Brass Virtuosos Alessi, Vizzutti Play World Premiere of Barfield's 'North Star' With UK Wind Symphony

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LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 19, 2016) — Two of the world’s leading brass performing artists — trombonist Joseph Alessi and trumpeter Allen Vizzutti — will join the University of Kentucky Wind Symphony for a special concert 3 p.m. Sunday, April 24, in the Singletary Center for the Arts. The duo will perform the world premiere of “North Star” by New York City composer Anthony Barfield, who will also be in attendance at the concert.

Widely acclaimed as the finest trombone artist living today, Joseph Alessi was appointed principal trombone of the New York Philharmonic in the spring of 1985. He began musical studies in his native California with his father, Joseph Alessi Sr. As a high school student in San Rafael, California, he was a soloist with the San Francisco Symphony before continuing his musical training in Philadelphia at the Curtis Institute of Music.

Alessi is currently on the faculty of the Juilliard School; his students now occupy posts with many major symphony orchestras in the U.S. and internationally. As a clinician for the Edwards Instrument Co., he has also given master classes throughout the world and has toured Europe extensively as a master teacher and recitalist. Alessi has performed as soloist with several leading concert bands, including the U.S. Military Academy Band at West Point, U.S. Army Band (Pershing's Own) and the U.S. Marine Band (President's Own).

Equally at home in a multitude of musical idioms, trumpet virtuoso Allen Vizzutti has visited 40 countries and every state in the union to perform with a rainbow of artists and ensembles including Chick Corea, Doc Severinsen, the NBC Tonight Show Band, the Airmen of Note, the Army Blues and Army Symphony Orchestra, Chuck Mangione, Woody Herman, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra. 

Vizzutti has recorded extensively in Hollywood for a multitude of movie soundtracks, and his compositions and teaching materials continue to receive critical acclaim. From his home in Seattle, Washington, his current career activities embody an impressive schedule of recitals, concerts, recording and composing. His continued commitment to music education and the value of music in everyday life results in an extensive schedule of guest appearances at universities throughout North America, Europe, Japan and Australia.

As the centerpiece of a band program that has served the Commonwealth of Kentucky for over 100 years, the UK Wind Symphony continues a rich tradition of performing the finest traditional and contemporary compositions in the concert band/chamber winds repertoire. Conducted by John Cody Birdwell, the ensemble has been invited to perform at many of the nation’s most prestigious concert band events, including recent appearances at the College Band Directors National Association National Conferences at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University of Minnesota and the University of Georgia, as well as conferences in Nashville, Tennessee; Oxford, Mississippi; and Louisville, Kentucky. In 2008, the UK Wind Symphony performed a 10-day concert tour of the People’s Republic of China.

Coming up, UK Wind Symphony will be a featured performing ensemble at the 83rd Annual Convention of the American Bandmasters Association, to be held in Lexington, March 8-11, 2017.

General admission for the UK Wind Symphony concert featuring the world premiere of "North Star" by Anthony Barfield is $10 for general admission and $5 for students and children. Tickets may be purchased at the Singletary Center Ticket Office or by calling 859-257-4929.

The UK Wind Symphony is housed at UK School of Music at the UK College of Fine Arts. The school has garnered a national reputation for high-caliber education in opera, choral and instrumental music performance, as well as music education, composition, and theory and music history.

UK is the University for Kentucky. At UK, we are educating more students, treating more patients with complex illnesses and conducting more research and service than at any time in our 150-year history. To read more about the UK story and how you can support continued investment in your university and the Commonwealth, go to: uky.edu/uk4ky. #uk4ky #seeblue

MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Hale, 859-257-8716; whitney.hale@uky.edu