ALUMNI BAND TO HONOR USU‚S OWN “PIONEERS” IN PIONEER DAY CONCERT
For more than 30 years, audiences have enjoyed the musical talent and instrumental mastery of the Utah State University Alumni Band.
On Sunday, July 21, the band will celebrate Pioneer Day by honoring those Utah State music department faculty pioneers who have shaped and trained that great musical talent over the years. Several faculty members will be featured in the second outdoor concert of the summer series set to begin at 7 p.m. in the amphitheater on Old Main Hill. The concert is free and all are invited.
“We have a lot of guests for this concert,” said Nicholas Morrison, band director. “This concert gives us a chance to feature the talent of our very own faculty.”
The program opens with a work by faculty composer Dennis Griffin. The piece, “Fantasy on Come, Come Ye Saints,” was part of a series that won the prestigious Mountain West Center‚s Faculty Fellowship, Morrison said.
Midway through the concert, the band will welcome a pair of guests: the father-daughter duo of Larry Smith and Monica Fronk. Smith directs the jazz program at USU and is a great tenor sax player, Morrison said. Smith will accompany his daughter as she sings “This Time the Dream‚s On Me.”
“Larry and Monica will be joined by Larry‚s wife, Bonnie, and other members of the extended family to provide the jazz intermission feature,” Morrison said.
The final guest artist will be USU faculty member Will Kesling. He will join the band to sing a few numbers from the Broadway musical “Oklahoma” in a parting performance.
“Will is a long-time favorite of the alumni band series,” Morrison said. “This performance constitutes his farewell to the Logan community as he leaves his position at USU to become director of choral activities at the University of Florida.”
As always, interspersed among the guest numbers will be audience-pleasing pieces played with fervor and enthusiasm, Morrison said.
In case of rain, the concert will be moved indoors to the Kent Concert Hall at Utah State.