Watch NSO Perform Parker's "Dance Variance"

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has posted an archived performance of Arkansas Tech faculty member Philip Parker’s “Dance Variance” by members of the National Symphony Orchestra to its Web site.

The live performance took place on Friday, May 18, as part of the Citibank Classical Night NSO Prelude at the Kennedy Center.

The archived performance includes comments from Parker (photographed), who was one of three music education professionals in the nation selected in 2009 to compose a chamber work as part of the National Symphony Orchestra American Residency program. 

Parker has served on the Arkansas Tech faculty since 1977. He holds the rank of associate professor of music.

A past composer-in-residence for the Fort Smith Symphony, Parker’s awards have included an Arkansas Arts Council fellowship, two prizes from the National Flute Association and the Arkansas Tech Faculty Award of Excellence in the scholarship and creative activity category.

Parker won second prize in the 2009 College Orchestra Directors Association (CODA) International Composition Contest at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

A graduate of Wichita State University and Indiana University, Parker teaches applied percussion, music history, music theory and composition at Arkansas Tech. 

Click here to view the archived performance. Comments by Parker begin at the 10:27 mark of the file, with the brass quintet performance to follow.

Click here to learn more about the Arkansas Tech Department of Music.

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