Crane School of Music to Present Jazz Band & Wind Ensemble Performances on Oct. 23 & 24

SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music Hosts Concerts Featuring the Crane Wind Ensemble & Crane Jazz Band Next Week

SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music will host two performances featuring large student ensembles next week.

Crane Wind Ensemble

The Crane Wind Ensemble will perform a fall concert featuring guest artists on Wednesday, Oct. 23 at 7:30 p.m., in the Helen M. Hosmer Concert Hall. The Crane Chorus will join the ensemble for the first piece, Zhou Long’s “The Future of Fire,” which incorporates love songs and folk melodies from Shannxi province in China, accompanied by bursts of percussion. The wind ensemble will then present three works from the ’60s by Warren Benson, Hale Smith and Vincent Persichetti. Following an intermission, faculty member and violinist Liesl Schoenberger Doty will join as the soloist for “Two Jades” by Kristin Kuster. The concert will close with “Come Sunday” by Omar Thomas. Directed by Dr. Brian K. Doyle, the Crane Wind Ensemble comprises 63 of the most outstanding wind and percussion majors in The Crane School of Music. This group is dedicated to the performance of the finest wind repertoire, regardless of period or disposition of instrumental forces.

Crane Jazz Band

The Crane Jazz Band will take the stage on Thursday, Oct. 24 at 7:30 p.m., in the Sara M. Snell Music Theater. The band’s performance will include “(It’s Just) Talk” by Pat Metheny, “Shiny Stocking” by Frank Foster, “Mambone” by Bob Mintzer, “Li’l Darlin’” by Neal Hefti, “Stolen Moments” by Oliver Nelson, “This Could Be the Start of Something Big” by Steve Allen, and “Uptown Walk” by Crane’s own Bret Zvacek. Directed by Nathan Giroux, the Crane Jazz Band is a by-audition ensemble featuring a classic big band instrumentation. The band studies a range of repertoire that includes both classic and modern works from the jazz idiom. 

Both concerts are free, and the public is invited to attend.

Both performances will be broadcast live on the Crane School of Music YouTube channel at the concert time. To view the programs and see other upcoming streaming performances, visit www.potsdam.edu/academics/Crane/streaming.

About The Crane School of Music:

Founded in 1886, SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music has a long legacy of excellence in music education and performance. Life at Crane includes an incredible array of more than 300 recitals, lectures and concerts presented by faculty, students and guests each year. The Crane School of Music is the State University of New York’s only All-Steinway institution. For more information, please visit www.potsdam.edu/crane.