LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 17, 2012) − Two wind ensemble concerts will take over the Singletary Center for the Arts Concert Hall this weekend. First up, the University of Kentucky Wind Ensemble will share the stage with UK Mega-Sax Quartet and guest conductor Kenneth Javier Iyescas at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18. The next day some of the best high school student musicians from around the nation will share the spotlight as the UK Honors Wind Ensemble takes the stage under the direction of Paula Crider, past president of the National Band Association, at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 19.
The UK Wind Ensemble concert will include performances of "Postcard" by Frank Ticheli, the march Centennial Fanfare by Roger Nixon, "Who Needs Enemies?" by Russell Peterson and "Popcopy" by Scott McAllister. The program will also feature the Kentucky premiere of "Passage" by Scott Lindroth.
UK Mega-Sax Quartet will join the ensemble for this concert. Established in 1989 by Miles Osland, the quartet has performed at major festivals and symposiums across the nation. The group has also been featured with Greg Abate at the Blue Wisp Jazz Club in Cincinnati, Ohio, and performed in concert with Sony Latin recording artist Ed Calle. UK Mega-Sax Quartet is a three-time winner of the prestigious Downbeat Student Music Awards in both classical and jazz categories.
Joining John Cody Birdwell, director of bands at UK, for conducting duties at the Saturday concert will be doctoral student Kenneth Javier Iyescas. Iyescas, who holds a bachelor's degree in music education from Howard Payne University and a master's degree in horn performance from Texas Tech University, is a graduate assistant for UK Bands.
The UK Honors Wind Ensemble is comprised of a group of high school students from around Kentucky and the United States that meets in February for a weekend of music. These talented high school musicians will perform a program that includes "Semper Fidelis" by John Philip Sousa, "Of Sailors and Whales" by Francis McBeth, "The Seal Lullaby" by Eric Whitacre, "Seis Manuel" by Shelly Hanson and "La Belle Helene" by Jacques Offenbach.
For the Sunday concert, Birdwell will share the conductor's podium with Paula Crider.
After more than 30 years teaching, Crider continues to share her passion for making music through an active schedule as guest conductor, lecturer, clinician and adjudicator. She has enjoyed engagements in 47 states, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Australia. She is professor emerita at the University of Texas where she was twice awarded the "Eyes of Texas" Award for distinguished teaching. Crider has taught in the public schools at all levels and holds the unique distinction of having been the first female in the state of Texas to serve as director of bands at a class 5-A high school. She has written numerous articles for such publications as The Instrumentalist and the National Band Association Journal and has published manuals for brass techniques, marching band methods and instrumental conducting. Crider is co-author for the Hal Leonard "Masterwork Studies" series, a text for high school bands.
Under the direction of Birdwell, UK Wind Ensemble is made up of the finest wind and percussion performers in the UK School of Music at the UK College of Fine Arts. The ensemble continues a tradition of professional-level performances to audiences throughout the state and beyond. UK Wind Ensemble has released several commercially published recordings, performed at national and regional conferences for the College Band Directors National Association, and toured the People's Republic of China.
Tickets to both the UK Wind Ensemble and UK Honors Wind Ensemble concerts are $7 for general admission and $5 for students, children and senior citizens. Tickets to the concerts can be purchased at the Singletary Center ticket office by calling (859) 257-4929, online here, or in person at the venue.
For more information on either concert presented by the UK Wind Ensemble, contact the UK Band Office at (859) 257-2263, or visit them online at www.ukbands.org.
MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Hale, (859) 257-8716 or whitney.hale@uky.edu