Nearly 1,000 high school band members, directors and guests are expected to attend the Capital University Wind Band Invitational and New Band Music Reading Clinic Friday and Saturday, Nov. 13-14, at the Conservatory of Music.
A highlight of the event will be the performances by the Honor Band conducted by Ray Cramer, professor emeritus of Indiana University School of Music.
“He’s something special,” said Barry E. Kopetz, director of Bands at Capital. “And he’s special to this year’s performance.”
Cramer is involved in other national and international clinics and guest conducting and has been a guest conductor for the Musashino Academia of Music in Tokyo, Japan since 1990. Performances by the Reading Band under James Swearingen, Jeff Keller and Kopetz also will be a part of the performances.
“The students are the beneficiaries, but this clinic is doing good things for more than one group of people,” Kopetz said, referring to everyone involved in the two-day event. Capital and Stanton’s Sheet Music co-sponsor the event to enable band directors to hear the latest band music publications.
Students are given the opportunity to spend two days developing their music sight-reading skills by going through 50-60 pieces of music a day.
In addition to the Honor Band and Reading Band, bands from two participating schools have been invited to perform during the clinic. On Friday, the Crestview Middle School, conducted by Judith A. Guegold, will perform at 3:30 p.m., and the Lakota East Symphonic Winds, conducted by William Thomas, will perform at 4:30 p.m.
At 8 p.m., the Symphonic Winds will give a concert featuring many new selections for wind band and a guest appearance by guest conductor, Ray Cramer. The Wind Symphony will perform at 1:15 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 14.
The Reading Band will play at 1:30 p.m. Friday, and at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday. All performances will be held in Mees Hall, which is located on Capital's main campus in Bexley, 1 College and Main, and are free and open to the public.
Located in the Columbus, Ohio, neighborhood of Bexley, Capital University is a private, four-year undergraduate institution and graduate school. Capital prepares students for meaningful lives and purposeful careers through a relevant liberal arts core curriculum and deep professional programs taught by a renowned faculty that engages students. Capital consistently is ranked among the top master’s universities in the Midwest. Influenced by its Lutheran heritage, Capital places great emphasis on the free and open exchange of ideas, seeking out diverse perspectives, active participation in society, leadership and service. It is the oldest and one of the largest universities affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
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Contact: Nichole Johnson
Director of media relations and communications
Capital University
614-236-6945
Cell: 614-440-9158