Friday, March 25, 2011

History Conference set for 2011 Brass Band Fest with Sousa Focus

History Conference set for 2011 Brass Band Fest with Sousa Focus

Danville, KY – Set for 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Friday, June 10 at Danville High School, the History Conference at the 2011 Great American Brass Band Festival will have a strong focus on the music and life of John Phillip Sousa.

Music historians, band enthusiasts, and folks interested in American culture can look forward to a day of band scholars and performers paying tribute to the famous musician. John Phillip Sousa IV, great-grandson of Sousa, will also attend the event.

Events on the program agenda include presentations on fascinating topics such as a detailed study of Sousa performance practice with live demonstrations by the Indiana Wind Symphony led by Colonel John Bourgois of the United States Marine Band, Sousa and his relationship with baseball, and the connection between Sousa’s band music and musical theater.

Performances include a march concert by Indiana Wind Symphony, a luncheon concert by Dodworth Saxhorn Band, and a mini-recital by young trumpet sensation Natalie Dungey.

Here’s a look at the full schedule:
Band History Conference: Sousa Symposium Schedule (Subject to Adjustment)
8:30—9:00 Registration
9:00 Welcome and Announcements: Ronald W. Holz, Conference Host
9:05 A Short Sousa March Concert: Indiana Wind Symphony
9:20 Pat Warfield, University of Maryland and Smithsonian: The March as Musical
Drama and the Spectacle of John Philip Sousa
10:00 Jon Mitchell, University of Massachusetts (Boston): John Philip Sousa’s
Adaptations of His Band Works for Theater Orchestra
10:35 Coffee Break—Fellowship—Exhibits
11:00 Colonel John Bourgeois, retired director, United States Marine Band: Aspects
of Sousa Performance Practice
12:10 Luncheon (concert by Dodworth Saxhorn Band))
1:10 John Philip Sousa IV: Sharing latest exciting developments in both film and
book concerning his great grandfather.
1:50 Charles and Ann Conrad, Indiana Wind Symphony: The Sousa Band’s Soprano
Soloists and Their Repertoire
2:30 Mini Recital—Natalie Dungey , Trumpet
3:00 Coffee Break—Fellowship—Exhibits
3:20 Scott Schwartz, University of Illinois, Sousa Archives: John Philip Sousa and
Baseball
4:00—4:30 Panel Discussion With Audience By Today’s Presenters

For more information on the conference, contact Ron Holz ronald.holz@asbury.edu

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Thursday, March 3, 2011

Brass Band Festival welcomes Child Prodigy




Great American Brass Band Festival
For More Information
Charlie Cox
Marketing and Communications Coordinator
Danville/Boyle County Economic Development Partnership
charlie@betterindanville.com
For Immediate Release

Brass Band Festival welcomes Child Prodigy

Danville, KY—In 2011, the Great American Brass Band Festival welcomes to the stage 11-year-old child trumpet prodigy Natalie Dungey.

Although not even yet a teenager, Natalie has generated buzz around her abilities for years.

Just before her 9th birthday, Natalie advanced to the National Trumpet Competition Junior Division round in Fairfax, V.a., based on her audition recording of the first movement of the “Concerto for Trumpet” by Hummel.

At the competition, she was featured in a master class recorded for Fox 5 News in Washington D.C. She went on to win the competition the next two years, performing the Arutunian Concerto in 2009 and then the first movement of Tomasi Concerto in 2010.

Other performances include soloing with the University of Washington combined University and Campus bands, conducted by Eric Smedley & Vu Nguyen, “Prayer of Saint Gregory” with the Northwest Symphony conducted by Anthony Spain, “The Trumpeter’s Lullaby” with the Auburn Symphony lead by
Stewart Kershaw, Del Staiger’s “Carnival of Venice” with the Sammamish Symphony under the baton of R. Joseph Scott, Mateo Messina’s “The Calvary” with the Bellevue Philharmonic conducted by Michael Miropolsky and Northwest Symphony.

Natalie’s interest in music goes back as far as she can remember. Her mother is a professional violinist and her father a trumpet teacher, band director, and NWSO's principal trumpet. As a toddler, she would sit on her father's lap, attending trumpet lessons and rehearsals for the church orchestra, grabbing the mouthpiece and playing any chance she got. She could be found dragging an old trumpet her dad gave her around the house and blasting away. She begged him to teach her, but, he refused, believing she was too young. Undeterred, Natalie assigned herself the first few pages of a method book. After practicing them diligently, she put stars on the ones she could do well and again asked for her dad to teach her. Finally, at age 7 she began
formal lessons with her dad, insisting that he teach her "just like his students." 
Natalie resides in Issaquah with her family and enjoys reading, school, nail polish, shopping (Lululemon!), doing crazy Yoga poses around the house, and playing with her friends.


For more information on Natalie, as well as the exciting weekend planned for the 2011 Great American Brass Band Festival, please review our website and social media links listed below.

The Great American Brass Band Official Site: ttp://www.gabbf.org/