GUITAR ENSEMBLES FEATURED IN CONCERT AT UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY
Several guitar ensembles, all a part of the guitar program in the department of music at Utah State University, are featured in concert Wednesday. Concert time is 7:30 p.m. in the Eccles Conference Center Auditorium.
Tickets are available at the door. Admission is $3 and all USU students with current ID are admitted free.
These ensembles are excellent and the concert provides the only opportunity for guitar fans in northern Utah to hear the groups, said Mike Christiansen, head of the guitar program. Two electric guitar ensembles and one acoustic guitar ensemble will perform in the Wednesday concert that should run about 75 minutes.
A variety of music styles, including Flamenco, Latin, contemporary and swing, will be included, Christiansen said.
“We have great support for our guitar program and concerts at Utah State,” Christiansen said. “Even so, it seems that after every concert people walk out saying, ‘What a refreshing sound.’ They’ve never heard anything like it.”
Christiansen describes a guitar ensemble concert as a “new dish on the buffet for your ears.”
The six-member acoustic ensemble will open the concert. Brent Wheeler, an undergraduate guitar major, will direct one of the two electric guitar ensembles. Christiansen will direct the second electric ensemble. Each ensemble includes five electric guitars, bass and drums, with a conga added to Christiansen’s ensemble.
While the guitar program at Utah State continues to grow, it has become increasingly selective in admitting students, Christiansen said. Several talented guitarists were turned away from the program this year.
The electric guitar ensemble is a good ambassador for Utah State and an effective recruiting tool for the music department. The electric ensemble recently toured southern Utah and Las Vegas. Concerts were presented at Southern Utah University and in St. George at the Guitar Gallery. Faculty members in Cedar City and St. George are graduates of Utah State’s guitar program. Concerts in Las Vegas included outreach efforts in local middle schools.
“They teach guitar in the Las Vegas middle schools just like we teach band and orchestra in the schools here,” Christiansen said. “All audiences were amazed by the quality of sound and the level of our players. It takes a versatile group to hold the attention of an adult audience and turn around the next day and perform to 200 middle school students.”
The tour was so successful it might become an annual event, Christiansen said. The ensemble has been invited to perform around the country.
“We are in a unique situation at Utah State,” he concluded. “To have an electric guitar ensemble included in the department’s program is still somewhat unusual, and to have an ensemble that tours is even more unusual. This group is a great recruiting tool.”
The April 18 concert will be the only local performance by Utah State University’s guitar ensembles.