May 19, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jo Ann Lloyd
(805) 756-1511
Cal Poly Wind Orchestra, Wind Ensemble
To Present ‘Spring Concert – Helen Keller Remembered’
SAN LUIS OBISPO – More than 100 Cal Poly student musicians will
perform
an evening of orchestral works for wind band at the annual Spring Concert
at 8 p.m.
Saturday, June 5, in Harman Hall in the Performing Arts Center on campus.
Titled “A Spring Concert -- Helen Keller Remembered,” the concert will feature the Cal Poly Wind Orchestra and Wind Ensemble under the direction of Music Professor William Johnson.
“The concert honors the life of Helen Keller with a symphonic setting of her writings by composer Mark Camphouse in his ‘Symphony From Ivy Green,’ the birthplace of Helen Keller,” Johnson said.
Soprano guest soloist Katherine Arthur, a voice teacher at Cal Poly, and the Cal Poly Wind Ensemble, under the baton of Johnson, will perform the “Symphony From Ivy Green.”
“The idea for the Spring Concert remembrance of Helen Keller comes
from the symphonic setting of her writings,” Johnson said. “The
composer calls for a soprano soloist and a 50-member wind ensemble to
provide the beauty and power needed for Helen Keller's inspirational thoughts
and
statements.
“Helen Keller altered our perception of what it means to be disabled and remapped the boundaries of sight and sense. Hearing- and sight-impaired people are especially invited to attend this performance, which will be interpreted in American Sign Language for deaf patrons.”
Additional highlights include the San Luis Obispo High School Concert
Band, under the direction of Sharon Jeskey, opening the concert with an
arrangement of Jerry Goldsmith’s “Wind and the Lion.”
Guest conductor Rudolfas Budginas will conduct the Wind Orchestra in Mark
Camphouse’s
“Whatsoever Things.”
Student soloists include Jordan Ray, a graduating senior in music who
will perform Philip Sparke’s “Pantomime for Euphonium and
Wind
Ensemble,” and Sarah Basiletti, also a graduating senior in music,
performing Ney Rosauro’s Concerto for Marimba and Wind Ensemble.
Additional musical selections to be performed are “Credentium” by Jan Van Der Roost, “Marche Militaire Française” by Camile Saint-Saëns, “Trombone King” by Karl King, and the “Finale” from Symphony No. 1 by Vassily Kalinnikov.
Arthur earned a master's degree in voice from UC Santa Barbara. She has
taught at Cal Poly since 2002. She has appeared as a soloist with the
Southwest Chamber Music Ensemble, Santa Barbara Oratorio Society and Pacific
Repertory Opera. She has also appeared as a guest artist in
Europe and has recorded works for Austrian Radio and performed for many
international music festivals and opera companies.
Tickets are $7 to $15 and can be bought at the Performing Arts Ticket Office 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays.
The Spring Concert is sponsored by Cal Poly’s Music Department, College of Liberal Arts, and Instructionally Related Activities program. For more information on the concert, call the Music Department at 756-2607.
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