Khemia Ensemble, a contemporary chamber music ensemble, will perform at 7:30 p.m., Jan. 14, in the University of Tennessee at Martin’s Blankenship Recital Hall as part of the Allison Nelson Guest Artist Series. Khemia Ensemble is made up of artists and composers from four countries and has been featured in both domestic and international venues and festivals.
Tickets are available online now at utm.edu/musicevents and at the door on the night of the performance. General admission tickets are $10 and school-aged children at $5 each. UT Martin students can enter free with a valid UT Martin ID. A post-concert question-and-answer session will begin at 8:45 p.m.
Khemia Ensemble includes 10 members, two of whom are currently faculty members at UT Martin. The husband-and-wife duo of Dr. Shane Jones and Chelsea Jones both play percussion in the ensemble. Shane is the group’s logistics manager and a UT Martin assistant professor of music and director of percussion studies. Chelsea serves as ensemble manager and is a UT Martin lecturer of music and coordinator of events and programs.
Other members include Carolina Heredia, composer-in-residence and assistant professor of composition at the University of Missouri; Bret Bohman, composer-in-residence and lecturer of music at the University of Missouri; Amy Petrongelli, soprano and assistant professor of voice at Baylor University; Mary Matthews, flute and assistant professor of flute at Tennessee Technological University; Thiago Ancelmo, clarinet and adjunct instructor at the University of Dubuque; Minju, violin and visiting professor at the University of Akron; Eli Lara, cello and assistant professor of cello at the University of Missouri; and Cole Anderson, piano and adjunct instructor at Jackson College.
The ensemble is the third group to participate in UT Martin’s Allison Nelson Guest Artist Series, which brings high-profile musical artists from around the globe to UT Martin’s campus. It was established in fall 2018 to honor Dr. Allison Nelson, UT Martin professor emeritus of music.
Nelson, a native of Australia, has performed worldwide as a soloist and as a member of the Nelson and Neal piano duo with her late first husband Harry Neal, a native of Paris, Tennessee. Nelson served on the UT Martin faculty for 20 years and helped establish the Bachelor of Music in piano performance and founded the UT Martin Piano Ensemble.
The series will continue March 18 with a performance by the Gaudete Brass Quintet, the current ensemble-in-residence at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts.
For more information on Khemia Ensemble or the Allison Nelson Guest Artist Series, or for assistance purchasing online tickets, contact the UT Martin Department of Music at 731-881-7402.
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