Celebrate
the cultural and musical contributions of black composers this February as the
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point’s Music Department marks Black History
Month.
The
UW-Stevens Point Symphony Orchestra will perform a concert on
Wednesday, Feb. 25, at 7:30 p.m. in Michelsen Hall. Patrick Miles, professor
and director of orchestral activities, earned a grant to study the works of the
three black composers who will be featured.
The
performance will include “The Party Starter” by Jonathan Holland, commissioned
in 2010 by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra for its 50th
anniversary. Holland is a professor of composition at the Berklee College of
Music. The second piece, Violin Concerto Op. 5 No 2 by Chevalier Saint-Georges,
will be performed by Music Professor Steven Bjella. Saint-Georges is known as
the first classical composer of African ancestry and a colonel of the first
all-black regiment in Europe during the French Revolution. The final piece is
“Afro-American Symphony” by William Grant Still. Written in 1931, the piece
combines traditional symphonic forms with blues rhythms. Still was the first
well-known African-American composer and served as a conductor of the Los
Angeles Philharmonic.
Tickets
for the Symphony Orchestra performance are $8.25 for the public, $5.25 for
senior citizens, $4.25 for youth and students. Tickets are free on concert day
for UW-Stevens Point students with I.D. Tickets are available at the University
Information and Tickets Office in the Dreyfus University Center, by calling
715-346-4100 or 800-838-3378 or at http://tickets.uwsp.edu.
Tickets may also be purchased at the door if available.
PLEASE NOTE:
This was originally a series of three events. However:
*A Jazz Repertory concert scheduled for Feb. 18 was cancelled.
*Due to illness, the Tuesday, Feb. 24, event featuring guest artists Marcia Porter and Deloise Lima was also cancelled.
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