News release Public Information Office   SLU 10880   Hammond, LA 70402   phone: 985-549-2341   fax: 985-549-2061 publicinfo@selu.edu Spring 2004 news releases Public Information home News archive Contact: Christina Chapple Date: 4/21/04   Click on image for publication quality photo SOUTHEASTERN WIND SYMPHONY TO PERFORM WITH MARINE BAND TUBA SOLOIST       HAMMOND --  Southeastern Louisiana University’s acclaimed Wind Symphony will present its spring concert, “Solitary Dances,” April 29 at the university’s Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts in downtown Hammond.       The free concert, scheduled for 7:30 p.m., will feature as soloist Cameron Gates, world-renowned principal tuba with the United States Marine Band, "The President's Own."        Gates, a gunnery sergeant, “is considered by many as one of the pre-eminent performers of his generation,” said Glen Hemberger, conductor of the Wind Symphony and director of bands at Southeastern. A graduate of the University of Oregon and the University of New Mexico, Gates has been a member of the prestigious Marine Band since 1993.        The Marine Band, founded in 1798, is America's oldest professional musical organization. Given the title "The President's Own" by Thomas Jefferson, the band’s primary mission is to provide music for the President of the United States. The band has performed for every United States President since John Adams.        Gates will join the Wind Symphony in a performance of Edward Gregson's “Tuba Concerto,” which Hemberger described as “one of the true masterpieces of the tuba literature. This three-movement work showcases the extraordinary range of the tuba, an instrument rarely featured in a solo capacity,” he said.       As the concert’s finale, Gates will also perform “Bass in the Ballroom,” a light and brilliantly composed waltz for wind band and tuba.       One of the concert’s highlights will be Warren Benson's “The Solitary Dancer.” Hember said the work, written in 1968, “is a staple of wind band literature with its signature use of percussion and light vocalization to depict the quiet, poised energy that one may observe in a dancer in repose, alone with her inner music."       The Wind Symphony will also present a magnificent setting of Morten Lauridsen's “O Magnum Mysterium.” “Originally written as a choral work, this beautiful and moving arrangement brilliantly captures the depth of the original version while exploring the rich textural possibilities of the large wind band,” Hemberger said.       Rounding out the program will be “Pastime with Good Company,” originally composed by King Henry VIII and set by Philip Sparke, the “Fanfare: Sinfonia” by Jack Stamp, and the exuberant “Folk Dances” by Dmitri Shostakovich.  The Wind Symphony will also welcome Associate Director of Bands Trent Davis as conductor of Malcolm Arnold's “Prelude, Siciliano and Rondo.”       As a part of his visit to Southeastern, Gates will present a special master class at 2 p.m. on April 29  in the Columbia Theatre’s Conference Center. At the master class, he will work with several students from the music and dramatic arts department, and discuss the tuba and its literature. Questions will be welcome, and the master class is free and open to the public.       Founded in 1999, the Wind Symphony includes Southeastern’s finest woodwind, brass, and percussion students. The ensemble recently was one of eight bands from 11 states selected to perform for the prestigious College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) convention in Atlanta, Ga.       For additional information about the concert and master class, contact the Southeastern band office at 985-549-2599.