Music From Almost Yesterday Performs Later This Week

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Image: Music From Almost Yesterday

Music From Almost Yesterday

The concert series Music From Almost Yesterday was founded in 1971 by Yehuda Yannay, a year after he joined the music faculty at UWM. Its offered concerts continually since then except for a brief hiatus during COVID-19.

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Photo: Stas Venglevski - stasv.com

Stas Venglevski

Stas Venglevski

On Sunday, March 27 at 3 p.m., MFAY returns to the Peck School of the Arts Recital Hall on the campus of UW-Milwaukee.

Yannay is now professor emeritus but continues in his roll as director of this series. Born to Hungarian-speaking Jewish parents in 1937 in Timișoara, in the Banat region of Romania, they miraculously survived the Holocaust and moved to Israel in 1951. After serving in the Israeli Army as a criminal investigator, his interest in musical composition, there since he was a child, returned. His studies eventually led to a DMA in Music Composition from the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign in 1970. He joined the UWM faculty in the fall of that year.

His own compositions are thoroughly modern while maintaining roots with the past. Cognizant of the musical-cultural past, he continues to explore new territories of expression. Pieces have been commissioned and performed world-wide.

I had coffee with Yehuda earlier this week. What follows I gleaned from a lively discussion.

When I remarked that all of his music that I’ve heard were readily accessible—there's structure, melody, rhythm, etc.—he smiled: “I hope so.” As far as favorites go, he said it’s like having children—you love them all. When pressed, he shared that he was proud of a recent composition, Janus, written for a chamber symphony. It premiered in Budapest under the direction of Gregory Vajda who was the associate conductor here at the MSO. (I listened to it just the other night on You Tube:)

Sunday’s composition, Hommages, are tributes to some of the many colleagues in art that he’s worked with over the years. “Georgia in my Grind” is a playful reference to the performing pianist, Jeri-Mae G. Astolfi, who is currently an Artist in Residence at Piedmont University in Georgia. 

Recently his piece for toy piano, Make no Bohns About It, was premiered by a past student of his, David Bohn. And this Sunday, at the time of this concert, a composition for choir and tuned glasses will be performed in Boston. The Israeli pianist and harpsichordist, Hagai Yodan, will soon premiere a piece written for him and the harpsichord by Yehuda. Other compositions for harpsichord and percussion are in the works.

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Photo: Ravello Records - ravellorecords.com

Jeri-Mae G. Astolfi

Jeri-Mae G. Astolfi

When asked about the impact of COVID on concerts Yehuda remarked that it accelerated the move to video, streaming, and other services but now people are anxious to return to live performances. The posting of music on You Tube, Spotify, and even on his own Facebook account have extended the audience both in time and in place.

All eight composers on Sunday’s program are alive and well (though not all live in Wisconsin at the moment). Many will be in the audience.

A few words about the musicians.

Stas Venglevski is a musician, composer, and musical arranger, twice winning the Bayan Competition prize in his native Moldova. He immigrated to the United States in 1992. He’s accompanied in the first part of the program by Wisconsin native Dana McCormick, pianist, composer, and teacher will join Stas in the first half of the program which concludes with her composition “Fury Sonata.”

In the second half, Jeri-Mae G. Astolfi, a Canadian-born pianist with a passion for new music, will play three compositions including selections from Yehuda Yannay’s Hommages.

Further details can be found at: uwm.edu/arts/event/music-from-almost-yesterday-concert.

The concert is on the UW-Milwaukee campus in the Fine Arts Recital Hall where the acoustics are superb. Free parking is available in the immediate neighborhood. Masks are still required.