The orchestral performance, under the direction of Jim Miller, will take placeon Saturday, Sept. 27, at 8 p.m. in Wellin Hall of the Schambach Center forMusic and the Performing Arts.
Other performances in the five-part series include: The American BrassQuintet, Saturday, Nov. 1; The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields ChamberEnsemble, Friday, Nov. 21; The Haffner Trio, Friday, Feb. 13; and the RochesterPhilharmonic Orchestra, Friday, April 3.
Series subscriptions are $40 for the general public and $10 for students.Individual performance tickets are $15 and $5 for students. All performanceswill take place in Wellin Hall. For more information call 859-4350.
Jimmy Dorsey, considered one of the greatest clarinet and alto saxophoneplayers of his day, led the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra for over 22 years.His greatest hit, So Rare was the last instrumental hit by any artistand received a Gold Record two days before his death in 1957. The orchestracontinued under the leadership of trumpeter Lee Castle for the next 33 years,and in 1990 Jim Miller took over.
Called "a trombonist's trombonist," Miller's career spans over 40 years withsome of the country's greatest big bands, including the Glenn Miller/Tex BenekeOrchestra and the Guy Lombardo Orchestra. He played in and led Navy bandsbefore audiences that included five U.S. presidents. Vocalist Nancy Knorrjoins the orchestra, recreating 1940s vocal elegance. Knorr, the former leadvocalist of the Pied Pipers, has performed with leading orchestras includingWarren Covington, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Tex Beneke, and Symphony PopsOrchestras. She was a featured singer on PBS' Those Fabulous Forties.
The American Brass Quintet, now in its 37th year, is the longestcontinuously performing brass quintet in North America. Unwavering in itsdevotion to brass chamber music, the quintet has performed at major musicfestivals nationally and internationally, and is the only brass quintet everpresented on PBS' Live from Lincoln Center.
With the recent release of their 42nd recording, the American Brass Quintethas added even more repertoire to the largest body of serious brass chambermusic ever recorded by one ensemble. Current
quintet members include Raymond Mase and Chris Gekker, trumpets; DavidWakefield, horn; Michael Powell, tenor-trombone; and John D. Rojak,bass-trombone. The quintet has been the ensemble-in-residence at the JulliardSchool since 1987 and the Aspen Music Festival for over 25 years.
The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble was formed byLord Neville Marriner in 1959. Originally conceived as a small, conductorlessstring ensemble that would reflect the performance practice of the Baroque era,early performances took place at the 18th-century church of St. Martin in theFields on Trafalgar Square. Today, the group's versatile musicians perform athome and abroad as a small ensemble, chamber orchestra or symphony orchestra.
Under the artistic direction of Kenneth Sillito, The Academy Chamber Ensemblehas garnered international acclaim for its superlative performances andrecordings. Sillito is a former concertmaster of the English Chamber Orchestraand an affiliated member of the Royal Academy of Music. The performance atHamilton will feature a string octet performing works of Brahms, Shostakovichand Mendelssohn.
Three well-established musicians, violinist Esther Haffner, cellist RudolfLeopold and pianist Theresa Turner-Jones, formed the Haffner Trio inVienna, Austria, in 1992. Haffner, a native of Budapest, is the winner ofnumerous international competitions and has appeared as a concert soloist inmusic festivals throughout the world. Born in Vienna, Leopold performed withthe Franz-Schubert Quartet for nine years. He now performs with the ViennaString Sextet and solos throughout Europe, the U.S. and Japan. A pianist fromSt. Louis, Turner-Jones has won several international competitions and hasrecorded and toured throughout the U.S., Japan and Europe. She is aninstructor of chamber music at the Vienna Academy of Music. The trio isdedicated to performing in the Austrian musical tradition and the Viennesesound and style. It is named for Sigmund Haffner, Esther Haffner's famousancestor who commissioned Mozart's 35th Symphony, The Haffner.
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra's performance will include worksby Haydn, Hansen, Tomasi and Dvorak. Under the direction of guest conductorGerhardt Zimmermann, the program will highlight the artistry of Doug Prosser,the orchestra's principal trumpeter, and Mark Kellogg, the associate principaltrombonist. Zimmermann spent four years as the assistant conductor of the St.Louis Symphony. Since that time, he has conducted leading orchestrasnationally and internationally, including the Cleveland Orchestra, the ChicagoSymphony, the American Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony, the OrchestreSymphonique Français and the Warsaw Philharmonic.
