ASU Department of Music and the
ASU Foundation present:
The Augusta State University Gala featuring:
Wycliffe Gordon, trombone
Backstage Reception: 6:00 p.m.
Gala Performance: 7:30 p.m.
This year the ASU Gala is a genuine celebration. During the concert the Department of Music will dedicate a new Steinway Concert "D" Grand Piano to Vola Jacobs. Jacobs, who passed in 2010, just shy of her 93rd birthday, was not only an accomplished solo artist, performing with many orchestras including the Chicago Symphony, the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the Augusta Symphony, she was a professor at Augusta State University, and a teacher of countless pianists in the Augusta area. She served as an advisor for the Harry Jacobs Chamber Music Society, named for her husband, founder of the Augusta Symphony. Augusta Magazine referred to her as "a joyful, indomitable force in Augusta's music scene." This piano will honor her memory. It will be a teaching instrument used by students for decades to come as they practice for and present recitals, and a world class concert instrument played by students, faculty, and top professionals from around the world.
Each year the Gala concert is a remarkable event, raising money to support music scholarships and featuring Augusta State music students in all of the ensembles. This year the Gala is truly a rare occasion. We welcome back renowned musician, composer, Wycliffe Gordon to the Gala concert. For the 2012 Gala, Wycliffe will present the premiere of a newly commissioned work he has written for him to perform with the ASU ensembles. Musical ambassador and interpreter of America's music, Wycliffe Gordon has an impressive career touring the world performing hard-swinging, straight-ahead jazz. His unmatched modern mastery of the plunger mute and his exceptional technique and signature sound, has solidified Gordon a place in musical history known as one of the top trombonists of his generation. Wycliffe has been named "Best in Trombone" by the Downbeat Critics Poll for 2012 and Jazz Journalists Association named him "Trombonist of the Year" again this year in 2012.
Wycliffe Gordon is a Yamaha Performing Artist and has his own line of Wycliffe Gordon Pro Signature Mouthpieces by Pickett Brass. When playing the trumpet, Wycliffe performs on the Wycliffe Gordon Signature Hybrid by Chasons Music.
This concert is being underwritten through grants from the Porter Fleming Foundation and the Georgia Council for the Arts. |