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April 25, 2016 — The Allegheny College Wind Symphony and Wind Ensemble will present their 2016 spring concert on Sunday, May 1 at 3:15 p.m. in the college’s Shafer Auditorium. Admission is free.

Both ensembles are under the direction of Professor of Music Lowell Hepler. The soloist for the concert will be Assistant Professor of Music Douglas Jurs. Pre-concert music will be provided by the Allegheny College Saxophone Ensemble.

The Wind Symphony is an 85-member symphonic band, with membership open by audition to all Allegheny College students. The Wind Ensemble is a 40-member ensemble auditioned from the Wind Symphony. Students from the Wind Symphony also regularly participate in the Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Band and the National Small College Intercollegiate Band. In addition to their campus concerts, the Allegheny ensembles in past years have toured the Eastern, Southern and Mid-Western United States.

The program will open with “Panopticon” by Ralph Ford, followed by an arrangement of “Amazing Grace” by Frank Ticheli. Piano soloist Douglas Jurs will join the Wind Symphony for a performance of the first movement of the famous Piano Concerto in A Minor by Edvard Grieg. To conclude the first portion of the program, Associate Professor of Music Jennifer Dearden will serve as guest conductor for Grundman’s “Fantasy on American Sailing Songs.”

The Wind Ensemble will take the stage to perform Michael Gandolfi’s “Vientos y Tangos” (“Winds and Tangos”).

The Wind Symphony will return to the stage, beginning with “Revival March” by John Philip Sousa. Next will be a performance of “English Dances for Band” by Malcolm Arnold, arranged by Maurice Johnstone, and the first movement of H. Owen Reed’s “La Fiesta Mexicana,” which features an off-stage Mariachi band. The concert will conclude with “Into the Raging River.”

Soloist Douglas Jurs, in his first year with the Allegheny music faculty, has performed throughout North America, Europe and beyond as a soloist and collaborative pianist. He holds degrees from Indiana University-Bloomington, Cleveland Institute of Music and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Lowell Hepler is professor of music, director of bands and chair of the music department at Allegheny College. He has served as guest conductor for music festivals ranging from County through All-State levels. Hepler is Principal Tuba with the Lake Erie Ballet Company. He recently retired from his position as Principal Tuba with the Erie Philharmonic Orchestra.