LU Symphony To Feature Music Of 1963
Published 5:14 pm Thursday, October 31, 2013
The Longwood Wind Symphony will perform its fall concert on Thursday, Nov. 7, at 7:30 p.m. in Jarman Auditorium. The 60-member Wind Symphony is conducted by Dr. Gordon Ring; Jeff Halliday, associate professor of communication studies, will serve as announcer for the concert.
All works on the concert were either composed 50 years ago, in 1963, or they were inspired by events of 1963. The three composers represented who composed works that year are Alfred Reed, Martin Mailman and Eric Osterling, all of whom were important composers of works for school bands at all educational levels. Of special note about Martin Mailman’s piece, “Liturgical Music for Band,” is that it was commissioned for and first performed at a ceremony for the opening of the newly constructed interchange on Interstate 95 at Emporia.
The events of 1963 that inspired compositions were the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, as heard in Ronald LoPresti’s “Elegy For A Young American,” and the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala. This second work, by Virginia composer Adolphus Hailstork, musically describes the terror of the bombing but also reflects on the gospel music of the church. James Lyle, a 1996 alumnus of Longwood, will be the gospel piano soloist on the piece.
Admission to the concert is free, and the public is invited.