Gustavus Wind Orchestra Preparing for its Winter Concert Tour Posted on January 23rd, 2015 by Al Behrends

The 2014-15 Gustavus Wind Orchestra

The Gustavus Wind Orchestra, the nation’s oldest collegiate music ensemble west of the Mississippi, will begin its 137th season with its 2015 Winter Concert Tour in Minnesota and Wisconsin. In addition to celebrating its 137th season of making music, the ensemble will introduce new artistic director and conductor James Patrick Miller to the greater Gustavus audience. The tour begins on Feb. 1 in Long Lake, Minn., and ends with its Home Concert in Jussi Björling Recital Hall on Saturday, February 14 at 1:30 p.m. All of the concerts on the tour are free and open to the public, including the Home Concert on February 14.

The band’s 137th season begins with this concert tour through the Midwest under the leadership of it new conductor, Dr. James Patrick Miller. Miller succeeds long-time Gustavus Wind Orchestra Conductor Douglas Nimmo and returns to Gustavus after serving as Director of Wind Studies at the University of Massachusetts for the past five years. He first joined the Gustavus music faculty in 2008 as the interim conductor of the Gustavus and Vasa Wind Orchestras. Dr. Miller holds advanced degrees from the University of Minnesota and Ithaca College. He earned his bachelor’s degree from St. Olaf College in Northfield.

Miller has named his first concert tour program with the Gustavus Wind Orchestra “Out of Darkness,” as a nod to the middle of winter season along with one of the concert selections, Dana Wilson’s “Kah! Out of Darkness.” Featuring guest conductors, senior soloists, and three small chamber ensembles, the concert program includes works by Karen Husa (Music for Prague, 1968), J. S. Bach, Frank Ticheli, David Gillingham, Claude Debussy, Eric Whitacre, Joachin Rodrigo and Victor Ewald.

The itinerary for the 2015 Gustavus Wind Orchestra Concert Tour is as follows:

• Feb. 1 / 2 p.m. / Trinity Lutheran Church / 2060 County Road 6, Long Lake, Minn.
• Feb. 2 / 7 p.m. / Tomah High School Auditorium / 901 Lincoln Avenue, Tomah, Wis.
• Feb. 3 / 7:30 p.m./ Logan Middle School Auditorium / 1450 Avon Street, La Crosse, Wis.
• Feb. 4 /  7:30 p.m. / Winona Senior High School Auditorium / 901 Gilmore Gilmore Avenue, Winona, Minn.
• Feb. 5 / 2:25 p.m. / Winona Cotter High School Auditorium / 1115 W. Broadway, Winona, Minn.
• Feb. 6 / 7  p.m. / Bethel Lutheran Church / 810 3rd Avenue SE, Rochester, Minn.
• Feb. 7 / 7  p.m. / Irondale High School / 2425 Long Lake Road, New Brighton, Minn.
• Feb. 14 / 1:30 p.m. / Home Concert, Jussi Björling Recital Hall / St. Peter, Minn.

While on tour, the conductor and members of the ensemble will present residencies with junior and senior high school ensembles in Wisconsin and Minnesota. The residencies will include clinics, side-by-side rehearsals, sectionals and one-on-one support for the younger musicians. Some of the evening concerts will include short performances by the hosting bands, followed by the Gustavus Wind Orchestra. On the final night of the tour, Saturday, February 7, the GWO will present a joint concert with the Encore Wind Ensemble, a semi-professional wind ensemble from the Metro area, and its interim conductors Heidi Johanna Miller and James Patrick Miller.

View a PDF of the GWO Tour Program.

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Media Contact: Director of Media Relations and Internal Communication Luc Hatlestad
luch@gustavus.edu
507-933-7510