By Lanita Withers Goins, University Relations
Contact: (336) 334-3890
Posted 3-10-09
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Wind Ensemble from the UNCG School of Music has been selected to perform at the 2009 College Band Directors National Association’s biennial conference in Austin, Texas.
The conference invitation is the most prestigious ever offered to the ensemble, said Dr. John Locke, UNCG’s Director of Bands. It also marks the first time a band from North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia or Virginia has been invited to perform at the gathering, he added.
UNCG’s 61-member Wind Ensemble will polish and perfect their program during a weeklong concert tour, stopping for six performances in Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas on their way to Austin.
The ensemble’s conference performance will begin at 4 p.m., Friday, March 27, in Bates Recital Hall at the University of Texas at Austin. The program will include selections by Igor Stravinsky, Joel Puckett, Arnold Schoenberg and Luigi Denza, as well as two works commissioned by UNCG: “Shadow Dance” by David Dzubay and “Four Factories” by Carter Pann.
The UNCG Wind Ensemble is a highly selective concert band comprised of music majors ranging from sophomores to doctoral degree candidates. The ensemble draws members from 16 states, Canada and Korea and performs under the direction of Locke and Dr. Kevin Geraldi, UNCG’s associate director of bands.
The critically-acclaimed ensemble has performed throughout the eastern United States, including a performance in New York City’s Lincoln Center and a concert to a capacity crowd in the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The group has recorded 15 compact discs; the latest, “premieres!,” was released in 2007.
