COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (Feb. 2, 2007) – The internationally acclaimed Tennessee Tech Tuba Ensemble will be in concert at the Wattenbarger Auditorium of the Bryan Fine Arts Building at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 12.

It’s the first Cookeville show since the group kicked off its 40th anniversary season there in November. Since then, members of the TTTE and All-Star Alumni Ensemble have toured from South Carolina to New York City’s renowned Carnegie Hall.

The show — which is free and open to the public — will feature the world premiere performance of Ben McMillan’s “Ride The Storm.”

Other pieces to be included in the performance are Michael Kamen’s “Robin Hood Fanfare,” Rick Neal’s “As I Watched You Go By,” Kenyon Wilson’s “Triskaidekaphile,” Crawford Gates’ “Chorale,” Herman Bellstedt’s “Napoli,” Kevin McElrath’s “Toccata and Fugue in Jazz Minor,” and Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.”

A euphonium solo by Curtis Prichard will be featured in a performance of Philip Sparke’s “Song for Ina.”

And Kyle Huron will be featured in a tuba solo on John Steven’s “The Liberation of Sisyphus.” He will be accompanied by an octet of TTTE members that include Cory Allen, Kenji Kabe, Keith Kile, Aaron Marsee, Martin McFarlane, Ben McMillian, Kyle Newland and Curtis Prichard.

Considered the pioneer ensemble of its kind, the TTTE was organized in 1967 by present conductor R. Winston Morris.

“It was the birth of a new concept in music for multiple tubas, since before that time, there had been a very limited amount of activity involving chamber music for tubas,” Morris said.

The group’s search for music has ultimately led to the composition and arrangement of more than 1,000 works done specifically for the TTTE by outstanding composers from the United States and abroad.

In 1975, the TTTE became the first ensemble of its kind to release a commercially produced record album. Since then, more than 20 TTTE recordings have been produced, three of the most recent of which were submitted and accepted by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for inclusion on the Grammy Entry List.

It’s also the first music program in the state to be selected by the Tennessee Board of Regents to receive the prestigious Academic Excellence and Quality Award.

Other groups, following the example of the TTTE, have now been formed all over the world, and music generated by and for the TTU ensemble has been performed throughout the United States and in Japan, Australia, Canada and Western Europe.

--Tracey Hackett
This information posted 5 February 2007