World Premiere Concert with Erica von Kleist April 29 at The University of Scranton
Composer/conductor Erica von Kleist will premiere two works with The University of Scranton Concert Band and Concert Choir Saturday, April 29, at 7:30 p.m. in the Houlihan McLean Center. Admission is free and the performance is open to the public.
Renowned woodwind performer, composer, arranger and educator Erica von Kleist will be featured as the guest composer/conductor for The University of Scranton’s 34th annual World Premiere Composition Series Concert on Saturday, April 29. The concert will be held in the Houlihan McLean Center at 7:30 p.m. and will feature the University’s Concert Choir and Concert Band. The concert is free of admission charge and open to the public.
Von Kleist, who has been performing and teaching throughout the world for almost two decades, will be conducting the world premiere of two works composed specifically for the concert band and concert choir at Scranton: “Woke” for concert band; and “A Silent March” for six-part mixed chorus.
Von Kleist is the recipient of numerous honors, including the ASCAP Young Jazz Composer’s Award and the Martin E. Segal Award from Lincoln Center. She has been voted many times as a “Rising Star” and “Critic’s Pick” in Downbeat Magazine.A native of Connecticut and an Essentially Ellington alumna, von Kleist moved to New York to hone her skills at The Juilliard School, and in 2004 earned the first Bachelor of Music degree in jazz in the school’s history. After graduation she launched her career as a sideman through touring, recording and performing with Wynton Marsalis and the JLCO, the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, Chris Potter, Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, Bebo Valdez, Cachao, Celia Cruz, Kristin Chenoweth and Seth MacFarlane, among many others. She has served as a guest clinician for a wide variety of arts schools and programs, including The Juilliard School, Stanford University, Jazz at Lincoln Center and University of Montana, and she has done outreach work at the conservatories in Havana, Cuba.
In addition to her extensive discography as a sideman, von Kleist has released three albums as a bandleader – “Project E” in 2005, “Erica von Kleist & No Exceptions” in 2009 and “Alpine Clarity” in 2014.
The University’s World Premiere Composition Series was established in 1984 and has made significant contributions to the wind and choral repertoires. The series has hosted acclaimed composers such as Vaclav Nelhybel, Robert Starer, Wycliffe Gordon, Joshua Rosenblum, Victor Goines, Lawrence Wolfe, and even provided the now internationally-renowned composer Robert Kapilow with his very first commission.
For more information, contact Cheryl Y. Boga, director of Performance Music Scranton by calling 570-941-7624, emailing music@scranton.edu, or visiting www.scranton.edu/music.
