Arts and Entertainment

Symphonic Wind Ensemble Concert to feature student concerto competition winner

Penn State Symphonic Wind Ensemble Credit: Cody Goddard. All Rights Reserved.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State's Symphonic Wind Ensemble will present a concert at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 21, in Esber Recital Hall. The ensemble's program includes works by three Pulitzer Prize-winning composers and features student concerto competition winner Stephen Cannistraci in a performance of Rolf Wilhelm's "Concertino for Euphonium and Concert Band." The ensemble is conducted by Penn State's director of concert bands Dennis Glocke.

Ticket prices are $4.99 for general public and $2 for students. No advance ticket purchase is available. Ticket sales begin in the lobby 45 minutes prior to the concert. Cash only. This concert is also available on livestream at the Penn State School of Music.

Program

Fanfare Ritmico - Jennifer Higdon*

Concertino for Euphonium and Concert Band - Rolf Wilhelm (with Stephen Cannistraci, euphonium)

Sounds, Shapes and Symbols - Leslie Bassett* (In Memoriam)

Ballad for Band - Morton Gould*

Lincolnshire Posy - Percy Grainger

*This year marks the 100th awarding of the Pulitzer Prizes. The first Pulitzer Prize for music was awarded in 1943 to William Schuman. Penn State School of Music faculty, students and ensembles will be performing a variety of works by Pulitzer Prize-winning composers during the 2016-17 season. Jennifer Higdon won the Pulitzer Prize in 2010 for Violin Concerto. In 1966, Leslie Bassett won the prize for Variations for Orchestra. Morton Gould was a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer in 1995 for Stringmusic.

Euphonium soloist, chamber musician, and teacher Stephen Cannistraci has performed with the Penn State Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Valley Brass Band, Eastman Wind Ensemble, Eastman Wind Orchestra, Perseverance Band of Lebanon, and the Keystone Band of Rehrersburg. While performing with the Eastman Wind Ensemble, he has accompanied soloists Mark Kellogg, Allen Vizzutti and Béla Fleck.

As a soloist, he has performed with the Perseverance and Keystone bands in community venues across central Pennsylvania. Also active as a chamber musician, he has performed with the Carillon Tuba Quartet, Nittany Tuba Quartet, and East End Brass — a traditional-style German brass ensemble.

Formed in 2012 at the Eastman School of Music, the Carillon Tuba Quartet enjoyed success performing throughout Rochester NY, as well as finishing 2nd in the 2016 International Tuba Euphonium Conference small ensemble competition. The quartet served as the Eastman School of Music’s Messinger Chamber Music Ambassadors for the 2015-2016 school year, conducting teaching and performing residencies in rural communities around Rochester. Performances outside of Rochester included a reception for University of Rochester donors held at the Essex House in Manhattan. The Carillon Quartet was awarded Eastman’s John Celentano Award for excellence in Chamber Music in 2016.

Originally from Lebanon, Pennsylvania, Stephen is currently pursuing a master's degree at Penn State, studying with music professor Velvet Brown. He holds undergraduate degrees in performance and instrumental music education from the Eastman School of Music, and was also awarded a Performer’s Certificate and Arts Leadership Certificate. He has performed in masterclasses given by Mark Jenkins, Bill Reichenbach, Toru Miura, and the Beaumont Brass Quintet. Primary teachers include Velvet Brown, Mark Kellogg, Larry Zalkind, Don Harry, Robert Rhine and Wesley Nance.

Last Updated February 15, 2017