ALLEGHENY WIND SYMPHONY TO PRESENT FREE CONCERT

MEADVILLE, Pa. – Nov. 12, 2007 – The Allegheny College Wind Symphony will present its annual fall concert on Sunday, Nov. 18, at 3:15 p.m. in Shafer Auditorium. The concert is free and open to the public.

This will be the first performance of the academic year for the Allegheny College Wind Symphony. The 88-member symphony is made up of Allegheny students who have successfully auditioned for the ensemble. Membership is open to students of all academic majors.

The ensemble is under the direction of Dr. Lowell Hepler, professor of music and director of bands at Allegheny College, who is a frequent guest conductor for music festivals ranging from county through all-state levels.

Sunday's program will feature music for a broad range of taste. Professor Emeritus of History Jonathan Helmreich will narrate Aaron Copland's “Lincoln Portrait.” Senior music major Bonnie Sands will perform the first movement of the Gregson “Tuba Concerto.” Sands is a student of Hepler's and a two-time member of the National Wind Ensemble at Carnegie Hall.

Other works on the program include the “Overture to Pique Dame” by Franz von Suppé, “Komm Süsser Tod” by J. S. Bach, “Fest Marsch” by Richard Wagner, “Cajun Folk Songs 2” by Frank Ticheli, “Chorale and Shaker Dance” by John Zdechlik and “Semper Fidelis March” by John Philip Sousa.

In addition to the Wind Symphony's campus concerts, the Allegheny ensembles in past years have toured the eastern, southern and midwestern United States. Several Wind Symphony students have been honored at the state and national levels through acceptance to the Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Band, the National Small College Intercollegiate Band and the National Wind Ensemble.

Hepler has served as president of the Pennsylvania Collegiate Bandmasters Association and the Pennsylvania Chapter of Phi Beta Mu, Honorary Bandmasters Fraternity. He has also served as the Pennsylvania state chair of the College Band Directors National Association.

Hepler is principal tuba with the Erie Philharmonic Orchestra, the Lake Erie Ballet Company and the Savelli Concert Band and is a member of Undercurrents, a tuba/euphonium quartet made up of college and university faculty in western Pennsylvania, and the newly formed Allegheny Brass Quintet.

For more information, call 332-3304

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