The two wars cast a long shadow over those who survived. It changed who they were and how they saw the world. For two composers, the Hungarian Bela Bartok and the Russian Dmitri Shostakovich, the horrific times also forever transformed the music they created.

“They were very affected by what’s going on, and it was coming out in their music,” Dr. Jeffrey Wood, Austin Peay State University professor of music, said. “They’re violent pieces. They’re aggressive to the point of almost being primitive, barbaric. I sense the war very close to the surface.”

Wood also found the music to be elegiac and beautiful. And he felt now was the time to share these works, and what they represent, with the community. At 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 17, he’ll perform a selection of Bartok’s and Shostakovich’s music at the APSU Music/Mass Communication Building Concert Hall, titled “In the Shadow of War: Currents in 20th Century Music, 1910-1950.”

“It struck me about the possibility of doing a recital using pieces that were, in a sense, written in a shadow with the war as a dominant thing,” Wood said. “We’re right now in this weird state culturally where there is a war going on, but you sure wouldn’t know it. Less so in this community because there’s a greater immediacy, but there has been a tendency to ignore it because it isn’t the size of either World War I or World War II.”

The concert, as arranged by Wood, tells a sort of story of the times. It opens with the Bartok piece “Four Dirges,” which, though it was written in 1910, hints with its dark themes of the atrocities to come. The program consists of two pieces by each composer, and ends with the Shostakovich work, “Prelude and Fuge in D minor,” which was written around 1950.

“‘The Prelude and Fugue’ is very triumphal in a way,” Wood said. “It’s as if he’s saying in spite of everything that’s happened you haven’t got me yet.”

Wood admits the pieces aren’t easy on the listener. They reflect a sadness and fear prevalent in those days, but he defends them as not only moving and beautiful, but culturally significant.

“War impacts our culture whether we acknowledge it or not,” he said. “These two composers were looking at the world around them without blinking, something I sometimes think we don’t do enough of.”

The concert is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Wood at 931-221-7819 or .

The festival begins with a performance by the John Proulx Trio at 7:30 p.m., Friday, April 3 and concludes at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 4, with performances by the APSU Jazz Combo, the APSU Jazz Collegians and guest artist, Jim Ferguson.

The festival will take place in the Music/Mass Communications Building Concert Hall. Tickets for the John Proulx Trio concert on Friday cost $25 for adults, $12 for students. The tickets for the performance on Saturday are $3. Admission to both concerts is free for APSU students with student I.D.

David E. Steinquest will direct the APSU Jazz Combo, and Richard Steffen will direct the APSU Jazz Collegians.

Led by John Proulx, the Proulx Trio consists of Chuck Berghofer and Kendall Kay.  Proulx—pronounced “prue”—sings, plays piano and is also a Grammy-award-winning composer. Proulx’s debut album, “Moon and Sand,” has garnered national and international acclaim. Proulx has performed with Anita O’Day, Bobby Shew and Marian McPartland. Proulx just finished his second album, “Baker’s Dozen-A Tribute To Chet Baker,” which will be released in June 2009.

Berghofer plays string and electric bass.  During his diverse career he has played with Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, Dizzy Gillespie, Henry Mancini, Barbra Streisand, Dionne Warwick, The Carpenters, Aaron Neville, The Everly Brothers, George Strait, Liza Minelli, Natalie Cole, Jon Secada, Vince Gill, Mel Torme, Diana Ross, Bette Midler, Merle Haggard, Joni Mitchell, The Beach Boys, Barry Manilow, Elvis Presley, Frank Zappa, Christina Aguilera, Mary J. Blige, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. In November 2008, Berghofer released his first recording, “The Film Music of Ralph Rainger: Thanks for the Memory.” The album features Berghofer, pianist Jan Lundgren, drummer Joe La Barbera and special guest vocalist Sue Raney.

Kay was born in Durban, South Africa, and has played with most of the major jazz artists in South Africa, including Steve Kekana, Mike Makelemele, Alan Kwela and Izzio Gross. Kay moved to the United States in 1983 and graduated from North Texas State University with a degree in jazz studies. In 1987, he moved to Los Angeles where he became much in demand as both a live and session drummer.

For more information, contact the APSU Department of Music, (931) 221-7818.

Sharon Mabry

Sharon Mabry, mezzo-soprano and professor of music at Austin Peay State University, is a featured soloist on a new CD. The CD was published by Naxos, one of the leading classical music labels, and is distributed internationally.

Titled “Lincoln Portraits,” this CD—Mabry’s eighth thus far—has been issued by the Nashville Symphony Orchestra in celebration of the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln.

The CD includes orchestral works by Charles Ives, Ernst Bacon, Elliot Gould, George McKay, Vincent Persichetti, Paul Turok and Roy Harris. Mabry is the soloist for the Roy Harris “Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight,” with the subtitle “A Canticle of Lamentation.”

Mabry is known for her interpretation of contemporary music and music by female composers. Mabry’s CDs can be found on the Owl and Capstone labels.

To celebrate the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth, the Nashville Symphony, Leonard Slatkin and Naxos have selected eight important works by leading American composers. These songs feature the words and the ideals of Lincoln.

For more information, contact the APSU Department of Music, (931) 221-7818.

Keri Alkema in concert

Austin Peay State University and the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts present mezzo-soprano in concert. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 21 in the Music/Mass Communication Building Concert Hall. Admission is $12 for APSU students and $25 for adults.

Alkema has been praised by the New York Times as “being an excellent female lead” and for having “an appealing brew of dark and creamy colors in her mezzo, which she yields with an incisive musicality.”

During the current season, Alkema plays Charlotte in Massenet’s “Werther” for a return engagement with the Chautauqua Opera, joins the Metropolitan Opera roster in its production of “Die Walküre” covering the role of Siegrune and sings Handel’s “Messiah” with the Tucson Symphony.

In Winter Park, Fla., she will be heard in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Florida Bach Festival and in Mozart’s “Requiem” with the Delaware Symphony. She also will offer a recital in Oberlin, Ohio, under the auspices of the Marilyn Horne Foundation.

In the 2006-07 season, Alkema made her New York City Opera debut as Suzuki in “Madama Butterfly” and her Naples Opera debut as Mother in “Amahl and the Night Visitors” and Suzuki in “Madama Butterfly.”  She sang Brahms’ “Alto Rhapsody,” Bruckner’s “Te Deum” with the Florida Bach Festival and Handel’s “Messiah” with the Virginia Symphony. She also participated in Opéra de Montréal’s Annual Gala concert.  In addition, Alkema gave a solo recital under the auspices of the Marilyn Horne Foundation in Winter Park.

For more information, contact the APSU Department of Music, (931) 221-7818.

The concert takes place at 3 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 16 in the Music/Mass Communication Building Concert Hall. Refreshments will be available in the lobby after the performance. The event is free and open to the public; however, donations will be accepted. Suggested donation amounts are $5 for students and seniors and $7.50 for all other adults.

For more information, contact the APSU music department, (931) 221-7818.