November concerts dazzle audiences with jazz, wind and orchestra ensembles from Messiah College
October 15th, 2008
GRANTHAM, Pa. (Oct. 15, 2008) — The Messiah College School of the Arts will present two concerts in November: the jazz combo will perform Nov. 5 at 8 p.m. in Poorman Recital Hall, located in the Climenhaga Fine Arts Center on the college’s Grantham campus; and the First Annual Messiah College Instrumental Showcase will debut on Nov. 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the Forum, 5th and Walnut Streets in downtown Harrisburg. Each concert is free and open to the public. For more information, call the music department at (717) 766-2511, ext. 3310.
Concert highlights
• Nov. 5, 8 p.m.
The Messiah College Jazz Combo will present a concert under the direction of Kirk Reese, adjunct lecturer of jazz piano, jazz improvisation and praise and worship piano, featuring original small group compositions and arrangements, as well as jazz “standards” from the 1930s to the present. Feature instrumentation will include saxophones, trumpet and trombone backed by piano, bass, drums and jazz vocals. Light refreshments will be available following the performance.
• Nov. 19, 7:30 p.m.
The Messiah College Instrumental Showcase will feature three of Messiah’s large ensembles including the Jazz Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra and Wind Ensemble. The program will open with the Jazz Ensemble under the direction of William Stowman, music department chair, playing jazz standards, new works and its own brand of sacred jazz including tunes by Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus and New Orleans trumpeter and composer Graham Breedlove. The Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of conductor Tim Dixon, assistant professor of music, will perform movements from Dvorak’s “New World Symphony.” Finally, the Wind Ensemble directed by Bradley Genevro, director of bands, will close the concert with “Divertimento” by Roger Cichy, “Slava” by Leonard Bernstein and “Vanity Fair” by Percy Fletcher. During the day, the group will be hosting high school performers from Pennsylvania and New Jersey that will play for adjudication by Messiah’s faculty.
About Messiah College’s music department
The department of music at Messiah College is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music. The department offers majors in music and music education with concentrations in church music, performance, composition, commercial music and arts management. Through a variety of junior and senior recitals and choral and instrumental ensembles, students gain performing experience both on- and off-campus.
The Messiah College Bands have gained national recognition for their recordings “Cross Winds,” “Affirmations” and their most recent release “Progressions” which made the Grammy Nomination List in 2007. Their latest CD, “Sanctuary,” is scheduled to be released in October.
About Messiah College
Messiah College, a private Christian college of the liberal and applied arts and sciences, enrolls 2,800 undergraduate students in more than 60 majors. Established in 1909, the primary campus is located in Grantham, Pa., near the state capital of Harrisburg. A satellite campus affiliated with Temple University is located in Philadelphia.