Le Bon Vent to Be in Residence at SUNY Plattsburgh

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Le Bon Vent

PLATTSBURGH, NY (02/02/2009)(readMedia)-- The SUNY Plattsburgh music department, in partnership with Hill and Hollow Music, will be hosting the musical group, Le Bon Vent, in residence, on Feb. 4, 5 and 6. This is a Champlain Quadricentennial Musical Celebration Event. During the residency, Le Bon Vent, directed by Jeremiah McLane, will offer music workshops, a lecture/performance and a closing session presentation. All events are free and open to the public.

A wide range of music workshops led by the members of Le Bon Vent will be offered to the general public and are for adults and students of all ages. Most will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 6:30 p.m. with several taking place on Thursday, Feb. 5 at 3 p.m. The workshop titles are "Jazz Improvisation for Guitar," "Yoga Voice," "The Other Clarinet," "Fiddling Styles and Tradition," "Hand Percussion," "Arranging Traditional Music and Improvisation From the Ground Up." Please call Stephanie Pfaff at 518-564-2243 to register and to gather more detailed workshop information.

On Thursday, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m., Le Bon Vent will present a lecture/performance on the "Musical Migrations and the French Diaspora" in Krinovitz Recital Hall in Hawkins Hall. It will follow the trail of a French musical tradition that goes back many centuries. Played by French peasants; royal court musicians; Gypsies; Parisian accordionists; Acadian and Cajun settlers; and countless others, this constantly evolving style of music has remained uniquely French despite centuries of change.

On Feb. 6, at 3 p.m., Le Bon Vent concludes its residency with a presentation on

"French Culture: Language and Music" in Krinovitz Recital Hall, Hawkins Hall. The melody to a well-known French children's song, with origins in the 13th century, will be traced on its journey to the New World. The result is completely different French, Quebecois and Cajun versions of the same song. The presentation explores how these musical and cultural changes took place. The presentation includes a performance by Le Bon Vent with SUNY Plattsburgh voice students.