Wind Symphony to offer preview of MMEA concert on Nov. 17

The Wind Symphony, which has been invited to perform at the Missouri Music Educators Association Conference, will give a preview concert on Nov. 17 at the Ron Houston Center for the Performing Arts. (Photo by Lilly Cook/Northwest Missouri State University)

The Northwest Missouri State University Wind Symphony will preview its upcoming performance for a state association during a Nov. 17 concert at the Ron Houston Center for the Performing Arts.

The concert, which is free and open to the public, begins at 7 p.m. A livestream will be accessible by clicking this link.

The program will feature “Give Us This Day” by David Maslanka, “In Living Color” by Katahj Copely, “Adoration” by Florence Price and “Spoon River” by Percy Aldridge Grainger.

Dr. Jiwon Choi, the staff accompanist in Northwest’s School of Fine and Performing Arts and its Dennis C. Dau Professor of Instrumental Music, also will perform with the ensemble.

“This concert is the first glimpse at our program that’s designed for performance at the Missouri Music Educators Association state conference, where we’ve been accepted to perform in January,” Dr. Kathryn Strickland, a Northwest professor of music and director of the Wind Symphony, said. “It includes a wide variety of music, from contemporary compositions to a 100-year-old folk song, a slow and beautiful organ transcription to a ferociously fast and intense concert closer. It’s a step in our preparation for the ‘big deal’ in January.”

The Wind Symphony will perform at the 89th annual MMEA conference in January at the Tan-Tar-A Conference Center in Osage Beach, Missouri. The invitation to MMEA is unique in that the Wind Symphony is one of the few auditioned collegiate ensembles in the state and comprises only undergraduate students, while welcoming students of all academic majors.

Selection for its MMEA performance was based on the evaluation of a blind panel. Similarly, the Wind Symphony was selected last year to perform at the Nebraska Music Education Association’s Conference and In-Service Clinic.

The Wind Symphony is the premier wind band at Northwest, performing the best standard selections from a variety of styles and periods, including recent repertoire. The ensemble premieres new works and regularly performs with guest soloists and conductors. In addition to its performances for the MMEA and NMEA, the Wind Symphony, in 2017, was selected by a College Band Directors National Association peer review committee as one of 10 exemplary collegiate small band programs in the United States.

Students in the Wind Symphony meet twice a week for rehearsals and for small group meetings outside of class.

To learn more about Northwest’s musical ensembles and upcoming performances, visit www.nwmissouri.edu/finearts/music/.