Directed by Dr. Stuart Benkert, Director of Bands, the UTC Band concert will be held Sunday, November 23, at 3 p.m. in the Roland Hayes Concert Hall, UTC Fine Arts Center (corner of Vine and Palmetto Streets). The concert will feature the Band, the UTC Brass Choir and the UTC Saxophone Quartet. The concert is free and open to the general public.
The Band’s portion of the program will include Sousa’s famous “Stars and Stripes Forever”, the Osterling First Symphony, Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Pas Redoublé”, and Grainger’s “Ye Banks and Braes O’ Bonnie Doon” (which interestingly enough was originally scored for choir, whistlers and harmonium). The highlight of the band program will be Leonard Bernstein’s “Three Dance Episodes from On The Town.”
The Brass Choir will perform Dr. Kenyon Wilson’s work “Kerfluffle” for quintuple antiphonal quartets – that is five groups of four instruments who will be dispersed through different parts of the hall and will play back and forth at each other. The piece was written for the UTC Tuba/Euphonium Ensemble and was the subject of an April 30, 2008 Wall Street Journal article. The saxophone quartet will perform a French piece by the brothers Fastin and Maurice Jeanjean (their “Quartet for Saxophones”) and a work by minimalist composer Michael Torke, titled “July.”
Benkert’s extensive resume’ includes directing bands of all levels, K-12 and secondary, as well as national and international honor bands. Dr. Kenyon Wilson, instructor of low brass is a recognized soloist, educator and composer for low brass instruments and he will conduct “Kerfluffle”. Clint Schmitt, instructor of Saxophone, is a noted soloist and teacher and he directs the Saxophone Quartet.
For further information contact the UTC Music Dept. Office, 423-425-4601.
