Contact: Kenneth Billings
STARKVILLE, Miss.--The Colvard Student Union ballroom at Mississippi State will be the scene Sunday [April 13] for a musical "double-header."
The university's music department is sponsoring two free concerts, the first at 3 p.m. by the combined Symphonic and Starkville/MSU Community bands. The second kicks off at 5 with the Wind Ensemble.
The symphonic group, led by assistant professor Clifton Taylor, and the community band, under the director of instructor Craig Aarhus, will play selected works by Ron Nelson, Aaron Copland and Malcolm Arnold, among others.
During the second program, the wind ensemble will feature the talents of assistant professor and percussionist Jason Baker in the Mississippi premiere of "Concerto for Marimba and Wind Ensemble" by David Gillingham. The ensemble was part of a consortium that commissioned Gillingham to compose the piece.
Led by director of bands Elva Kaye Lance, the wind ensemble also will perform works by Alfred Reed, Percy Grainger, Gioacchino Rossini, Henry Fillmore, and Mississippi composer Luigi Zaninelli.
While the symphonic band includes both music and non-music majors, the community band represents a mix of university students and Golden Triangle area residents, as well as members from Forest, Louisville, Quitman, and Winona.
For more information on the bands, telephone 662-325-2713 or visit http://www.msstate.edu/org/band. For information on the directors and performers, visit http://music.msstate.edu/faculty-staff/.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.