Axe ’Em, Jacks!
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Wind Ensemble at Stephen F. Austin State University will present a concert featuring the music of American composer David Biedenbender at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 11, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus.
Biedenbender recently joined the faculty at Michigan State University after teaching at Boise State University.
“He will be here for the concert, and to speak to our classes,” said Fred J. Allen, director of bands and the conductor for the Wind Ensemble. “We will perform two of his compositions on this concert.”
The program will include Biedenbender’s “Dreams in the Dusk,” featuring Nathan Nabb, professor of saxophone at SFA, as soloist.
“This piece showcases both the technical and expressive capabilities of the saxophone,” Allen said.
The band will also perform Biedenbender’s “Stomp,” in which he incorporates jazz elements, said Allen.
The ensemble will also perform pieces by the American composers John Philip Sousa and John Barnes Chance, as well as “Molly on the Shore” by Percy Grainger.
Biedenbender has written music for the concert stage as well as for dance and multimedia collaborations. He has collaborated with and been commissioned by many renowned performers and ensembles, including Alarm Will Sound, the PRISM Saxophone Quartet, the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, the U.S. Navy Band, the Stenhammar String Quartet, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and the Eastman Wind Ensemble, among many others.
Nabb maintains a vibrant and diverse international schedule as a performer, clinician and teacher. He is a regular performer with the St. Louis and Houston symphonies, has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, New World Symphony and IRIS Chamber Orchestra, and is soprano chair of the Oasis Quartet.
Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit http://www.finearts.sfasu.edu/.