UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State Tuba Euphonium Ensemble caps off OcTUBAfest with its annual TUBAween concert at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 28, in Esber Recital Hall. This year, the ensemble will be joined by special guest jazz faculty member Dan Yoder. Admission is free.
The program includes a performance by Yoder of his own arrangement of “Witchcraft.” Yoder will also solo on Rich Matteson's arrangement of “Lucky Southern,” originally composed by Keith Jarrett. Other pieces on the program include Freddie Mercury's “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Dies Irae” from the Verdi Requiem, a Beatles medley featuring nine euphonium players, an original composition by Kenyon Wilson titled “Fearful Symmetry,” and a Halloween medley as a final treat! The Tuba Euphonium Ensemble is conducted by faculty member Velvet Brown.
Dan Yoder has served as Penn State’s director of jazz studies for 29 years. Centre Dimensions, the top jazz band, has achieved acclaim at jazz festivals throughout the Midwest and East Coast. In addition to directing Centre Dimensions, he also advises the jazz combos and teaches courses in improvisation, harmony and arranging, jazz pedagogy, as well as a jazz history course for non-music majors. Prior to his Penn State appointment, he held a similar position at the University of Iowa. As a performer, Yoder has been saxophone soloist with the U.S. Navy Band in Washington, D.C., as well as lead alto saxophonist with the U.S. Army Blues. He remains active as a guest soloist and freelance performer. Recent performances include the Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, Rhode Island.
The Penn State Tuba Euphonium Ensemble, formed in the fall of 1987, has achieved success performing regionally, nationally and internationally. The group performs outstanding traditional, contemporary, and popular literature composed or transcribed for the tuba/euphonium ensemble. The group has garnered praise for many featured international and national performances, including the CBS “Good Morning Show,” the 1995, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014 International Tuba and Euphonium Conferences, the 2011 and 2013 Northeast Tuba and Euphonium Conference, several appearances at the New York Brass Conference with featured soloists Brian Bowman and Toby Hanks, the 2004 and 2014 Army Tuba Euphonium Conference in Fort Myer, Virginia, the Pennsylvania Music Educator’s Conference, and with soloists Roger Behrend and Neal Corwell. The ensemble also enjoys performing for university functions, presenting public school concerts, and entertaining at various off-campus venues.