The Wayne State Music Department will be hosting a Trumpet Duo on Jan. 30, and the Wayne State Honor Choir on Jan. 31, both in Ramsey Theater.
The Trumpet Duo recital is on Thursday, Jan. 30, at 7:30 in Ramsey Theater. This recital includes trumpet players Brandon Loos and Michael Genslinger, with Shelley Armstrong on piano, and a piece with WSC band director, Josh Calkin, on tuba. The concert is free and open to the public.
Some of the pieces they will be playing include “Doble o Nada,” “Concerto for Two Trumpets,” a piece with three movements, “O, Shenandoah,” with tuba accompaniment by Calkin and “Under Western Skies,” a piece with two parts.
According to the Wayne State College website, “the concert’s repertoire evokes vivid visuals and engaging melodies. ‘Under Western Skies’ by Kevin McKee captures everything from a classic Western sunset to a trumpet-heralding morning, and dueling trumpets at high-noon. ‘Concerto for Two Trumpets’ by Erik Morales celebrates the trumpet with solo and unison control and accuracy. ‘Doble o Nada’ by Eduardo Nogueroles is a virtuosic ballad-waltz mix.”
The Wayne State Festival of Honor Choirs will happen the following evening, Friday, Jan. 31, at 4 p.m. in Ramsey Theatre. Admission for the concert is $5 for adults and free for children 12 and under. The festival includes the Mixed Choir, which is led by the Wayne State Concert Choir, directed by WSC choir director Matthew Armstrong, and accompanied by Shelley Armstrong. There is also the Treble Choir, led by the WSC Lyrica Choir. This choir is directed by guest conductor Barina Buresh-Crosland and accompanied by Angela Miller-Niles.
Burina Buresh-Crosland is a WSC graduate who currently teaches at Arlington High School in Arlington, Nebraska, and also acts as the director of the Nebraska Choral Directors Association (NCDA). Matthew Armstrong said, “We’re excited to welcome Burina back to campus, and proud of her leadership in the landscape of Nebraska choral music!”
According to Armstrong, there were about 475 high school students from Nebraska, South Dakota and Iowa who auditioned. The Mixed Choir will have about 125 singers, and the Treble choir will have about 150. Armstrong said that this is somewhat of a recruitment event, not necessarily for the choirs, but for the college in general. The students that come for the honor choir get a taste of what WSC is like, whether or not they intend on studying music.
Each choir will be workshopping all day, in Ramsey and the Choir Room. WSC choir students from the Concert choir and the Lyrica choirs will be there during the workshops, the concert, to lead sectionals, and to show the high schoolers where to go around the Peterson Fine Arts building and to the Student Center for lunch.
Both concerts will be live-streamed. Links to the streams can be accessed at www.wsc.edu/watch-live.