WT Concerts to Feature Electronic Ensemble, Piano/Violin Duo

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, cchandler@wtamu.edu

WT Concerts to Feature Electronic Ensemble, Piano/Violin Duo

CANYON, Texas — A pair of upcoming concerts at West Texas A&M University will celebrate the history and the future of instrumental music.

Up first, the WT Electronic Ensemble will host a live coding dance party at 7 p.m. Oct. 13 in the atrium of Mary Moody Northen Hall. Admission is free.

The performance is open to the public but will specifically offer a chance for WT students to dance off some midterm stress, said director Dr. Ryan Ingebritsen, assistant professor of music.

“Performers change the beats, basslines, and other sounds the audience hears by changing, in real time, the computer code that produces it,” said director Dr. Ryan Ingebritsen, assistant professor of music. “The audience will see, hear and feel the performance with immersive interactive visuals while watching the code as it is transformed by the performers.”

The ensemble, part of the School of Music in the Sybil B. Harrington College of Fine Arts and Humanities, composes several of its own works, using nontraditional electronic instruments and production tools to create musical performance pieces.

Ensemble members include Xander Aleman, a senior music education major from Hereford; Christopher Karr, a senior music technology major from Perryton; Kasen Moon, a freshman music technology major from Weatherford; Keoni Murphy, a junior music technology major from Bushland; Marissa Portillo, a senior music technology major from Lubbock; Nassir Reyes, a senior music technology major from Lubbock; Jack Sprague, a senior music technology major from Amarillo; and Kortni Van Damme, a senior music technology major from Amarillo.

Then, Dr. Rossitza Goza, WT’s Dorothy and Don Patterson Professor of Violin, will team with pianist Lee Phillips for a celebration of the internationally renowned violinist Kevork Mardirossian.

The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 18 in Northen Recital Hall. Admission is free.

Mardirossian was the James H. Rudy Professor of Music in Violin at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University–Bloomington. Goza studied with him in the 1990s at the University of Central Arkansas and Louisiana State University, and he traveled the world for four decades performing in a duo with Phillips.

Mardirossian died at age 70 in June 2024 after a career spent performing and teaching around the world.

“I fell in love with music because of Kevork and Lee,” Goza said. “Playing this program with Lee is deeply meaningful to me. Kevork loved performing and teaching each of the works we’ve chosen. His interpretations left a unique and lasting imprint.”

Goza and Phillips will revive some of the pieces for which Mardirossian and Phillips were best known for performing, including Johannes Brahms’ Sonata No. 2 and Claude Debussy’s Sonata, as well as “Poeme” by Ernest Chausson and “Four Preludes” by Dmitri Shostakovich.

For information about both concerts, call the WT School of Music at 806-651-2840.

Fostering an appreciation of the arts is a key component of the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.

That plan is fueled by the historic One West comprehensive fundraising campaign, which reached its initial $125 million goal 18 months after publicly launching in September 2021. The campaign has raised more than $175 million and will continue through 2025.

About West Texas A&M University

A Regional Research University, West Texas A&M University is redefining excellence in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus, as well as the Harrington Academic Hall WTAMU Amarillo Center in downtown Amarillo. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. A Hispanic Serving Institution since 2016, WT boasts an enrollment of more than 9,000 and offers 66 undergraduate degree programs, including eight associate degrees; and 44 graduate degrees, including an integrated bachelor’s and master’s degree, a specialist degree and two doctoral degrees. WT recently earned a Carnegie Foundation classification as a Research College and University. The University also is home to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the largest history museum in the state and the home of one of the Southwest’s finest art collections. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 16 men’s and women’s athletics programs.

Photo: The West Texas A&M University Electronic Ensemble will perform for a live coding dance party at 7 p.m. Oct. 13 in the atrium in Mary Moody Northen Hall. Members are, clockwise from bottom left, Christopher Karr, Kasen Moon, Nassir Reyes, Xander Aleman, Marissa Portillo, Keoni Murphy and Jack Sprague.

—WT—