Fall concert season begins

The Department of Music begins its fall concert season with the Jazz Bands and the Early Music Ensemble.

• Jazz Bands: Favorite Jazz Charts — 7 p.m. Nov. 17, Vanderhoef Studio Theatre, Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets: (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787, or mondaviarts.org.

• Early Music Ensemble — Thomas Tallis' Three Motets (O nata lux, Salvator mundi, O sacrum convivium); Nicholas Ludford's Motet Ave Maria, ancilla trinitatis; John Taverner's Sanctus and Agnus Dei from the Missa Gloria tibi trinitas; and William Byrd's Consort Music (performed by the Faire Violls Consort). 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 21, St. Martin's Episcopal Church, 640 Hawthorne Lane, Davis. Suggested donations at the door: $12 adults, $6 students and children.

Other upcoming concerts: Concert Band, Dec. 1; Symphony Orchestra, Dec. 2; and University Chorus, with Artist-in-Residence Ian Howell, countertenor, Dec. 3.

More music, from the West-Eastern Divan

The Department of Music is among the co-sponsors of a Nov. 15 concert by an ensemble from the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra.

The program — including music, a film screening and a discussion — is scheduled from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Vanderhoef Studio Theatre at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. Admission is free and open to the public, with seating limited to about 250.

The orchestra was founded in 1999 as a workshop for young musicians from Israel, Palestine and other Arab countries, and continues today with musicians from throughout the Mideast.

Other campus sponsors are the Hate-Free Campus Initiative (a program of the Office of Campus Community Relations), the UC Davis Humanities Institute, the Middle East-South Asian Studies Program, the Religious Studies Program and the Jewish Studies Program.

Earlier coverage: "A musical bridge to harmony among peoples" (Nov. 5, 2010)

At the Mondavi Center

• Delfeayo Marsalis Group with student guests —
As part of a two-week residency, the jazz tromboinist has been working in area schools — and from these visits, he has invited some of the top student musicians to join him and his colleagues for a portion of three evening concerts: 8 p.m. today through Friday, Nov. 10-12, in the Vanderhoef Studio Theatre.

• Paul Taylor Dance Company — One of the oldest touring companies of modern American dance. With a post-performance question-and-answer session. 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 13, Jackson Hall.

• Christopher O’Riley: Out of My Hands — The pianist reimagines works by Radiohead, Elliott Smith, Nick Drake and others, earning the only four-star review ever given by Rolling Stone to a classical pianist. His latest project, Out Of My Hands, includes music of R.E.M., Portishead, Cocteau Twins, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, the Bad Plus, the Smiths and Tears For Fears, as well as material from Radiohead and a newly-released song by Elliott Smith. 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 13, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 14, Vanderhoef Studio Theatre. As of midweek, the Nov. 13 concert was sold out (contact the box office if you would like to be put on a waiting list). Preperformance talks featuring O’Riley in conversation with Lara Downes, artist in residence, Mondavi Center, 7 p.m. Nov. 13 and 1 p.m. Nov. 14, Vanderhoef Studio Theatre.

• Focus on Film: Tous les Matrins du Monde — In French with subtitles. 115 minutes, rated R. 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18, Vanderhoef Studio Theatre. This is the first of three films in the series, which this year has a single theme: intimate stories about men at the most crucial times in their lives. In addition, according to the Mondavi Center, each film features music that transcends the "soundtrack" tag — instead taking a central role in the aesthetic experience. Read more about Tous les Matrins du Monde and the other films in the series.

• Ornette Coleman — Jazz saxophonist, composer and 2007 Pulitzer Prize winner for his purely improvised recording, Sound Grammar. 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20, Jackson Hall. Preperformance talk by Cory Combs, director of education, SF Jazz, 7 p.m., Jackson Hall.

• Jeanine De Bique — Soprano, in the Debut series. 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 21, Vanderhoef Studio Theatre.

Tickets and more information. Or call (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787.