FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 02/11/2008

BC Symphonic Band To Give Sunday Afternoon Concert

BRIDGEWATER, Va. — The Bridgewater College Symphonic Band will present a concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24, in the Carter Center for Worship and Music on the College campus.

The Symphonic Band, under the leadership of Dr. Timothy Weir, visiting assistant director of music and director of instrumental music, will perform an afternoon concert featuring a variety of symphonic band music.

The program includes Gustav Holst's "First Military Suite in E Flat," a cornerstone of symphonic band repertoire. Consisting of three distinct movements, the work highlights the varied and rich tonal colors of the group.

Duke Ellington's, "Come Sunday," features Tim Stuart, a junior music major from Staunton, Va., on alto saxophone. This piece was originally written as part of Ellington's suite "Black, Brown and Beige" in 1948.

"Bridgewater Breeze" by Adam Gorb was commissioned by Timothy Reynish who conducted the first performance with the Royal College of Music Wind Orchestra at the Bridgewater hall in Manchester, England. Gorb is delighted that the Bridgewater College performance is one of the first in the United States.

The Symphonic Band will also perform "Fanfare for the Common Man" by Aaron Copland, "Albanian Dance" by Shelley Hanson, Where never Lark or Eagle Flew" by James Curnow, and J.S. Bach's "Little Fugue."

The concert is open to the public at no charge.

Bridgewater College, a private, four-year liberal arts college, enrolls more than 1,500 students. Founded in 1880 and located in the Central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, it was the state's first private, coeducational senior college.

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