Robb Symposium Series
Featured Event
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Friday 15 November 11:00am Thokozani Mhlambi, cellist, composer Location: CFA Room 1106 Program: composer talk |
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Video: One of KwaZulu-Natal’s finest musical talents, Dr Thokozani Mhlambi, South African composer, cellist and cultural thinker performing live a segment of his Zulu Song Cycle on the Espresso Show.
2024-2025 Season
The annual Robb Symposium Series aligns with The University of New Mexico's academic year, with events taking place during the fall and spring semesters. All events are free admission all ages family-friendly community events, unless otherwise noted. Visit this page regularly for new event listings.
2024
Friday 30 August 11:00am
John Link, composer
Location: CFA Room 1111
Program: composer talk
Friday 6 September 11:00am
Jeffrey Gavett, composer, baritone, conductor
Location: CFA Room 1111
Program: composer talk
Friday 13 September 11:00am
Agustín Castilla-Ávila, composer, guitarist, author, artistic researcher
Location: CFA Room 1111
Program: NEVERENDINGARTIST: A proposal for a transdisciplinary classification
John Link, composer
Location: CFA Room 1111
Program: composer talk
Friday 6 September 11:00am
Jeffrey Gavett, composer, baritone, conductor
Location: CFA Room 1111
Program: composer talk
Friday 13 September 11:00am
Agustín Castilla-Ávila, composer, guitarist, author, artistic researcher
Location: CFA Room 1111
Program: NEVERENDINGARTIST: A proposal for a transdisciplinary classification
Sérgio Azevedo Visiting Artist Residency
Thursday 19 September 9:30am
Sérgio Azevedo, composer
Location: CFA Room 2100
Program: lecture on Portuguese music
Wednesday 25 September 7:30-9pm
WORLD PREMIERE ...Contempla, alma, y considera double concerto for oboe and viola
Sérgio Azevedo, composer
Kevin Vigneau, oboe
Kimberly Fredenburgh, viola
Sebastián Serrano-Ayala, conductor
UNM Symphony Orchestra
Location: Popejoy Hall
Tickets: $15 adult, $10 senior, $5 student
general admission, purchase tickets
Also on the program: Bolero Maurice Ravel, Capriccio español Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Huapango José Pablo Moncayo
The Robb Trust is a proud underwriter of the Azevedo double concerto commission.
Thursday 19 September 9:30am
Sérgio Azevedo, composer
Location: CFA Room 2100
Program: lecture on Portuguese music
Wednesday 25 September 7:30-9pm
WORLD PREMIERE ...Contempla, alma, y considera double concerto for oboe and viola
Sérgio Azevedo, composer
Kevin Vigneau, oboe
Kimberly Fredenburgh, viola
Sebastián Serrano-Ayala, conductor
UNM Symphony Orchestra
Location: Popejoy Hall
Tickets: $15 adult, $10 senior, $5 student
general admission, purchase tickets
Also on the program: Bolero Maurice Ravel, Capriccio español Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Huapango José Pablo Moncayo
The Robb Trust is a proud underwriter of the Azevedo double concerto commission.
Thursday 26 September 2pm
Sérgio Azevedo, composer, pianist
Location: Keller Hall
Program: Azevedo performs Azevedo, solo piano recital
Friday 27 September 11:00am
Sérgio Azevedo, composer
Location: CFA Room 1111
Program: artist talk and composition master class with UNM composition students
line upon line artist residency
Thursday 3 October 6:30pm
line upon line, percussion ensemble
Location: CFA Room B120
Program: masterclass
Friday 4 October 11:00am
line upon line, percussion ensemble
Location: CFA Room 1111
Program: commissioning and collaboration talk
Friday 18 October 11:00am
Jocelyn Hagen and Timothy C. Takach, a cappella band Nation
Location: CFA Room 1111
Program: composers talk
Friday 1 November 10:30am
Rachel Lee Priday, violin
Location: CFA Room 1106
Program: string masterclass & commissioning talk
Friday 15 November 11:00am
Thokozani Ndumiso Mhlambi, musician, songwriter, cultural pioneer
Location: CFA Room 1106
Program: composer talk
Friday 22 November 10:30am
Linda Antas, composer, art technologist, flutist, educator
Location: CFA Room 1106
Program: composer talk
Jocelyn Hagen and Timothy C. Takach, a cappella band Nation
Location: CFA Room 1111
Program: composers talk
Friday 1 November 10:30am
Rachel Lee Priday, violin
Location: CFA Room 1106
Program: string masterclass & commissioning talk
Friday 15 November 11:00am
Thokozani Ndumiso Mhlambi, musician, songwriter, cultural pioneer
Location: CFA Room 1106
Program: composer talk
Friday 22 November 10:30am
Linda Antas, composer, art technologist, flutist, educator
Location: CFA Room 1106
Program: composer talk
2025
Thursday 6 February 2:00pm
Romain Garioud, cello
Location: Keller Hall
Program: to be announced
Thursday 6 February 7:30pm
Romain Garioud, cello
Location: Keller Hall
Program: to be announced
Romain Garioud, cello
Location: Keller Hall
Program: to be announced
Thursday 6 February 7:30pm
Romain Garioud, cello
Location: Keller Hall
Program: to be announced
Sunday 30 March 4:00pm
53rd Annual Robb Concert
Maxine Thévenot, organ
Jeffrey Brooks, clarinet
Location: Episcopal Cathedral of St. John
Program: works by John Donald Robb, other composers to be announced
53rd Annual Robb Concert
Maxine Thévenot, organ
Jeffrey Brooks, clarinet
Location: Episcopal Cathedral of St. John
Program: works by John Donald Robb, other composers to be announced
click map to expand
Venues
Center for the Arts (CFA)
University of New Mexico
College of Fine Arts
MSC04 2570
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
Directions
Map Key:
A. CFA entrance
B. CFA Room 1111
C. Keller Hall (505) 277-2131
D. Popejoy Hall (505) 277-8010
Paid visitor parking is available at the
UNM Cornell parking structure
Center for the Arts (CFA)
University of New Mexico
College of Fine Arts
MSC04 2570
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
Directions
Map Key:
A. CFA entrance
B. CFA Room 1111
C. Keller Hall (505) 277-2131
D. Popejoy Hall (505) 277-8010
Paid visitor parking is available at the
UNM Cornell parking structure
UNM Arts Lab
131 Pine Street NE
Albuquerque, NM 87106
(505) 277-2253
Directions
Episcopal Cathedral of St. John
318 Silver Avenue SW (corner of 3rd & Silver)
Albuquerque, NM 87102
(505) 247-1581
Directions
131 Pine Street NE
Albuquerque, NM 87106
(505) 277-2253
Directions
Episcopal Cathedral of St. John
318 Silver Avenue SW (corner of 3rd & Silver)
Albuquerque, NM 87102
(505) 247-1581
Directions
Artistic Directors
Karola Obermüller’s composing, described by the New York Times as "hyperkinetic music”, is constantly in search of the unknown. After obtaining composition degrees in Nuremberg, Saarbrücken, and the University Mozarteum Salzburg, her sense of rhythm and form was forever changed by studying Carnatic and Hindustani classical music in Chennai and Delhi, India.
A Ph.D. at Harvard University brought her to the US where she taught at the University of New Mexico before joining the Department of Music at UC San Diego. She also lives and works part of the year in Europe and has been a visiting artist at ZKM, Deutsche Akademie Rom, Centro Tedesco di studi Veneziani, Akademie Schloss Solitude, Eisler House (International Hanns Eisler Scholarship), and IRCAM.
Her music, often political, always dramatic, includes operas for Staatstheater Nürnberg, Theater Bielefeld, Theater Bonn, Theater Heidelberg, Theater Aachen, and Stuttgart’s Musik der Jahrhunderte. The emotional juxtapositions of story suspended in a tableau architecture that one finds in her operas can be heard in her concert works as well. These include commissions from the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Fromm Music Foundation, New Music USA, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Saarländischer Rundfunk, and numerous renowned soloists and ensembles.
Her music can be heard on CD (WERGO, New Focus Recordings, Brilliant Classics, NEOS) and online at karolaobermueller.net.
Here is Karola Obermüller's Dehnung (2020) for daegeum, koto, gayageum, two violins, viola violoncello, double bass, and percussion performed by AsianArt Ensemble 15 May 2023, Konzerthaus Berlin. All rights reserved.
A Ph.D. at Harvard University brought her to the US where she taught at the University of New Mexico before joining the Department of Music at UC San Diego. She also lives and works part of the year in Europe and has been a visiting artist at ZKM, Deutsche Akademie Rom, Centro Tedesco di studi Veneziani, Akademie Schloss Solitude, Eisler House (International Hanns Eisler Scholarship), and IRCAM.
Her music, often political, always dramatic, includes operas for Staatstheater Nürnberg, Theater Bielefeld, Theater Bonn, Theater Heidelberg, Theater Aachen, and Stuttgart’s Musik der Jahrhunderte. The emotional juxtapositions of story suspended in a tableau architecture that one finds in her operas can be heard in her concert works as well. These include commissions from the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Fromm Music Foundation, New Music USA, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Saarländischer Rundfunk, and numerous renowned soloists and ensembles.
Her music can be heard on CD (WERGO, New Focus Recordings, Brilliant Classics, NEOS) and online at karolaobermueller.net.
Here is Karola Obermüller's Dehnung (2020) for daegeum, koto, gayageum, two violins, viola violoncello, double bass, and percussion performed by AsianArt Ensemble 15 May 2023, Konzerthaus Berlin. All rights reserved.
Peter Gilbert (Associate Professor of Music, University of New Mexico) has commissions and accolades from the Barlow Foundation, New Music USA, the Aaron Copland House, ZKM (Institut für Akustik und Musik), the Russolo Foundation, the Look & Listen Festival, the Third Practice Festival, and IMEB Bourges. He writes: “My music usually aspires to create a sonic architecture that helps us lose our sense of time completely and allows us to partake in a kind of more direct aural experience in search of passageways to transcendence.”
Gilbert’s music can be heard on numerous labels including New Focus Recordings and at petergilbert.net.
Here is Peter Gilbert's Soon as the Sun Forsook the Eastern Main performed by Emanuele Arciuli, piano from the album Burned into the Orange released by New Focus Recordings and available on Bandcamp.
Gilbert’s music can be heard on numerous labels including New Focus Recordings and at petergilbert.net.
Here is Peter Gilbert's Soon as the Sun Forsook the Eastern Main performed by Emanuele Arciuli, piano from the album Burned into the Orange released by New Focus Recordings and available on Bandcamp.
About
The Robb Symposium Series, established in the fall of 2022, is an outcropping of the celebrated annual UNM John Donald Robb Composers' Symposium. The series features concerts of new music by guest artists and UNM faculty & students, as well as masterclasses, artist talks, and workshops.
The UNM Robb Trust promotes the exploration of new music through the Robb Symposium Series. Since 1972, the internationally renowned John Donald Robb Composers' Symposium has brought composers and musicians from around the world to UNM for a series of public concerts and unique learning opportunities for UNM students. Past guest composers have included such luminaries as Anthony Braxton, John Cage, Lukas Foss, Michael Colgrass, Gordon Mumma, Raven Chacon, and Chen Yi. The legacy of the John Donald Robb Composers' Symposium continues through the Robb Symposium Series.
The Trust sponsors the biennial Robb Commission in even years. The winner is awarded a cash prize and their composition is premiered at a Robb Symposium Series concert, typically the annual Robb Concert, which takes place in the spring.
The UNM Robb Musical Trust serves as a bridge between the UNM College of Fine Arts and the New Mexico community, regularly presenting concerts of Robb’s compositions along with Hispanic folk songs, preserving and promoting the archive of 3,000+ field recordings Robb made, and collaborating with community partners in educational initiatives. Through its many activities, the Trust proudly carries on the vision of its namesake, John Donald Robb.
The UNM Robb Trust promotes the exploration of new music through the Robb Symposium Series. Since 1972, the internationally renowned John Donald Robb Composers' Symposium has brought composers and musicians from around the world to UNM for a series of public concerts and unique learning opportunities for UNM students. Past guest composers have included such luminaries as Anthony Braxton, John Cage, Lukas Foss, Michael Colgrass, Gordon Mumma, Raven Chacon, and Chen Yi. The legacy of the John Donald Robb Composers' Symposium continues through the Robb Symposium Series.
The Trust sponsors the biennial Robb Commission in even years. The winner is awarded a cash prize and their composition is premiered at a Robb Symposium Series concert, typically the annual Robb Concert, which takes place in the spring.
The UNM Robb Musical Trust serves as a bridge between the UNM College of Fine Arts and the New Mexico community, regularly presenting concerts of Robb’s compositions along with Hispanic folk songs, preserving and promoting the archive of 3,000+ field recordings Robb made, and collaborating with community partners in educational initiatives. Through its many activities, the Trust proudly carries on the vision of its namesake, John Donald Robb.
ARCHIVE
John Donald Robb Composers' Symposium
predecessor of the Robb Symposium Series
2023 | 2022 | 2021 (2021 addendum)
2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011
2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001
2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995 | 1994 | 1993 | 1992 | 1991
1990 | 1989 | 1988 | 1987 | 1986 | 1985 | 1984 | 1983 | 1982 | 1981
1980