Shepherd's Wind Ensemble to perform April 11

ISSUED: 2 April 2008
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
(Shepherd's Wind Ensemble to perform April 11)

Shepherdstown, WV--The Shepherd University Wind Ensemble will perform on Friday, April 11 at 8 p.m. in the Frank Center Theater. A free pre-concert lecture describing the works will begin at 7 p.m. The program will feature James Barnes' Symphony #3 "The Tragic," as well as Mozart's Overture to Marriage of Figaro, Ellerby's Paris Sketches, McBeth's Chant and Jubilo, and Barber's Sure on this Shining Night.

James Charles Barnes has been affiliated with the University of Kansas since 1977 and is currently a member of the theory-composition faculty, teaching orchestration and composition courses. In recent years he has been commissioned to compose works for all five of the major military bands in Washington, D.C. His Symphony #3 was commissioned only a few years ago by the United States Air Force Band. The four-movement work, inspired by the tragic death of the composer's infant daughter, progresses from despondency and despair in the first movement to hope and trust in eternal life in the fourth. Each movement develops around one or two central themes and some of the movements are linked to each other through statements of principal themes or variations of it.

The Wind Ensemble, comprised of music majors and a few select non-majors, has been invited to perform around the world. In 2001 the group accepted an invitation from the Lord Mayor of Dublin to tour Ireland. The group has also performed at Carnegie Hall and is currently planning a 10-day concert tour of Germany and Austria in 2009.

General admission tickets are $10; $5 for faculty, staff, and students under 18; and free to Shepherd University students and Friends of Music MAC card holders. For more information, contact the Shepherd University Concertline at 304/876-5555 or visit www.sufom.org.

-30-HORST

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