Southeastern NEWS
Southeastern Louisiana University
Public Information Office
publicinfo@selu.edu
SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
Date: 1/14/99
Contact: Christina Chapple 95
Editors: Photo accompanies release
FIRST ENCORE! 99 CONCERT FEATURES PIANIST DELONY
HAMMOND -- The Southeastern Louisiana University Music Department will kick off
its 1999 Encore! series January 26 with a concert of classics and jazz by pianist and professor
Willis Delony.
Delony, a Baton Rouge resident who has been a member of the Southeastern faculty since
1986, will present "Classical and Jazz Connections III," a program featuring Chopin, Duke
Ellington, Dave Brubeck, and lesser known composers Bill Dobbins and Joseph Makholm.
The free concert is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the Pottle Music Building Auditorium.
Bill Grimes, director of jazz studies at Louisiana State University, will join Delony in
Ellington and Ray Brown's "Fragmented Suite for Piano and Bass." LSU graduate student John
Perrine, saxophone, will be featured in Dobbins' "Sonata for Sax and Piano." Delony also will
perform Brubeck's "Glances," and Ellington's "A New World A' Comin'."
Delony, who received Southeastern's prestigious President's Award for Excellence in
Artistic Activity in 1994, is also professional-in-residence at LSU and recently was awarded
artist fellowship by the Louisiana Division of the Arts in recognition of his achievements in
classical and jazz performance. His fellow pianists describe him as "uniquely gifted his jazz is
as good as his Beethoven." "Willis," said a colleague, "is one of those rare individuals who can
wear two hats, someone who can thrive successfully in two distinct musical worlds, the worlds of
the European Classical tradition and the American jazz idiom."
Delony received his doctoral degree in musical arts from Louisiana State University
where he was a student of Jack Guerry. He has earned praise as a virtuoso recitalist, jazz pianist,
conductor, chamber musician and accompanist throughout the United States, Europe and
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Mexico. In April 1999, he will be the featured soloist with the Baton symphony Orchestra in
performances of Gershwin's "Concerto in F" and will tour the southern United States as a solo
recitalist in a special series of "Classical and Jazz Connections" concerts. In February, he plans to
premiere a new song cycle written by New Orleans composer Stephen Dankner. As jazz
pianist/conductor, he will tour the United States throughout 1999 leading performances of
"Radio Days" with the Minnesota-based vocal group, Five by Design, with whom he will join
forces again in 2000 for a projected run at the Barbican in London.
Delony recently signed a contract with Centaur Records to record a solo album of jazz-
inspired concert works featuring music by Brubeck, Ellington and the premiere recording of
"Trois Impressions" by Paris-based American composer Joseph Makholm. His previous
recording credits include the Barber Piano Sonata and the Prokofiev Sonata No. 6, also on the
Centaur label, and a jazz album entitled "Civilized Conversations," which features the dual
talents of Delony and Grimes.
For many years, Delony has collaborated with Baton Rouge producer Joey Decker in
writing and recording commercial music for clients such as the Chicago Tribune and the Disney
corporation. An experienced arranger, his pops orchestra scores have been performed by groups
in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Milwaukee and Grand Rapids, Michigan.
For additional information about Delony's concert and the Encore! series, call the
Southeastern music department, 504-549-2184.
- SLU -
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www.selu.edu/NewsEvents/PublicInfoOffice/newsp99.htm