News

Folk songs from the United Kingdom and the U.S. will be featured during the Thursday, Oct. 29 Wind Symphony and University Concert Band performance in Dunham Hall Theater at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.    

“The audience will experience a wide range of music from different eras and different parts of the world,” said John Korak, DMA, professor of trumpet. “Each piece will be quite different than the one before.”

Korak will conduct the Concert Band portion of the program and conducting the Wind Symphony will be John Bell, PhD, professor of music and director of bands.

Some of the music pieces that Korak will conduct include: 

• “An Irish Rhapsody” by Clare Grandman
• “English Folk Song Suite” by Ralph Vaughan Williams
• “The Parade of the Tall Ships” by Jay Chattaway
• “Shenandoah” by Frank Ticheli

“The folk songs range from upbeat march tunes to grandiose and beautiful ballads,” Korak

said. 

Bell will conduct both traditional band works and transcriptions, which are musical pieces that were written for one group of instruments and rewritten for another.

Bell will conduct a portion of Mussorgsky’s, “Pictures at an Exhibition” designed to illustrate a person’s visit to a museum. The number was originally composed for a piano but transcribed for band. Each piece is written to depict a particular piece of art, said Korak. Some of the pieces are:

• “Baba Yaga” is a painting of a witch with iron teeth and is depicted with fearsome sounds
• “The Great Gate of Kiev” is a magnificent structure whose regal quality is heightened through Mussorgsky’s music

“Dr. Bell will also conduct Eric Whitacre’s ‘October,’ which incorporates the beauty of the season but has some sadness in it to denote the end of summer and coming of winter,” Korak said.

“This is the first concert of the year with our ensembles,” Korak added. “Our students span a wide range of ability levels but everyone is united in their love of music. I hope that their passion of music comes through loud and clear to our audience.”

Ticket costs are $12 for general admission and $9 for seniors and those under the age of 18. SIUE students with identification are free.

For more information, visit the Department of Music Calendar of Events.

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville provides students with a high quality, affordable education that prepares them for successful careers and lives of purpose. Built on the foundation of a broad-based liberal education, and enhanced by hands-on research and real-world experiences, the academic preparation SIUE students receive equips them to thrive in the global marketplace and make our communities better places to live. Situated on 2,660 acres of beautiful woodland atop the bluffs overlooking the natural beauty of the Mississippi River’s rich bottom land and only a short drive from downtown St. Louis, the SIUE campus is home to a diverse student body of more than 14,000.

Photos: 

Dr. John Korak (L) 

Dr. John Bell (R)