The WVU Wind Symphony, a 51-member select group of the finest wind and percussion performers within West Virginia University will participate in the annual Percy Grainger Wind Band Festival in Chicago March 5-8.
The Wind Symphony will perform in concert on Saturday, March 7 at 1:30 p.m. at the Orchestra Hall at Chicago Symphony Center at 200 South Michigan Ave. Tickets are free to the general public, but must be reserved in advance. Tickets can be reserved via their website: http://graingerbandfestival.org/tickets.
According to WVU Director of Bands John Hendricks III, who is also conductor of the WVU Wind Symphony and assistant dean of the College of Creative Arts, other groups performing during the March 7 concert will include the East Texas Baptist University Symphonic Band, the Toronto Youth Wind Orchestra, and the Ada High School Wind Ensemble from Ohio.
“All of the groups will be performing works by Percy Grainger,” Hendricks said. “The WVU Wind Symphony will be performing two of Grainger’s most famous works—’Handel in the Strand’ and his wind band masterpiece ‘Lincolnshire Posy.’
“Australian-born Percy Aldridge Grainger is best remembered as a pianist of great skill and a composer of many memorable tunes for piano. The arrangement and compositional skills shown in his settings of the many folk songs collected by him—as well as his original works for wind ensembles—are still considered pinnacles of achievement.”
Membership in the WVU Wind Symphony is earned through audition. The group performs at a near-professional level, presenting at least four concerts each year at WVU, comprised of the finest classical and contemporary wind literature.
While in Chicago, the WVU Wind Symphony will receive a clinic by Dennis M. Layendecker, director of the George Mason University School of Music and retired conductor of The United States Air Force Band of Washington, D.C.
The Wind Symphony will also attend a performance by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and tour several of the main museums in Chicago during their visit to the “windy city.”
The Percy Grainger Wind Band Festival is hosted by professional performance touring company Music Celebrations.
The WVU Wind Symphony tour to Chicago is generously funded by an anonymous donor, as well as by the Dean’s Office of the College of Creative Arts and by the WVU School of Music.
For more information about the Percy Grainger Wind Band Festival and the March 7 concert, go to the website at: http://graingerbandfestival.org.
WVU alumni attending the concert who would like to sit with a group of fellow WVU alumni and friends can reserve tickets through WVU College of Creative Arts Development Director Anna Justice by calling 304-293-4331 or by emailing Anna.Justice@mail.wvu.edu.
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cl/03/02/15
CONTACT: Charlene Lattea, College of Creative Arts
304-293-4359, Charlene.Lattea@mail.wvu.edu
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