50 For 50 Composer Project
December 8
7:30pm - 9:30pm
Newman Center for the Performing Arts, Hamilton Hall
Audience: Alumni, Current Student, Faculty, Families, Neighbor or Friend, Prospective Student, Staff
Towards a Shining Light: '50 for 50' Global Composer Project
Chris Thompson, John Griffin, and Ash Mach will perform 50 one-minute premieres of clarinet, viola, and piano trios. This is part of a worldwide project called '50 for 50' in which 50 composers from across the globe composed trios to be performed by ensembles in 3 continents.
Christopher Thompson joined the collaborative piano and vocal coaching staff at Lamont in 2021. He has been a member of the Lamont community since 2012, having collaborated with numerous students over the years.He is a much sought-after pianist in the Denver area and a Colorado native. Since 2012, he has been on the faculty of Metropolitan State University of Denver, and previously was a staff pianist at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Northwestern University School of Music, DePaul University School of Music, and Chicago College of Performing Arts (Roosevelt University). He has been on the faculty of the Lamont Summer Academy since 2016.
John F. Griffin Jr. received his bachelor’s degree in music performance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where he studied with Dr. Anthony Taylor and Dr. Andy Hudson. Currently, he is pursuing his master’s degree in clarinet performance at the University of Denver Lamont school of music where he studies with Dr. Jeremy Reynolds and is a Graduate Teaching Assistant. John has performed with Virginia Wind Symphony, Colorado Wind Ensemble, and Appalachia Wind Symphony. John is also a member of The International Clarinet Association (ICA) and has performed at the College Music Society National Conference (CMS) in Rochester NY.
Ash Mach serves as Adjunct Instructor in Music Theory at the Lamont School of Music and Adjunct Instructor in Viola/Violin at Arapahoe Community College. As a contemporary music performer, Ash made their solo debut in June 2022, performing Ed Bennett’s Strange Friction with Domaine Forget’s Contemporary Music Ensemble. Under the direction of Dr. Chappell Kingsland, Ash recorded what will be the first commercial recording of Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji’s Il tessuto d'arabeschi (A Tapestry of Arabesques), which will be released by BIS Records. They have premiered an upwards of 50 works and have been featured in residencies at the University of Wyoming, Regis University, Metropolitan State University of Denver, and University of Colorado- Colorado Springs. They have collaborated with musicians from Ensemble Paramirabo, Domaine Forget’s New Music Program, Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice (SICPP) and the Playground Ensemble.
