Jazz Band and Percussion Ensemble to perform

Northwestern College’s Jazz Band and Percussion Ensemble will present a concert on Saturday, Nov. 14, at 7:30 p.m. in Christ Chapel. The public is invited to attend.

Directed by Dr. Timothy McGarvey, professor of music, the 19-member Jazz Band will perform seven pieces. The concert will feature a collection of jazz styles, including swing, rock, Latin and blues. McGarvey says the variety of styles and quality of the ensemble will make it “an exciting concert that will be enjoyable, fun and interesting to all.”

The ensemble will open its performance with Mark Taylor’s Fat Cat. Other selections include Bay Side Groovin’ by Michael Sweeney and The Southeast Sixstep by Eric Richards. Twelve student soloists will be featured in the concert.

The five-member Percussion Ensemble, under the direction of Jon Morin, will perform three pieces. “This will be an exciting concert for me as it will be my first at Northwestern,” says Morin, who is pursuing a Master of Music degree in percussion performance from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. “I selected these pieces for their musical, technical and educational qualities.”

The ensemble will open with a marimba arrangement of the first movement of Beethoven’s Opus 18, No. 1. Piru Bole by John Bergamo is a hand drum composition inspired by East Indian tabla drumming that features improvised solos. The ensemble will close with a high-energy piece, Equal Fire, by Paul Bissell.