Bring the Family to UK Parent's Day Concert

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 18, 2009)  - The third Annual University of Kentucky Parent’s Day Concert featuring the UK Wind Ensemble and the UK Symphony Band will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20, in the Singletary Center for the Arts Concert Hall. Cody Birdwell, director of bands, will conduct the Wind Ensemble, while George Boulden, associate director of bands, will conduct the Symphony Band.

The UK Wind Ensemble will play "Rocky Point Holiday" by Ron Nelson, "Children’s March: Over the Hills and Far Away" by Percy Grainger, and Frank Ticheli's Symphony No. 2. The UK Symphony Band will play "Journey" by James Currow, "Pastorale: Autumn Rune" by Ron Nelson, "Strange Humors" by John Mackey and "American Pageant" arranged by Thomas Knox.

"The Parent’s Day Concert was started for several reasons," says Birdwell, "primarily to give our students an opportunity to perform a concert early during the first semester, to give our top two groups (Symphony Band and Wind Ensemble) the opportunity to share a concert featuring a 'lighter' style of music, and to give our students the opportunity to invite their parents and family members to come to campus early during the first semester (and during a UK home football weekend) to visit their children and to attend a concert as well."

The UK band program is generally regarded as one of the finest complete university band programs in the United States. The UK Bands include the UK Wind Ensemble, Symphony Band, and Concert Band, as well as the ever-popular Wildcat Marching Band, the UK Basketball Pep Band, and several other performance ensembles in the UK School of Music. The program's students represent many of the brightest and most academically accomplished individuals from campus. Recent accomplishments for the program include the UK Wind Ensemble's tour of China in May 2008, where the ensemble gave performances in Beijing and several other cities near Shanghai. The Wind Ensemble will also perform at the 2010 College Band Directors National Association Southern Division Convention at the University of Mississippi in February.

"It is clear that the Symphony Band musicians continue to be some of the finest from across the Commonwealth of Kentucky and surrounding states," says Boulden. "With past invitations to perform at our state music conference, as well as regional events, the Symphony Band has distinguished itself as one of the outstanding ensembles in the UK School of Music."

Admission to the Parent's Day Concert is free, and families are encouraged to attend. For more information on the concert, contact Vicki Pendleton at (859) 257-2263, e-mail to Joshua Hall at Joshua.Allan.Hall@gmail.com, or visit the program on the Web at www.ukbands.org.