Marietta College's Spring Band Concert features two celebrity performances

Concert starts at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 25th at Peoples Bank Theatre

Marietta, Ohio (04/12/2017) — Marietta College's annual Spring Band Concert - which features the Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 25th, at the Peoples Bank Theatre - will include two celebrity performers.

Dr. William N. Ruud, Marietta's 19th President, will play clarinet on two of the pieces being performed by the Symphonic Band. Ruud, an all-state clarinet in high school, has been practicing for months in preparation of this performance.

The other celebrity performer is Dr. Amy Yekel, dramatic soprano. She will be a featured vocalist on "A Gershwin Tribute to Love." Yekel will also perform on a world premiere of "I Carry Your Heart With Me." This composition was commissioned by the College's Wind Ensemble for this special performance. Dr. Andrew Francis, Marietta College theory and composition professor, is the composer.

The concert, "Matters of the Heart," is free and open to the public, but a free will offering will be taken at the end of the concert. Doors open at 6 p.m.

"Much thought has gone into the programming for the concert," said Associate Professor Marshall C. Kimball, Director of Bands and Instrumental Activities at Marietta College. "Each composition being performed on the concert will be connected to one or more of our human emotions. Music is used in so many different emotional ways every day. The value of music is beyond what most people even think about yet it affects our lives each day. Just about every human emotion you can think of will be presented during the concert. From joy, to sadness, desperation, shock, love, it will all be there."

The Wind Ensemble will be joined by the College's Concert Choir and Oratorio Chorus for a performance of David Holsinger's Sinfonia Voci. This composition is based on a true event in Plainfield, Illinois, when a tornado struck the town. Through the shock, despair, desperation and determination you will hear the event portrayed through the music. The rebuilding section of the music is stirring and emotional. Dr. Jay Dougherty, Director of Choral Activities, has prepared the choirs.

"This concert is a collaborative effort with the entire music department," Kimball said. "Every person in the music department is somehow involved. It's wonderful to see what can happen when all elements work together."

The finale to the concert will be a presentation of Eric Whitacre's famous composition, "Godzilla Eats Las Vegas." This composition is a spoof, complete with video production, of things that happen to a threatened Las Vegas strip.

"We are so blessed to be able to present some wonderful literature, make a connection of the value of music in our lives and do it all in the beautiful Peoples Bank Theatre," Kimball said. "Our goal is to pack the house with a full audience of 940 attendees. We hope the community and College will support the bands for this special concert."

For more information: (740) 376-4696 or marshall.kimball@marietta.edu.

Located in Marietta, Ohio, at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio rivers, Marietta College is a four-year liberal arts college. Tracing its roots to the Muskingum Academy begun in 1797, the College was officially chartered in 1835. Today Marietta College serves a body of 1,200 full-time students. The College offers 45 majors and has been listed among Barron's Best Buys in College Education and Peterson's Competitive Colleges, and has been recognized as one of the top regional comprehensive colleges by U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review, as well as one of the nation's best by Forbes.com.

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