, BWV 874” and “Prelude and Fugue in G Minor, BWV 885” from “The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2” by Johann Sebastian Bach; “Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm (Nos. 148-153)” from “Mikrokosmos, Book 6” by Béla Bartók; “Six moments musicaux, Op. 16” by Sergei Rachmaninoff; the three movements, “Das Lebewohl (Les Adieux – The Farewell),” “Abwesenheit (L’Absence – The Absence)” and “Wiedersehen (Le Retour – The Return),” of “Piano Sonata No. 26 in E-flat Major, Op. 81a,” known as “Les Adieux” (“The Farewell”) by Ludwig van Beethoven; and the seven movements of “Fantasies, Op. 116” by Johannes Brahms. The following text is from Yungen’s program notes.The “Clavier” is part of Bach’s 48 preludes and fugues that explore the 12 major and minor keys. Bach had been coming from meantone temperament, which allowed for a handful of keys to sound beautifully in tune, but with the tradeoff being that other keys would sound particularly harsh and discordant. Well temperaments make more keys accessible by redistributing and minimizing the imperfect intervals. The result is that each key has its own color and character, which Bach exploits in WTC. So, rather than demonstrating that “all keys are equal,” as is a common misconception, Bach is demonstrating how all keys may now be used on the keyboard, and they are all wonderfully different.Originally written as a collection of pedagogical studies for his son, and still used for beginning piano instruction to this day, Bartók’s “Mikrokosmos” spans six volumes, beginning with simple unison melodies and culminating in complex virtuoso concert works. The “Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm” at the end of the final volume showcase Bartók’s work in collecting folk music from the Balkans and integrating it into his modern musical language.Drawing upon traditional forms such as the nocturne, virtuoso etude, song without words, barcarolle, and theme and variations, Rachmaninoff’s “Opus 16” was inspired by Franz Schubert’s “Six Moments musicaux.” Although Rachmaninoff composed these pieces to dig himself out of a financial hole after being robbed on a train, they are of the highest quality and demonstrate the maturation of his compositional technique for the piano.Beethoven’s “Les Adieux sonata” marks the end of the master’s middle period and the start of his late period. The piece paints a picture musically and pianistically of a departure and heartfelt goodbye. The sonata opens with a descending horn motif. As the music unfolds, one can hear the rhythm of horses galloping away into the distance while the pianist’s hands move farther and farther apart, with the Lebewohl motif recurring throughout. The second movement, “The Absence,” evokes the emptiness of the friend’s absence, with harsh dissonances and moments of false hope. However, the despairing mood is alleviated at the end of the movement, changing from suspense to anticipation as it leads into a joyful reunion in the final movement.Written in his final years, Brahms’ “Fantasies, Op. 116” are highly concentrated compositional gems. These bittersweet, mostly melancholy pieces are full of interesting contrapuntal ideas, independent voice leading and pianistic effects. Most likely written with his beloved friend Clara Schumann in mind, with whom Brahms had a rather complicated relationship, these short piano works span the range of expression from vehement passion to intimate nostalgia.For more information, contact FSU’s Department of Music at 301-687-4109.