ISSUED: 25 October 2017
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Shepherd University’s Department of Music is hosting a night of jazz at the Frank Center Theater on Thursday, November 2, at 8 p.m. with the Shepherd Jazz Ensembles under the direction of Dr. Kurtis Adams, associate professor of music and director of jazz studies.
A wide range of music will be performed, including works by Sammy Nestico, Billy Strayhorn, Jimmy Dorsey and Paul Madieda, Charlie Parker, Thomas “Fats” Waller, Thad Jones, and George and Ira Gershwin. This concert will feature a Steinway Model B Classic grand piano donated to the Department of Music by Shepherd President Mary J.C. Hendrix and Charles Craft. The piano was donated as part of the All-Steinway Campaign launched by the Department of Music in partnership with the Shepherd University Foundation.
Adams has performed with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, Ultraphonic Jazz Orchestra, Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra, and the 9th and Lincoln Orchestra. In 2005, Downbeat Magazine named Adams College Co-winner for Best Original Composition for his composition “Instable Mate?” In 2007, he was selected to participate in the Paquito D’Rivera Latin Jazz Workshop performing with the Grammy-winning saxophonist at Carnegie Hall in New York.
The Shepherd University Jazz Ensembles have performed throughout Europe, including Switzerland, Italy, England, and France. In the United States the ensembles have been featured at the Longwood, Blue Ridge, and East Coast Jazz Festivals, as well as regional festivals throughout Virgina, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey.
General admission to the Shepherd Jazz Ensembles concert is $15 for adults; $10 for Shepherd faculty, staff, alumni, seniors, and students 18 and under; and free to Shepherd students with a valid Rambler ID. Admission and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis and reservations are not taken. The box office opens one hour prior to performance. For more information, call 304-876-5555 or visit www.shepherd.edu/music.
For information about the All-Steinway Campaign and how to contribute, visit www.shepherd.edu/steinway or contact Stacy McFarland, director of annual giving, at 304-876-5526 or smcfarla@shepherd.edu.
— 30 —
