Logan Canyon Winds on tap for concert
Logan Canyon Winds takes the stage for the second of the Music Department’s Midsummer Night’s Magic series at Utah State University. The concert is Wednesday, July 2, at 7:30 p.m. in the USU Performance Hall (approximately 1090 E. 675 North, Logan). Students and alumni of the department’s Caine Percussion Ensemble will also perform on the program.
Like all concerts in the Midsummer Night’s Magic series, admission is $10, and all proceeds go to support scholarships for music students at USU.
“We appreciate the support the community showed for the first Midsummer Night’s Magic performance last week, and the Department of Music and Caine School of the Arts look forward to continuing these Wednesday evening performances for our patrons,” said recently-appointed music department head Craig Jessop. “The opportunity to showcase our faculty and students in such a fine performance facility is truly a gift, and I’m proud that my colleagues and the community have gotten behind this effort to increase scholarship support for our students.”
Wednesday’s program features works by Gordon Jacob, Anton Reicha and Libby Larsen.
“We’re especially happy to be able to present ‘The Book of Rhythms’ by Libby Larsen,” said Nicholas Morrison, clarinetist with the ensemble. “We commissioned this piece several years ago with help from Wilford and Marjorie Gardner, and asked Libby to write a piece that would involve percussion students in performance with the quintet. We’ve played it with all ages of students, and it’s equally engaging for musicians and audience members. There’s a certain attraction to the sound of the percussion instruments that adds a wonderful dimension to the tonal colors of the wind quintet.”
The work is inspired by Langston Hughes’s “The Book of Rhythms” and includes students and recent graduates of the percussion program performing on xylophones, bells and drums.
The balance of the program consists of standard works for wind quintet by Reicha and Jacob.
“Reicha and Jacob are truly masters of the sonorities of the wind quintet,” Morrison said. “Their works are the core of our repertoire, and these two quintets, the Reicha ‘Opus 88 number 2’ and the Jacob ‘Serenade,’ are among their finest works.”
Logan Canyon Winds, USU’s faculty wind quintet, was founded in 1991 and has presented concerts and workshops across the United States. Ensemble members are Leslie Timmons, flute; Bonnie Schroeder, oboe; Nicholas Morrison, clarinet; Steve Park, horn; and Carolyn Bodily, bassoon. Percussionists joining the winds for this concert include Casey Cangelosi, Michael Hylton, Alissa Kirk and Tristan Wardle.
For further information about the Midsummer Night’s Magic series, contact the USU Music Department, (435) 797-3015.