By Austin DuVall
College of Fine Arts and Communication Media Office
CONWAY — The University of Central Arkansas Wind Ensemble will give its final concert of the spring 2016 semester on April 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the university’s Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall.
The concert is free and open to the public.
The ensemble will perform five pieces in the performance, which conductor and Director of Bands, Dr. Ricky Brooks, called “technically challenging” and requiring “musical maturity” from the students. Beginning with “Kaddish” by Arkansas composer laureate Dr. W. Francis McBeth, the ensemble moves on with the contemporary Mexican classic, “Danzón No. 2” by Arturo Marquez, then “October” by Eric Whitacre. As a change of pace, the ensemble will feature the Norwegian composer Johannes Hanssen’s composition, “Valdres Marsj,”— a still-pleasing change from the popular Sousa-style military or circus march, Brooks noted. The concert crescendos to a climactic finish with the fiery and tour-de-force “Finale from Symphony in f Minor, No. 4,” by Peter Tchaikovsky.
“I’m excited to perform this concert, both for the students in the Wind Ensemble and the audience,” Brooks said. “The program will hopefully evoke a wide variety of responses throughout the concert: elation, sadness, fun, joy, smiles and a whistling of a favorite melody on the way out of Reynolds Performance Hall.”
While Brooks will conduct most of the pieces, two guest conductors will participate. Nathan Rakow, a graduate conducting intern, will conduct “Kaddish,” while UCA trombone professor J. Cook is scheduled to conduct “October.”
For additional information, contact Brooks at (501) 450-5764 or by email at rickyb@uca.edu.
The UCA College of Fine Arts and Communication includes the Departments of Art, Communication, Mass Communication and Theatre, Music and Writing. The college’s primary mission is the preparation of the next generation of artists, educators and communicators. For more information about CFAC, visit www.uca.edu/cfac or call 501-450-3293.
