Miami University's Symphony Orchestra and Symphony Band are set to celebrate the leap year with a concert on Feb. 29. Featuring music that provides great variety, talent and special guests, this concert looks to be memorable.
Under the direction of Stephen Lytle, the symphony band's set includes the campus premiere of Roma, written by Valerie Coleman.
As part of a College Band Directors National Association composition consortium, Roma is hot off the press and gathering attention. Utilizing melodies and rhythms from across the world, listeners are sure to connect with the composition.
In addition to this premiere, the band is set to perform works by Steven Bryant, Dmitri Shostakovich, Gustav Holst and John Philip Sousa. Sousa's Black Horse Troop, one of his many famous marches, was originally written for the Ohio National Guard Unit.
In the original performance, Sousa had members of the mounted unit ride onto stage behind the band, much to the delight of the audience.
"There is a lot of variety in the music," Lytle said. "We have everything from a traditional Sousa march, Shostakovich's well-known folk dances, to a premier that incorporates world music. There is something for everyone to enjoy."
Included in the set list is Johannes Brahms' famous Symphony No. 2 as well as George Philipp Telemann's Double Concerto in F for recorder and bassoon.
Faculty members Andrea Ridilla, professor of oboe, and Christin Schillinger, professor of bassoon, will join the orchestra for Telemann's work. Additionally, Daniel Sommerville, professor of music at Wheaton College (Ill.), will lead the orchestra through Brahms' symphony.
"Telemann's concerto for recorder and bassoon is the only one that exists with this instrumentation," Averbach said. "We are using an oboe instead of a recorder, but it is unique and enjoyable."
The concert features students from a variety of academic disciplines, as well as two of Miami's major performing ensembles. The concert is free and sure to keep the Year of the Arts moving forward.
The concert will be held 8 p.m. Wednesday Feb. 29 in Hall Auditorium.
Enjoy what you're reading?
Signup for our newsletter
Read More
How one professor and her classes are preserving Oxford’s Black history
By Sean Scott | March 20, 2024Jazma Sutton, an assistant professor of history, teaches The Black Midwest (HST 350Q) and Black Women in America (HST 450D) classes. In both courses, she has students working with the Smith Library of Regional History and Miami’s archives to document and preserve Black history in Oxford.
Miami faculty members recount Freedom Summer in new documentary
By Luke Macy | February 25, 2022After seven years of work, “Training for Freedom,” a documentary highlighting Oxford’s involvement in the Freedom Summer of 1964, premiered on PBS Western Reserve on Valentine’s Day.
“Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic”: History in the making
By Alice Momany | August 29, 2021In March 2020, Miami University’s archives launched “Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic,” a collection focused on life during the COVID-19 pandemic.