SMU offers full weekend of student performances
Flute player Emily Fasen, Monticello, Minn.
WINONA, Minn. — Two public student performances — a jazz concert and a choir and band performance — highlight Saint Mary’s University’s upcoming Family Weekend Sept. 30-Oct. 2.
• SMU jazz groups will kick off their year with a fall blast at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, in Figliulo Recital Hall, located in the Performance Center. Jazz Combo I (a new and hot jazz nontet) will fire off the show with jazz classics like Horace Silver’s “The Preacher,” “I'll Take Romance” and the cool bossa “Speak Low” by Kurt Weil. Alto saxophonist Markeise Russell and tenor saxophonist Ben Scott are two of the student soloists featured in the combo. The 18-piece Jazz Ensemble follows with some selections including “My Romance” with Tyler Ringeisen on flugelhorn, “My Foolish Heart” featuring Katy Kosiek on alto sax, and several other recognizable standards like “It Had To Be You,” arranged by Frank Mantooth. Closing the Jazz Ensemble set will be Gordon Goodwin’s rocker “Hit The Bricks.” Both groups are directed by professor of music Dr. John Paulson. Two jazz workshop combos, directed by Dr. Paulson and Eric Heukeshoven, will play for a reception following the concert in the Toner Student Center Lounge.
•The SMU Concert Band and Choirs will combine talents for a 2 p.m. concert Saturday, Oct. 1, at Page Theatre. The SMU Concert Band , under the direction of Dr. Janet Heukeshoven, will start the concert with “Bayou Breakdown” by Brant Karrick, followed by the “First Suite in E♭” by Gustav Holst, and finishing with an arrangement by John Wassen of music from “Pirates of the Caribbean.” The Chamber Singers will perform a set of Swedish folksongs arranged by Hugo Alfvén, and the Concert Choir will present selections by Fauré, and Gilbert and Sullivan. Both choirs are directed by Dr. Patrick O’Shea. The Women’s Choir, directed by Lindsy O’Shea, will also perform. A reception will follow in the Toner Student Center Lounge.
Tickets to both performances are $10 for adults, $5 for students and seniors, and are available at the SMU Box Office, (507) 457-1715, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays or online at www.pagetheatre.org. Tickets are also available at the door.
