Montage Series offers two free music festivals this month

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Montage Series offers two free music festivals this month

The Montage Fine and Performing Arts Series at Loyola University New Orleans will host two free music festivals this month. On March 16 and 17, trumpeter Ben Albright and percussionist Nobue Matsuoka ‘94 will be featured guests at the annual Trumpet and Percussion Festival. On March 24, high school bands from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama will travel to Loyola University to participate in ensemble performances and workshops as part of the Invitational Bands Festival, featuring guest clinician and conductor, David Holsinger.

The Trumpet and Percussion Festival includes free recitals with Albright and Matsuoka on Friday, March 16 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 17 at 2 p.m. in Louis J. Roussel Performance Hall, located in the Communications/Music Complex, on the corner of St. Charles Avenue and Calhoun Street. Friday's recital includes a prelude by the Loyola University Trumpet Ensemble, and Saturday's performance features a prelude by Mass Trumpet Ensemble.

In addition to the concerts, free masterclasses taught by Albright, Matsuoka, as well as Loyola faculty members Nick Volz, Jim Atwood, Dave Salay and Vance Woolf, will be held throughout the weekend. An instruments exhibit, offering musicians the opportunity to experiment with new trumpets, will be open on Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.  All events are free and open to the public and will be held in the Communications/Music Complex.

Albright, trumpeter for the The President's Own United States Marine Band since 2008, performs with the Marine Band, Marine Chamber Orchestra and Marine Chamber Ensembles. Prior to joining The President's Own, he performed with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra in Michigan and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in New York, among others.

Matsuoko currently teaches orchestral percussion at American University in Washington, D.C., where she is also head of the music library. A native of Japan, Matsuoko came to the United States in 1989 to study percussion at Loyola University. Her professional career has included performances with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Philharmonic Orchestra in Washington, D.C. and the Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra in Japan, among others.

Held annually, the Invitational Bands Festival invites select bands to travel to New Orleans and work with clinicians in an effort to develop better techniques as an ensemble. The festival, which is free and open to the public, takes place Saturday, March 24, from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. in the Communications/Music Complex.

This year's ensembles, selected from a pre-recorded audition process, are Haynes High School, Metairie, La., Michael Genevay, director; Faith Academy High School, Mobile, Al., David Pryor, director; and Gulf Breeze High School, Gulf Breeze, Fla., Neal McLeod, director.

The event culminates with a concert directed by Holsinger with Loyola's Wind Ensemble at 3 p.m. in Roussel Hall. The program features three of Holsinger's original compositions: "To Tame the Perilous Skies," a work commissioned by the 564th Tactical Air Command Band, "Texas Promenade," a celebration of the 50th Anniversary Convention of the Texas Bandmasters Association, and "Homage: Three Tapestries," a tribute to Czech-American composer Vaclav Nelhybel.

Well known for his differentiating time signatures throughout his pieces, Holsinger has won four major competitions, including a two-time American Bandmasters Association Oswald Award. Several of his compositions have been finalists in both the DeMoulin and Sudler competitions. Holsinger currently serves as composer-in-residence at Shady Grove Church in Grand Prairie, Texas.

The Trumpet and Percussion Festival is sponsored by the Loyola University Department of Bands.  For more information or a complete schedule of events during this festival, contact Nick Volz at nrvolz@loyno.edu or call 504-865-3444. For more information on the Invitational Bands Festival, contact Joe Hebert at jghebert@loyno.edu or 504-65-2852.

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