Honors Wind Symphony to perform spring concert March 28, featuring the Goshen High School Crimson Percussion Ensemble

Concert: Goshen College Honors Wind Symphony Spring Concert
Date and time: Tuesday, March 28, 2006, at 7:30 p.m.
Location: Sauder Concert Hall, Goshen College Music Center
Cost: $6 adults, $4 seniors/students, available at the door. GC students free with valid ID.

GOSHEN, Ind. – The Goshen College Honors Wind Symphony will present a spring concert in Sauder Concert Hall on March 28 at 7:30 p.m. The first half of the program will feature the Goshen High School Crimson Percussion Ensemble directed by Chris Smith.

The Honors Wind Symphony, directed by Associate Professor of Music John Graulty, will perform “Fanfare to ‘La Peri’” by Paul Dukas, “Pageant” by Vincent Persichetti and “The Florentiner” by Julius Fucik.

Graulty is chair of the music department at Goshen College where he serves as music director of the Goshen College Orchestra and Honors Wind Symphony, and professor of clarinet and conducting. He has conducted professional ensembles at venues throughout Europe including performances in the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Royal Albert Hall in London, the Red Army Theater in Moscow and the Alte Oper in Frankfurt. In September 2005, he began his second season as music director of the South Bend Youth Symphony Orchestra. He holds degrees from the Peabody and New England Conservatories, and earned a doctoral degree in higher education from Columbia University.

The Crimson Percussion Ensemble will feature the music of 1970s progressive rock band Gentle Giant, arranged by Smith. The Crimson Percussion Ensemble was established in 2003 as an extracurricular activity for members of the Goshen High School Band. During that time the ensemble has been an Indiana State Champion in Class A, placed third in the Open Class, and last year placed third in World Class. In the first year of competition the group won the WGI World Championship in Open Class.

Smith is a graduate of Ball State University, where he performed with the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Orchestra and the Marimba Ensemble. He spent two years marching with the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps from Rockford, Ill. He is the percussion director at Goshen and Fairfield High Schools, and teaches in the Fort Wayne area. 

This special ensemble is in its second season on the Goshen College campus and is comprised of Goshen College players and auditioned pre-college players from area high schools. This year, six area high schools are represented in the ensemble, including Bethany Christian High School, Goshen High School, Northridge High School, Plymouth High School, Elkhart Central High School and Fairfield High School.

Tickets are available at the door and cost $6 for adults and $4 for seniors and students. Goshen College students are admitted free of charge with their student IDs. For more information, please contact the Music Center office at (574) 535-7361.

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a four-year residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.