Jacksonville Private Schools Honor Band and First Coast Wind Ensemble in concert Feb. 23 at JU: FREE!

Jacksonville University is pleased to host the 20th annual Jacksonville Private Schools Honor Band in concert in Terry Hall at JU on Saturday, February 23, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. The concert is free to the public.

This young artists program features the best instrumentalists chosen from six local private schools: Bishop Kenny High School, Bishop Snyder High School, The Bolles School, Episcopal High School, Providence School, and Trinity Christian Academy. The program supports music education by providing students with an opportunity to study and perform quality music literature with other musicians in a university setting.

This year’s concert features the music of celebrated American composer Robert Sheldon, who will guest conduct the 50-member honor band in a performance of five of his works: Fantasy on an Early American Marching Tune, Lindbergh Variations, The Lords of Greenwich, Choreography and Spontaneous Combustion.

Robert Sheldon is a product of Florida education, receiving degrees from both the University of Miami and the University of Florida. He also served on the faculty of Florida State University. His 200 compositions for wind band are some of the most performed works in American music education. He is the Concert Band Editor for Alfred Music Publishing.

An internationally recognized clinician, Sheldon has conducted numerous Regional and All-State Honor Bands throughout the United States and abroad. He is lead author for the SOUND INNOVATIONS FOR BAND method books, and is a co-author for the MEASURES OF SUCCESS Volume 1 method book and the SOUND INNOVATIONS FOR STRINGS method books.

The American School Band Directors Association has honored him with the Volkwein Award for composition and the Stanbury Award for teaching, and the International Assembly of Phi Beta Mu honored him with the International Outstanding Bandmaster Award. He has also been a twenty-five-time recipient of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publisher’s Standard Award for his compositions in the concert band and orchestral repertoire.

The concert will also include a performance by the 60-member First Coast Wind Ensemble conducted by Mr. Sheldon. The group will play five of his works: Stormchasers, Rhapsodic Celebration, Iberian Escapades, Velocity and Danzas Cubanas.

The First Coast Wind Ensemble is a community music organization dedicated to providing free concerts of outstanding wind band music as a cultural service to Northeast Florida.