COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (April 2, 2007) —The Tennessee Tech Tuba Ensemble will present its annual spring TubaFest on Friday, April 20, at 7:30 p.m. in Tennessee Tech University’s Wattenbarger Auditorium.

The show concludes the student ensemble’s yearlong celebration of its 40th anniversary.

A select alumni ensemble this year recorded an album and presented performances in Chicago; Washington, D.C.; and Carnegie Hall in New York City.

In addition, the current ensemble was selected to perform in Charleston, S.C., at the Southern Division Music Educators National Conference, at the Tennessee Music Educators Association convention in Nashville and the Mid-South Regional Tuba-Euphonium Conference in Memphis.

The TubaFest program will feature two major compositions commissioned for the TTTE by internationally recognized composers Eric Ewazen and Anthony Plog, and a world premiere composition of “Ride The Storm” by TTU music senior and Cookeville native Ben McMillian. McMillian plays principal euphonium in the TTTE and studies composition at TTU with professor Gregory Danner.

The TTTE will add a rhythm section for the second half of its program, which will consist entirely of jazz.

That portion of the show will feature a number of pieces either composed or arranged by various individuals affiliated with TTU. Joshua Hauser, TTU’s professor of trombone, for example, arranged two standard jazz tunes, “Caravan” and “Summertime,” for the tuba ensemble.

Former students Bill Cherry, Mike O’Connor and Joe Murphy and current student Ben McMillian have also contributed jazz arrangements for this performance. TTU graduate Glenn Martin of Lebanon recently completed an original jazz composition, titled “It’ll Be Alright,” which will be premiered at the show.

The performance is free and open to the public.

--Tracey Hackett
This information posted 13 April 2007