College music isn’t all marching bands and stereos blasting from the windows of fraternity parties. Students might be surprised to find there is another musical world out there, once they take out the headphones and turn off the computer speakers.
“If more students just wandered in the door, they would love what they see and hear,” said Gregg Hanson, professor and bands director for the UA School of Music. “[Students] only know the marching and pep bands, and there’s a lot more to what we do in the School of Music than that.”
The UA Wind Ensemble and Wind Symphony will perform their spring concert at 7:30 p.m. in Crowder Hall.
The program will consist of two parts. The first will feature the Wind Symphony’s renditions of three compositions: “English Dances” by Malcolm Arnold, “In Memoriam: An Elegy for the Fallen” by Alfred Reed and “Festive Overture” by Dmitri Shostakovich. The second part will consist of the Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Gregg Hanson, presenting Michael Gandolfi’s “Vientos y Tangos,” Carter Pann’s “The Three Embraces,” Percy Grainger’s “Colonial Song,” Adam Gorb’s “Yiddish Dances” and David Maslanka’s “Requiem.”
The ensemble is repeating its concert from March 14, when it played for the College Band Directors National Association Western/Northwestern Divisional Conference in Reno, Nev..
Kevin Holzman, a graduate student pursuing a Ph.D. in musical arts, will conduct the symphony.
“Kevin was recently accepted to the Eastman School of Music for his doctoral study,” Hanson said. “Eastman is the most prestigious music school in the country and Kevin is the youngest and only DMA [Doctor of Musical Arts] student accepted.”
Hanson has been a member of the UA School of Music faculty since the fall of 1990. Before, he served as director of bands at the University of Utah for 14 years, and in 1984 he was inducted into the American Bandmasters Association.
The UA Wind Ensemble has garnered national attention as one of the foremost ensembles of its kind. Represented by the finest wind and percussion performers from the School of Music, the Wind Ensemble performs three concerts throughout the semester, and looks to put on another successful show today.
The UA Wind Symphony consists of approximately 75 members, all experienced in a wide variety of music, from classic band repertoire to famous orchestral transcriptions. It performs twice during the semester, and will be joining the Wind Ensemble for this concert to create a night of music for UA students and community members to enjoy.
“The UA Wind Symphony and Wind Ensemble are ready to present a spectacular concert on Tuesday night,” Hanson said. “Come and hear two of the finest ensembles in the country. We love students in the audience.”
