Tech Bands to Celebrate Female Composers

Arkansas Tech University will present its symphonic band and its concert band for a performance entitled “Women of Influence in the Wind Band” on Tuesday, March 7.

The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Witherspoon Auditorium, which is located at 407 West Q Street on the ATU campus in Russellville.

Admission will be free and open to the public.

Dr. Daniel A. Belongia, director of bands and associate professor of music at ATU, will conduct the symphonic band. Ralph Brody, visiting lecturer of music at ATU and director of bands at Clarksville High School, will conduct the concert band.

“We set out to challenge ourselves in terms of the composers we were programming, and we found that we were overlooking, as is too often the case, great works by female composers,” said Belongia. “So we set out to do a better job of being more representative of the great compositions and brilliant work of women composers in the wind band world. They are flourishing in the 21st century, and it was a great experience to get outside some of our comfort zone. When we did, we found a great group of music that paired very well together.”

Composers to be featured on Tuesday include Julie Giroux, Kathryn Salfelder, Alex Shapiro and Chen Yi.

Visit www.atu.edu/music to learn more about public performances hosted by the ATU Department of Music.