Date: 4/16/08
Contact: Marc Lebovitz
A guest clarinetist who will later conduct, a concerto competition winner and the presence of a guest composer for the world premiere of his work will highlight the spring concert of the Illinois State University Wind Symphony at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 27, in the Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall.
Admission is $6 for the general public, $5 for faculty-staff and $4 for students and senior citizens. Tickets are available at the CPA box office from noon to 5 p.m. weekdays and prior to the concert. The phone number is (309) 438-2535.
Lt. Col. Douglas Monroe, Commander of the United States Air Force Heritage of America Band, Langley Air Force Base, Va., will perform Claude Debussy’s Premiere Rhapsody on clarinet. Later in the concert he will conduct the Wind Symphony performance of Michael Gandolfi’s “Vientos Y Tangos.”
Monroe, who is completing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Ohio State, oversees the operation and administration of the 60-member squadron, which includes eight different musical ensembles. He is responsible for supporting Air Combat Command, six active duty Air Force wings, three Air Force Reserve wings, and the communities in a six-state region from South Carolina to Pennsylvania.
Stephen Steele, director of bands, will conduct the concert’s opening piece, Philip Sparke’s “celebration,” and, after Monroe performs, Donald Grantham’s “J’ai été au bal.”
Junior music major Kevin Lomonof is this year’s band concerto winner, and will perform Ingolf Dahl’s Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Orchestra. Lomonof joined the Army Reserves four years ago and has served with the 85th Div. Army Reserve Band ever since. Following graduation from Illinois State, he plans to further his military career by joining an Active Duty Army Band.
Composer Mark Nowakowski will be in the audience for the premiere of his “My Judas Kiss” as performed by the Wind Symphony and conducted by Steele. Nowakowski graduated with honors from Illinois State, having studied studied composition with David Feurzeig and former faculty member Steven Taylor. The Chicago native won the ISU Arts Tech Annual in 2002 and this year is a finalist for the 2008 ASCAP Morton Gould Award.
The concert will close with Paul Hart’s “Cartoon.”
