Campus, area musicians to 'band' for weekend concert at MSU

Contact: Sammy McDavid

STARKVILLE, Miss.--The Mississippi State University Symphonic and Starkville/MSU Community bands will perform in a free concert Feb. 25 on campus.

To begin at 3 p.m. in the McComas Hall theater, the program is sponsored by the MSU music department and Division of Academic Outreach and Continuing Education, which joins with the department to offer the community band program.

Faculty colleagues Clifton Taylor and Craig Aarhus conduct the respective groups. Taylor, a doctoral graduate of the University of South Carolina, is associate director of bands. Aarhus, assistant director of bands, is completing his doctorate at the University of Iowa.

Made up of students in most of MSU's academic majors, the symphonic band performs a mix of wind repertoire, including orchestral transcriptions, classic and contemporary concert works, and pop arrangements. During the weekend program, it will feature:

--"Fanfare in Song Form" by Daniel Bukvich;

--"O Magnum Mysterium" by Morten Lauridsen;

--"Symphony No. 6 for Band" by Vincent Persichetti; and

--"The Chimes of Liberty" by Edwin Franko Goldman.

Now in its fourth year, the community band is a mix of campus and area musicians playing a mix of contemporary and traditional tunes, as well as marches, patriotic music, Broadway favorites, and other selections. Its selections on the 25th will include:

--"El Capitan" by John Phillip Sousa;

--"Australian Up-Country Tune" by Percy Grainger;

--"Shoutin Liza Trombone" by Henry Fillmore;

--"Cajun Folks Songs" by Frank Ticheli; and

--"Broadway's Best," arranged by Johnnie Vinson.

For additional information, contact Taylor or Aarhus at 662-325-2713.

For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.