The Columbia Museum of Art presents the Art of Music series to create a deeper appreciation of collections and exhibitions through music. Formerly the Baker and Baker Concert Series, the Art of Music series combines musical performances with the Museum’s collections and exhibitions through an exploration of art, music and cultural history. Music historian Dr. Peter A. Hoyt will offer lectures and moderated discussions about the art and music. Programs in the series will take place in December 2008, January 2009, May 2009, and September 2009. SC Humanities sponsored this program through a November 2008 Mini Grant.
In December 2008, Columbia Museum of Art will present Music of Lord Middleton's England: Mary Hostetler Hoyt, baroque violin, and Jerry Curry, harpsichord. The program will take place on Sunday, December 7, 2008 at 3:00 p.m. and is free to the public with museum admission or membership. The musicians will perform the music of Handel, Mozart, and their competitors.
In January 2009, the Art of Music series will offer Sing Me a Painting: Palmetto Opera Company. The program will take place on Thursday, January 29th at 7:00 p.m. and will feature Nicholas Smith and Walter Cuttino of the Palmetto Opera Comany singing arias inspired by works in the Museum's collection. Admission is $25 or $15 for museum members.
In May 2009, the Art of Music series will feature Impressionism and the Colors of Music: Innovista of the USC School of Music. The program will take place on Sunday, May 10th, 2009 and will be in conjunction with the exhibition Turner to Cezanne: Masterpieces from the Davies Collection, National Museum Wales. The performance by faculty and friends of USC's Chamber Innovista will present works by Claude Debussy and his contemporaries, composers often associated with Impressionism. The program is free with museum admission or membership.
In September 2009, the Art of Music series will offer Victorian Eroticism and Bouguereau's Bohemian Violinists: A Discussion with Musical Illustrations. This program will take place on Sunday, September 13, 2009 and is free with museum admission or membership. This conversation will look at William Bourguereau's Far From Home, a masterpiece on loan from the Museo de Arte de Ponce, Puerto Rico and will feature examples of the music he was attempting to evoke. This program is for mature audiences.
Dr. Peter A. Hoyt teaches music history at the University of South Carolina and specializes in the relationships between music and the other arts. He published articles on how music theory drew terminology from dramatic criticism, contributed an entry on “Rhetoric and Music” to the monumental New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, and is currently attempting to identify the artworks once owned by the composer Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). A specialist in the music of the late 18th century, Hoyt is been a frequent speaker at the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center in New York City.
“Painters and musicians have always inspired each other,” Hoyt said, “but the links between them have often been obscured by the passing of time. I’m looking forward to exploring these connections [through the Art of Music series].”
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