The Indiana University of Pennsylvania Jazz Band, led by James
Flowers, and the IUP Jazz Ensemble, led by Kevin Eisensmith will present their Fall
Jazz Concert on Saturday, November 3, at 7:00 p.m. in Fisher Auditorium as a
part of the Sound Choices series.
The
featured soloist for this performance is Joshua Hillard (BSEd ’01) on trumpet.
Hillard is currently employed by the Altoona Area School District, where he
teaches elementary band and general music and directs the Elementary Jazz Band.
He also teaches jazz history at Penn State at the satellite PSU Altoona campus.
His performance and recording credits include Blue Moon Big Band, Keystone
Winds, Jazz in Your Face, Zeropoint Big Band, Altoona Symphony, Johnstown
Symphony, and Blair County Brassworks. Hillard maintains an active private
trumpet studio where his students have gone on to be all-state musicians, music
educators, military band members, and successful freelance performers.
The
IUP Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Kevin Eisensmith, is one of the
many accredited ensembles within the Department of Music at Indiana University
of Pennsylvania. Made up of 18
musicians from various fields of study within the university, the ensemble was
started in 1938 as a dance band by Valgene Roush, and later, known as
“The Mellowmen,” was directed by Charlie Davis. It continued through the 1970s and 1980s
under the direction of Daniel DiCicco, evolving with the changes of jazz
and popular music. Gary Bird led the
band from the late 1980s until 1998.
Today's
band performs a mixture of jazz styles from Latin to swing, ballads to fusion,
and performs approximately 10 times during the year. With a venue of high school jazz festivals,
assembly programs, and competitions throughout the state, the Ensemble also
hosts an annual Jazz Festival, which features area high school jazz band
students, the IUP Jazz Band, and the IUP Jazz Ensemble, along with a guest
soloist. In the past 20 years the
IUP Jazz Ensemble has released three CDs: Back Home Again (2003), Back at It
(2007), and Back for More (2011).
Tickets for this event are available for purchase online through the
Lively Arts website
or by calling the ticket hotline at 724-357-1313. They can also be purchased at
the Performing Arts Center Ticket Office in Fisher Auditorium. Any seats
remaining will be sold at the door starting one hour prior to the performance.
Tickets are priced at $11 for regular admission, $9 for seniors and groups, and
$7 for students and children. Online tickets are available 24 hours a day,
seven days a week. The ticket hotline and ticket office in Fisher Auditorium
are open from noon to 5:00 p.m. weekdays. The ticket office is closed for
university holidays. Tickets are not available at the Hadley Union Building.
For more information on this and other events as well as group tickets within
the Lively Arts, call 724-357-2787 (ARTS) or email lively-arts@iup.edu.
Sound Choices is a series of the Lively Arts and is produced by the
Department of Music. The Lively Arts, a program of the College of Fine Arts,
presents nearly 200 performances, programs, and exhibits annually.