St. Louis Brass to hold master class

As part of the outreach efforts of Northeastern State University's Galaxy of Stars series, the St. Louis Brass Quintet will hold a post-performance master class for secondary school students following its Oct. 10 performance at 3 p.m. at the Tahlequah High School Performing Arts Center.

After the master class, the NSU Faculty Brass Quintet will offer instrumental workshops. The faculty brass will also give a welcome recital before the St. Louis Brass concert at 1:30 p.m.

The class and workshops are being offered in collaboration with NSU Brass Day.

Admission to the performance is $6 per student and the master class and workshops are free to participants. Seating for all events is limited. Reservation forms for the post-show workshops are available at the Sequoyah Institute Box Office.

"Though some aspects are free, reservations are required for all events involved in the Sequoyah Institute's collaboration with NSU Brass Day," said Amber Cowan, Galaxy of Stars director. "Space is filling up fast, so we recommend reserving a spot as soon as possible."

Dr. Jason Dovel, assistant professor of trumpet, and Dr. Norman Wika, NSU band director, will participate in the workshops.

Dovel said outreach events such as NSU Brass Day and the class with St. Louis Brass are essential to the mission and growth of the university's music department.

"They serve at least three laudable purposes," said Dovel. "First, they bring world-class professionals to our region to educate our students. Second, they reflect the commitment of the music department to provide outstanding arts events to the greater community and region. Third, they are highly effective recruiting activities, as they expose prospective students to the many fine teachers and performers that serve on the NSU music faculty."

Dovel said the players of St. Louis Brass are among the world's best and that he looked forward to working with them.

"Allan Dean is the trumpet professor at the prestigious Yale School of Music and has been in demand as a soloist for decades," said Dovel. "I had the opportunity to work with him many years ago at a summer camp and his teaching and performance are first-class. The other trumpet professor, Ray Sasaki, teaches at the University of Texas at Austin. Sasaki is an incredibly versatile musician who is equally comfortable in both the classical and jazz idioms."

Other members of the SLBQ are Thomas Bacon, soloist with the Houston Ballet, on horn; Melvyn Jernigan, founding member, on trombone and Daniel Perantoni, professor of music at Indiana University, on tuba.

Individual ticket prices are $20 for adults, $18 for NSU alumni, $16 for NSU employees and seniors 60 and over, $10 for students and $6 for NSU students. Season and "favorite four" ticket packages are available. To reserve tickets or to rsvp to the post-show workshops call 918-458-2075. For more information visit www.nsuok.edu/si.

The Galaxy of Stars series is made possible through the support of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mid-America Arts Alliance and the Oklahoma Arts Council.