Dakota Chamber Orchestra Spring Concert April 3, 2011

The world premiere of the Second Concertino for Piano and Chamber Ensemble composed by Dr. Symeon Waseen, assistant professor of music at Black Hills State University, will be performed with the Dakota Chamber Orchestra at their spring concert Sunday, April 3 at 2:30 p.m. in the Clare and Josef Meier Recital Hall on the BHSU campus.

Waseen composed the piece for piano and orchestra; he will perform on the piano. Waseen and the or...chestra will also be accompanied by two percussionists playing a variety of instruments including bass drum, timpani, vibraphone, snare drum, wood blocks, and many others. Waseen’s composition is in four seamless parts, with each section referring to a traditional musical form: Passacaglia, Musette, Romance, and Rondo(s).

After receiving his bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Minnesota – Duluth and his master’s degree in composition from Bowling Green State University, Waseen earned his doctorate of musical arts from the Eastman School of Music. In addition to composing, Waseen is a very active performer, specializing in music by contemporary composers, and has premiered several works written by himself and his colleagues. He has performed at numerous music festivals and events such as the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) national conference. He was recently awarded the Wayne Brewster Barlow Prize from the Eastman School of Music for his Concerto for Voice and Voices. Waseen has been teaching music and music composition at BHSU since fall 2010.

Other numbers being performed by the Dakota Chamber Orchestra for the spring concert are: Fanfare and Celebration by Michael Hopkins Rhosymedre; (Lovely) by Ralf Vaughn Williams; Serenade for String Orchestra by Sir Edward Elgar; O Magnum Mysterium by Morten Lauridsen, transcribed for string orchestra by Sandra Dackow; and Send in the Clowns by Stephen Sondhiem, arranged by Bob Krogstad.

The Dakota Chamber Orchestra consists of BHSU students and string players from the Black Hills community and surrounding areas.

There is no admission charge to attend the performance, but donations for music scholarships will be collected at the door. For more information, contact Dr. Randall Royer, director of the Dakota Chamber Orchestra and professor of music at BHSU, at 642-6255 or Randall.Royer@BHSU.edu.

Official Website: http://www.bhsu.edu/music