Wind symphony to preview NMEA performance during fall concert Nov. 18

The Northwest Wind Symphony will perform at the Nebraska Music Education Association's Conference and In-Service Clinic in November. (Photo by Lilly Cook/Northwest Missouri State University)

The Northwest Missouri State University Wind Symphony will showcase its performance for the annual Nebraska Music Education Association (NMEA) Conference and In-Service Clinic during a fall concert.

The concert, which is free and open to the public, begins at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18, in the Mary Linn Auditorium at the Ron Houston Center for the Performing Arts.

The ensemble will perform musical pieces from a wide range of styles - from hip-hop and jazz to traditional and orchestral transcriptions. The program will include Ketahj Copley's "Iridessi," Omar Thomas's "Shenandoah," Morton Gould's "American Symphonette No. 2: Moderately Fast," and "American Symphonette No. 2: Pavanne," Jess Turner's "I Know Moonrise," Alfred Reed's "Hounds of Spring" and de Meij's "Joropo."

Dr. Kathryn Strickland, a Northwest professor of music and director of the Wind Symphony, said the performance serves as a preview of the ensemble's NMEA program. The concert will allow the ensemble to practice the program in its entirety and make adjustments.

The Wind Symphony accepted an invitation earlier this year to perform a 45-minute concert at NMEA, beginning at 10:45 a.m. Friday, Nov. 21, in Kimball Recital Hall in Lincoln, Nebraska. Hundreds of music professionals, educators and students attend the two-day conference.

"The beginnings of rehearsals are almost always details," Strickland said. "So notes and rhythms are like the trees. Now we're at a place where we're able to zoom out and hear the forest. The students are playing more expressively, more creatively, more musically, and it will just elevate the whole performance."

The performance will also feature faculty soloists Dr. Joseph Tomasso, Dr. William Richardson and Dr. Jiwon Choi as well as student soloists Brady Dillon, Clara Viau, Maddie Fenimore, Isaiah Schieber, Spencer Ackerman and Noah Krisko.

The Northwest Wind Symphony is the University's premier wind ensemble and performs the best standard selections from all styles and periods, in addition to recent repertoire for wind bands.

To learn more about upcoming performances and ensembles in Northwest's School of Fine and Performing Arts, visit https://www.nwmissouri.edu/finearts/music/.