From Pole to Pole

One meaning of meridian is pinnacle, or the highest possible point. This denotation surely befits the Meridian Arts Ensemble, which is a brass quintet — two trumpets, horn, trombone, and tuba — plus a percussionist. To great critical acclaim, the group has recorded and performed extensively in both national and international venues for over 20 years. At the Manhattan School of Music, Meridian forms part of the faculty for a program in contemporary music performance. During the current academic year, the ensemble is also in residence at UC Davis, where a series of events featuring Meridian will run Nov. 7-10.

Reflecting the group’s commitment to educating younger musicians, some of these events are pedagogical in nature. For example, the Causeway Band Festival features two festival bands composed of high school students, as well as the UC Davis Concert Band and the Sacramento State Wind Program. In a concert on Sunday, Nov. 8, Meridian will share the stage of the Mondavi Center’s Jackson Hall with these other ensembles. At noon the following Tuesday, Meridian will also perform a free concert of compositions by UC Davis student composers.

The principal concert featuring Meridian will be given on Saturday, Nov. 7, at 7:00 p.m. in the Vanderhoef Studio Theatre of the Mondavi Center. Although the exact program has yet to be published, this ensemble has made well-executed, bold, and eclectic programming its signature. Such programming mixes both classical and contemporary music, which ranges from Baroque works by J.S. Bach to contemporary ones by composers including Milton Babbitt and Elliott Carter.

But Meridian hardly limits its contemporary repertoire to “art music” composers such as these. The group also explores artists as diverse as Jimi Hendrix, the famous American guitarist, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a South African a cappella choir that performs traditional music of that culture.

Furthermore, Meridian’s embrace of musical diversity includes both newly composed works as well as arrangements of already existing pieces. The group has performed over 50 new works, and is especially well-known for its arrangements and recordings of pieces by Frank Zappa. Further still, though the ability to perform and teach such a wide array of music is impressive in itself, some of these pieces have also been arranged and composed by the ensemble’s own members.

The wealth of musical styles performed by this talented ensemble evokes a second meaning of the word meridian. Like the imaginary “meridian lines” that cover the entire earth while stretching between the north and south poles, so too will the Meridian Ensemble’s upcoming concert at Mondavi surely encompass an extensive spectrum of music. Of course, Meridian also promises to give every individual style a top-notch performance.