Music faculty to present annual Labor Day recital

Northwest Missouri State University music faculty will kick off their 2024-25 season of performances at the University with a Labor Day trumpet recital.

Dr. William Richardson

Dr. Jiwon Choi

Professor of Music Dr. William Richardson and accompanist Dr. Jiwon Choi will take the stage with members of the Northwest Jazz Combo for a Labor Day faculty trumpet recital.

The recital, which is free and open to the public, begins at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 2, in the Charles Johnson Theater at the Olive DeLuce Fine Arts Building. It also will be live-streamed at https://vimeo.com/event/4089133.

The program will feature music for trumpet and piano by Ernst Sachse, George Gershwin and Hannah Rice, including jazz music with members of the Northwest Jazz Combo.

Choi will perform Gershwin’s "Rhapsody in Blue" in commemoration of its 100th anniversary. The recital also will feature a 2019 composition for trumpet and fixed media by Hannah Rice, titled "Free To Be," which is inspired by former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her landmark 1975 case Weinberger v. Weisenfeld. The music features important quotes from Ginsburg, Chimamanda Adichie, Angela Davis, Mo’ne Davis, Janet Guthrie, Nancy Lieberman, Megan Rapinoe, Sally Rice and Malala Yousafzi.

A member of the St. Joseph Symphony and the St. Joseph Big Band, Richardson teaches trumpet and various music courses at the University, in addition to directing the Northwest Jazz Ensembles. He joined the Northwest faculty in 1999.

Choi joined the Northwest music faculty in 2016. She consistently garners high marks in international competitions, and her performances as a soloist and a collaborative pianist have spanned venues throughout the world.