ST. GEORGE – Dixie State University’s 2012-13 performance season comes to an end with performances from the DSU Jazz Ensemble featuring the “Hip Hop Maestro” and the DSU Symphony Band on Thursday and Friday.
Jazz Ensemble
The popular DSU Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of DSU Music Department Chair Glenn Webb, will close its 2012-13 performance season with a concert on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Eccles Fine Arts Center Mainstage Theater.
The group will perform a wide array of big band pieces from a variety of musical genres, including Basie-style swing as well as hip-hop, featuring the musical talents of Geoff “Double G” Gallegos, leader of the 70-piece daKAH Symphonic Hip-Hop Orchestra. The ensemble will perform pop arrangements written by “Double G,” who will also display his abilities as a featured soloist on the alto saxophone.
“Double G” first visited the DSU campus as part of DOCUTAH in September 2012, when he was the subject of a documentary film entitled “Hip Hop Maestro.” Gallegos met with DSU students during his visit to discuss topics such as building a successful career in musical performance.
Webb said he was eager to collaborate with “Double G” because of the artist’s willingness to take risks with his music. “Geoff has made a career of crossing different genres and breaking musical tradition,” Webb said. “Working with him is a wonderful opportunity for these students.”
Symphony Band
The DSU Symphony Band will take the stage for the final time this 2012-13 academic year to present a program entitled “Tempered Steel” on Friday at 7:30 p.m., in the Eccles Fine Arts Center Concert Hall.
The DSU Symphony Band is under the direction of longtime conductor Gary Caldwell, now in his 34th year as director of bands at DSU and will be joined on stage by guest conductor and DSU music faculty member. Rhonda Rhodes. “Tempered Steel” will fill listeners with hope and inspiration through eight riveting compositions, beginning with Ralph Vaughan Williams’ three-movement folk composition “English Folk Song Suite,” followed by a performance of “An American Elegy,” which was composed in memory of those who lost their lives and to pay tribute to those who survived the tragedy at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999.
The band will also perform the Robert Jager composition “Sinfonia Nobilissima,” along with Jerry Bilik’s “American Civil War Fantasy,” which features intermingled main themes of many riveting ballads and songs inspired by both the North and the South. The ensemble will also play the show’s title number, “Tempered Steel,” which celebrates triumph over unavoidable hardships and obstacles through through growth and resiliency in becoming “tempered.” In addition, the band will play “Funiculi, Funicula,” composed by Luigi Denza, as well as selections from Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story.” The Arturo Marquez composition “Danzón No. 2” will conclude the evening’s performance.
General admission tickets for each concert will be available at the door for $5 for adults and $1 for DSU students and faculty with ID. Patrons may also purchase tickets prior to the evening’s performance at the Eccles Fine Arts Center or Avenna Center box offices or online.
Event details and contact information
Date: April 18 (Jazz Ensemble), April 19 (Symphony Band)
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Eccles Fine Arts Center Mainstage Theater (Jazz Ensemble), Eccles Fine Arts Center Concert Hall (Symphony Band)
Admission: $5 general admission, $1 DSU students and faculty
Contact: DSU Fine Arts Department – 435-652-7900
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Submitted by: Dixie State University
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