Counting down the days till Spring Break, one must find a way to relax and get through these next few weeks before we all head off to Florida, Mexico, Europe, home…or wherever you happen to be traveling. If you want to sit down and forget about midterms and papers for a while, check out the first musical performances of the spring semester.
Starting Saturday, Mar. 2, Southwest Minnesota State University will welcome guest artist, Dr. James Borowski, for Day of the Trombone.
“It’s a day devoted to celebrating the trombone. [Borowski] is a bass trombone player out of New York,” Dr. John Ginocchio, director of bands/chair of Fine Arts & Communication department, said.
Borowski is a freelance trombone artist who holds a bachelor’s degree in music education as well as a doctorate in bass trombone performance.
Day of Trombone will consist of several workshops and performances with Dr. Borowski. He will hold rehearsals with a trombone choir and ensemble groups and work with individual trombone players that are part of a master class.
Performances will be held in Charter Hall (CH) 201 and all events are free and open to the public. The first recital will be held at 11 a.m. with Dr. Borowski. He will be joined by Dr. Ginocchio and David Peterson for a performance at 5 p.m. The day will conclude with a final performance at 8 p.m., featuring Dr. Borowski alongside the SMSU Jazz Ensemble, following with the trombone choir and other ensembles.
The guest artist series is supported in part from a grant from US Bank.
If you are more interested in the classical taste of music, head to the Schwan Community Center for the Performing Arts at the Marshall High School on Tuesday, Mar. 5 for the Southwest Minnesota Orchestra’s (SMO) Annual Children’s Concert.
Dr. Daniel Rieppel, SMO director and professor of music at SMSU, will conduct two performances, which will be held at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.
Tickets are on sale now and the cost includes $1 for children, $1 for chaperone (must be accompanying a school/homeschool group) and $12 for adults. To reserve tickets, please contact Kristin Gruhot at (507)-530-2555.
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Southwest Minnesota Arts & Humanities Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
For those of you who prefer vocal over instrumental, not to worry, choir is in the mix too. The SMSU Concert Choir, directed by Dr. Stephen Kingsbury, will perform in the 2nd Annual Masterwork Concert on Thursday, Mar. 7. They will perform Benjamin Britten’s “Company of Heaven” at the First Lutheran Church at 7:30 p.m.
Britten was a well-known English composer who lived from 1913-1976. Some of his other works include “Peter Grimes”, “Death in Venice”, “The Prodigal Son” and many more.
So if you’re stressed about tests and papers, take a little breather and enjoy some great musical talent. Spring Break will be here before we know it.
