Kent State Bands presents their final concert of the 2017-18 season on Fri., May 4 at 7:30 p.m. at University Auditorium in Cartwright Hall. This free concert will feature the Kent Wind Ensemble, directed by Jesse Leyva, and the Olmsted Falls High School Wind Symphony, directed by Julie Budd. Cartwright Hall is at 650 Hilltop Drive on the Kent Campus. Free parking available off of Terrace Drive.
Taken from a statement written in 1963 by renowned composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, this concert is entitled “This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.” The concert will feature repertoire commemorating the tragic events of May 4, 1970 at Kent State. The Olmstead Falls High School Wind Symphony will open the concert with music by Clifton Williams, Frank Ticheli, Gustav Holst and Alfred Reed. After a brief intermission, the Kent State Wind Ensemble will present Bernstein’s Profanation from “Jeremiah, Symphony No. 1,” Lo Presti’s “Elegy for a Young American,” Copland/Beeler’s “A Lincoln Portrait,” and Bernstein/Grundman’s “Slava! (A Political Satire).”
For the past five years, the Kent Wind Ensemble, under the leadership of Dr. Jesse Leyva, has experienced tremendous growth. Comprised of the best wind and percussion students at Kent State University, they perform both contemporary and traditional repertoire in a smaller ensemble setting. The Wind Ensemble presents several concerts per year both on and off campus, often inviting area high school ensembles to share the stage. Recent achievements include an invitation to perform at the 2018 College Band Directors National Association North Central Division Conference and the 2017 Ohio Music Education Association Conference, the second largest conference of its kind in the country.
More information can be found at www.kent.edu/music/events.
Enjoy the free webcast at www.kent.edu/music/live-streaming.
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