FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 2, 2016
Stephen Pratt conducting the Indiana University
Wind Ensemble
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana University Wind Ensemble, from the Jacobs School of Music, will perform in New York’s legendary Carnegie Hall at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 8.
Tickets are available online and at the Carnegie Hall box office.
The concert, conducted by Stephen Pratt, Jacobs director of bands and wind conducting, is the culminating event of the New York Wind Band Festival, with the group receiving a special invitation to perform as the showcase ensemble.
Jacobs School of Music professor Otis Murphy will be the featured saxophone soloist in “Four Pictures from New York” by Roberto Molinelli, and Eric Smedley, Jacobs associate director of bands, will guest conduct Percy Grainger’s “Father and Daughter.”
The diverse program will also include a recent composition by composer William Bolcom, “Circus Overture,” along with classics “George Washington Bridge” by William Schuman and the “March from Symphonic Metamorphosis” by Paul Hindemith.
“The performance of the IU Wind Ensemble in Carnegie Hall is a wonderful opportunity for our fantastic Jacobs School of Music students,” said Pratt. “Since it opened in 1891, it has been the dream of every musician to perform in Carnegie Hall with its world-renowned acoustics. The list of famous musicians who have made their debut in this performance venue built like a musical instrument is astounding. It is my hope that this is a concert experience our students will remember as a high point in their musical career for the rest of their lives.”
The Indiana University Wind Ensemble is one of the premier ensembles at the Jacobs School of Music. The ensemble performs the most outstanding literature of the wind band medium, including music for both chamber winds and large ensemble. The group has premiered many works for wind band by leading composers and has performed multiple times at national and international venues.
Pratt teaches graduate conducting and wind band history in the Jacobs wind conducting program. His appearances with the Wind Ensemble in the past several years include at the College Band Directors National Association national conventions in Nashville, Tenn., and Ann Arbor, Mich., as well as at its divisional convention in Normal, Ill., the Music Educators National Conference national convention in Milwaukee, Wis., and the American Bandmasters Association national convention in Indianapolis, Ind.
Murphy became one of the youngest faculty members in the Jacobs School’s history at age 28. He is in great demand as an international soloist and clinician, having gained wide recognition on four continents. He has presented saxophone classes and appeared as a guest professor at prestigious music schools and festivals throughout the world. Murphy’s students hold positions as teachers and professors, and are members of the top United States military bands in Washington, D.C.
Smedley conducts the Jacobs School Symphonic Band, teaches undergraduate and graduate instrumental conducting, serves as associate director of the Marching Hundred, directs the IU Summer Music Clinic and sponsors the Rho chapter of Tau Beta Sigma and the Alpha Zeta Chapter of Kappa Psi. He previously served on the music faculties of Boise State University and Western Kentucky University, and as a public school music educator in Florida, California and Wisconsin.