Arts and Entertainment

Symphonic Band and Symphonic Wind Ensemble to perform Oct. 4

Penn State Symphonic Wind Ensemble Credit: Annemarie Mountz / Penn State. Creative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Symphonic Band and the Symphonic Wind Ensemble will perform at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 4, in Eisenhower Auditorium. The program features the music of Percy Grainger, Vincent Persichetti and Malcolm Arnold. Highlighting the Symphonic Wind Ensemble's portion of the concert is a performance of Eugène Bozza's "En Foret" with graduate student hornist Grace Shafer, a winner of the 2014-15 Symphonic Wind Ensemble Concerto Competition. The ensembles are conducted by Dennis Glocke, director of concert bands.

Tickets are $12 general admission/$4 students (at the door). Buy tickets in advance for School of Music concerts in Eisenhower Auditorium and save 40 percent. There is no limit on the number of tickets that may be purchased. Purchases made the day of the concert are not eligible for the discount. Tickets are available at any Arts Ticket Center location, by phone at 814-863-0255 or 1-800-ARTS-TIX, or online at Penn State Arts Ticket Center.

The performance will also be available via livestream video on the Penn State School of Music's website.

Program

Symphonic Band

  • "Colonial Song" - Percy Grainger
  • "The 'Gum-Suckers' March" - Grainger
  • "Psalm for Band" - Vincent Persichetti
  • * "Four Scottish Dances" - Malcolm Arnold, transcribed by John Paynter

Symphonic Wind Ensemble

  • "Canzon Primi Toni à 8" - Giovanni Gabrieli
  • "Cathedrals" - Kathryn Salfelder
  • "En Foret" - Eugène Bozza (with Grace Shafer, horn)
  • Symphony No. 4, "West Point" - Morton Gould

* Malcolm Arnold's "Four Scottish Dances" coincide with the 2015-16 School of Music theme, "Music & Dance: Exploring Connections Between Two Art Forms," a yearlong series of performances, classes and presentations that focus on the unique relationship between music and human movement.

Shafer, the daughter of Timothy and Lou Ann Shafer of State College, graduated from the Eastman School of Music in 2014. A second-year graduate teaching assistant studying with horn professor Lisa Bontrager, she has performed as a concerto soloist with the State College Area High School Orchestra and the Center Pennsylvania Youth Orchestra. During her undergraduate career, Grace won auditions to play principal horn in major pieces performed by the Eastman School Symphony Orchestra and the Eastman Philharmonia. During the summers of 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2014, she attended the Bar Harbor Brass Festival, the Hot Springs Music Festival, and the Summer Brass Institute. She was a 2015 participant in the Aspen Music Festival and School. In addition to the modern horn, Grace also enjoys playing its lesser known relatives and has performed recitals and concerts using natural horn and Wagner Tuba. While Grace greatly enjoys playing in chamber ensembles and wind ensembles, she hopes to pursue a career in orchestral playing and teaching horn privately.

 

Last Updated September 30, 2015