Multi-Reed Musician Demetrius Spaneas To Perform Free Concert at Allegheny

Feb. 15, 2013 – Multi-reed musician and composer Demetrius Spaneas will give a free concert at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 22 in Ford Chapel at Allegheny College. He will be joined by pianist Wendy Cavett Plyler.

In addition to the concert, which will include his own compositions as well as music by contemporary American women composers, Spaneas will lecture at the college and give masterclasses in performance and composition to Allegheny students. His visit to Allegheny is made possible through funds donated by the family of local jazz enthusiast Joe Boughton in his memory.

Program selections will include music by Alex Shapiro, Alexandra Gardner, Jill Miller-Thorn, Molly Thompson, Joan Tower and Denise Broadhurst.

“Such zest, such fire, such a gleeful explosiveness” is how the Boston Globe described a concert by Demetrius Spaneas. “Had it been just one percent more intense, it would have necessitated scraping the audience off the walls.”

Spaneas travels the world as a musical ambassador, connecting classical, jazz and traditional music. He has worked with such diverse artists as John Cage, Ray Charles and Kyrgyz traditional musicians and has been featured soloist and composer at major concert venues and international festivals on three continents.

Through work with the U.S. Embassy system, he has presented concerts and lectures on American music and culture throughout the former Soviet Union.

A Fulbright Specialist in American studies in music, he has won grants and awards from ASCAP, Meet the Composer and the American Music Center, including a special certificate from the Russian Duma for enriching the cultural life of St. Petersburg.

He holds both bachelor and master of music degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied classical and jazz performance, composition and world music. He has recorded on the Capstone and DSM labels as a soloist.

More information on Spaneas can be found at www.dspaneas.com.