NMU Music Performances Scheduled

Northern Michigan University's Music Department will present its final ensemble concerts of the semester featuring Symphonic Band & Wind Ensemble, Trombone Choir and the NMU Orchestra. The University Choir and Arts Chorale will also join the Marquette Choral Society for two performances later this month. Admission to all but the latter is free.

The NMU Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble Concert will be held at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 13, in Reynolds Recital Hall, under the direction of Steven Riley. The program features 19 graduating students, 12 pieces and three guest artists: Christopher Schoelen, NMU guitar professor; Timothy Oliver, director of bands at the University of Mississippi; and Derek Jenkins, associate professor of music at Missouri Western State University.

Schoelen will perform a guitar concerto by Juan Perez with the Symphonic Band, while Jenkins will conduct his original work "Solar Flare." Oliver, this year's guest conductor, will lead "I Am" by Andrew Boysen.

The Wind Ensemble will open with "Fracas" by Randall Standridge and present the world premiere of Jenkins' "Bowers Bloom By Waters Still," written in memory of Riley's mother. Oliver will also conduct "Incantation and Dance" by John Barnes Chance, and the concert will conclude with "Angels in the Architecture" by Frank Ticheli.

The NMU Trombone Choir will perform at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 16, in Reynolds Recital Hall under the direction of Stephen Grugin. The annual concert will showcase a variety of music highlighting the versatility of the trombone ensemble.

The NMU Orchestra will perform at 7:30 p.m. April 22 in Reynolds Recital Hall under the direction of Barbara Rhyneer. This performance features works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Giovanni Gabrieli, Jean Sibelius, Antonín Dvořák and Eric Whitacre.

A chamber ensemble will open the concert with selections from two Mozart quintets and a canzon by Gabrieli. The full orchestra will perform Sibelius' "Finlandia" and "Andante Festivo," the final movement of Dvořák's "New World" Symphony, and Whitacre's "Goodnight Moon," featuring vocal faculty member Keri Lee Pierson as a soloist. The program will showcase a range of musical textures, from intimate chamber pieces to full orchestral works.

The two NMU Arts Chorale, University Choir and Marquette Choral Society concerts are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 25, and 3 p.m. Sunday, April 26, at Kaufman Auditorium. Tickets are available at nmu.universitytickets.com.