1. Kansas State University
  2. »Division of Communications and Marketing
  3. »K-State Today
  4. »K-State band concerts March 7-8

K-State Today

March 7, 2016

K-State band concerts March 7-8

Submitted by Don Linn

The Kansas State University band program will present concerts at 7:30 p.m. March 7-8 in McCain Auditorium. University Band Purple, University Band Silver, Concert Band, Wind Symphony, Woodwind Ensemble and the premier Wind Ensemble will present performances. Admission is free.

On Monday, March 7, the Concert Band, Woodwind Ensemble and the Wind Ensemble will perform. The Concert Band will feature the works of John Mackey, Pierre LaPlante and Percy Grainger. The band is under the direction of graduate conducting students Alex Wimmer, Dan Haddad, Rachel Villareale and Alex Cook. Woodwind Ensemble is our newest ensemble at Kansas State and will feature our talented woodwind students in a chamber music setting. The Wind Ensemble will finish the concert with exciting and challenging new works for band.

Faculty soloists Tod Kerstetter and Anna Marie Wytko will be featured on Scott McAllister's new "Concerto Americana." The band also will play a new piece by composer Roger Briggs, "Boogie and Blues," which take elements of blues, gospel and rock music and weaves them together against a driving pulse. The Wind Ensemble is fresh off of a successful performance at the Kansas Music Educators Association state music conference and will use this concert to prepare for its West Coast tour that includes performances and clinics in Fresno, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; and a special performance at the Southwest College Band Directors National Association Conference in Boulder, Colorado. The Wind Ensemble is conducted by Frank Tracz.

On Tuesday, March 8, the Wind Symphony, Woodwind Ensemble, University Band Purple and University Band Silver will perform. The Wind Symphony will perform Steven Bryant's "Ecstatic Fanfare," Chris Nelson's beautiful arrangement of "Wayfaring Stranger," and the classic "Marche Hongroise" by Hector Berlioz. The band is under the direction of Don Linn and also will feature graduate conductors Rachel Villareale and Alex Cook. The University Bands close the concert with a mix of classic school band literature and chamber music. The University Bands are conducted by junior and senior undergraduate music education majors under the mentorship of Tracz, Linn and the program's graduate students.