SOMERS — The University of Wisconsin-Parkside Wind Ensemble and Community Band are performing a joint concert starting 7 p.m. Thursday, May 2, in Bedford Concert Hall.
The program features guest performers, including a saxophone quartet made up of UW-Parkside students Alicia Torkelson, Julia Lewandowsky, Matthew Thompson and James Beardsley.
Torkelson, on alto saxophone, is a junior, majoring in music education and jazz studies. Lewandowsky, also playing alto saxophone, is a senior jazz studies major. After graduation, she hopes to work on cruise ships playing music. Thompson, playing tenor saxophone, is a freshman in the jazz program, and baritone saxophone player Beardsley is a senior, majoring in music education and jazz studies.
The quartet is featured on “Concerto Grosso” by Frank Bencriscutto.
The composer, a Racine native, was director of bands at the University of Minnesota from 1960 to 1993. The first movement in his piece "is quiet, peaceful and warm," said UW-Parkside Professor Laura Rexroth. "The second movement is exuberant and celebrative."
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Rexroth conducts both the Wind Ensemble, made up of UW-Parkside students, and Community Band, made up of adult musicians from this area.
The program also features “Juba Dance” and “The Old Boatman” by Florence Price, the contemporary piece “Free” by Alex Shapiro and four dances from Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story” score.
Price was "the first African-American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer," Rexroth said.
"Juba Dance" comes from the third movement of her Symphony No. 1 in E minor, performed by the Chicago Symphony in 1933. "The Old Boatman" is a transcription of one of her piano works.
Shapiro — a composer who also does writing and wildlife photography — lives on Washington State's remote San Juan Island. She shares her music and photos on her blog, notesfromthekelp.com, and her website, alexshapiro.org.
Shapiro has said, "One of the best things about being a composer in the 21st century is that there are no stylistic limitations on how we can express ourselves." That freedom is reflected in her piece, "Free."
The concert concludes with Bernstein's "West Side Story" dances, which include "the dramatic 'Scherzo' on 'Somewhere,' the exuberant 'Mambo,' the very charming 'Cha-Cha' and the energetic and explosive Cool,'" Rexroth said.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for senior citizens, available online at uwp.edu/therita or through the box office at 262-595-2564. Note: Free livestreams are available at the UWP-Music Channel on YouTube.