Una To Host President's Concert April 29

Apr. 26, 2011

Michelle Eubanks, UNA, at media@2fitfashion.com, 256.765.4392 or 256.606.2033

FLORENCE, Ala. - Audience members will experience a musical time-travel with an eclectic and broad range of melodic styles April 29 at 7:30 p.m. during the President's Concert at the University of North Alabama, which will feature UNA professor of piano Dr. Yi-Min Cai and the UNA Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Studio Jazz Band and Percussion Ensemble. Conducted and directed by Dr. Lloyd Jones, the concert will take place at Norton Auditorium and will bring in a wide variety of students, professors and local talent. Tickets are $10 for general admission, $5 for students and are free to all military personnel and children under age 10. "We have a great variety of music this year, including compositions from the Romantic period, Impressionistic period, traditional marches, wind-band music, orchestral transcriptions, patriotic music, Big Band Swing, Broadway, jazz-rock fusion and more," said Jones. "The earliest work was published in 1869 and the most recent in 2006. There is something for everyone to enjoy." The President's Concert will begin with the 65-member UNA Wind Ensemble, which is one of the most highly regarded performing instrumental ensembles in Alabama, according to Jones. Cai will appear as the special guest artist with her performance of Louis Moreau Gottschalk's "Celebre Tarantella." A China native, Cai discovered piano at age 5 and was a recognized musical child prodigy by age 10. Cai received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Manhattan School of Music and received the 2007-08 Academic Affairs Award for outstanding teaching at UNA. The Symphonic Band, with 125 student winds and percussionists, will perform traditional band literature and orchestral transcriptions, Jones said. It will also perform a salute to the U.S. Armed Forces. Gene Gooch, a Florence native and secretary/treasurer of the Alabama Music Educators Association and the Alabama Bandmasters Association, will act as guest conductor. "We are so excited to have Mr. Gooch as our guest conductor," Jones said. "He has been an integral part and leader of the development of the band movement in our state. The students who have performed in his bands number in the thousands, and I am proud to have performed under his baton myself." The UNA Studio Jazz Band will also perform at the President's Concert. Well-versed in a broad range of musical styles, including Big Band Swing, Broadway and light classic, the ensemble performed at the Alabama Music Educators Conference in January as well as the Big Band Blowout in February. The UNA Percussion Ensemble, which is conducted by Dr. Iain Moyer, assistant director of bands, will perform Pat Matheny's "Minuano," which is a jazz-fusion piece arranged by Moyer. "This is a great opportunity for the Department of Music and Theater and the UNA band program to showcase such talented faculty like Dr. Cai and to collaborate with influential music educators like Gene Gooch," UNA student Ethan Lolley said. "This is definitely a concert you don't want to miss." For more information, contact the UNA Department of Music and Theatre at 256-765-4516.

About The University of North Alabama

The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs through the colleges of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering; the Sanders College of Business and Technology; Education and Human Sciences; and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of NCAA Division I as part of the Atlantic Sun and United Athletic conferences. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: 2fitfashion.com and 2fitfashion.com/unaworks/.