26
Feb
2013
Feb. 28th. 2013 " Women Composers" by Brian Hughes, Conductor.
Conductor Brian Hughes is going to discuss "Women Composers" on Thursday evening as an introduction to the Quad City Wind Ensembles' * upcoming concert, "The Women's Movement", featuring music by women composers on March 3 at 3:00 p.m. at Allaert Auditorium in the Galvin Fine Arts Center, St. Ambrose University.
*The Quad City Wind Ensemble has won a National Award. Please scroll below for the announcement.
About the presenter:
Brian Hughes, Conductor
Since moving to Iowa in 1983, Brian Hughes has maintained an active regional profile as a teacher, conductor, and author. His education includes degrees from Olivet College and the University of Northern Iowa and he has completed the coursework for the Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
As an educator, Hughes's experience runs the gamut, with ten years in the public and parochial schools (grades 5-12) and 15 years as an Associate Professor of Music at Loras College (Dubuque). Currently he serves as a 5-8 grade string music educator in the Dubuque Community Schools while maintaining an active schedule as a band, orchestra, and choral guest conductor and clinician.
As an author, his study in wind band repertoire has been published in The Instrumentalist. He also maintains a professional blog?Score and Podium?and has written program notes for the Dubuque (IA) Symphony, the UW-Madison Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, the Knoxville (TN) Symphony, and his ongoing 12-year association with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls (IA) Symphony.
A very active conductor both at home and abroad, he has conducted many honor bands and festivals, as well as appearances with ensembles ranging from the Cedar Rapids Municipal Band, the U.S.A.F. Heartland of America Band, and the UW-Madison Wind Ensemble. An active supporter of community music, he was the first-ever Associate Conductor of the Bettendorf Park Band, and also founded the Tri-State Wind Symphony, a community-based ensemble that will celebrate its 19th season in summer 2013. He has also served as a Graduate Assistant and Associate Lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, leading the Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble and the University Band.
His orchestral experience began with an eight-year appointment as Conductor of the Dubuque Youth Symphony and Assistant Conductor of the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra. He has also appeared many times with the Dubuque Community String Orchestra and his overseas travels have included guest-conducting appearances with orchestras in the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, and Russia.
A proponent of new music, Hughes coordinated the reading/recording project at UW-Madison, and led UW-Madison ensembles in no fewer than four world premieres, including Alex Nohai-Seaman's 50-minute Requiem for soprano and chamber orchestra. Since 1998 he has led 15 first performances of works for wind band and orchestra, most recently in 2011 with the Quad City Wind Ensemble and the Tri-State Wind Symphony.
Garnering conducting prizes from two regional Czech orchestras, Hughes is a two-time winner of the Richard and Agatha Church Conducting Prize, presented by the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In recognition of his "outstanding contribution to the arts," he was presented the 2005 Elisha Darlin Award, given by the Dubuque County Fine Arts Society. In his spare time, Hughes can be found in both the kitchen and his wine cellar, dreaming up the perfect pairing.
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Independent Scholars Evenings. 7.00 p.m.
Thursday.
1530 Fifth Avenue. Moline. Illinois 309-762-9202
Doors open at 6.30 p.m.
Free and open to the public.
Dress code: business casual.
Elevators are located through the 16th Street entrance. For security reasons, this door is open from 6.45-7.00pm : after that, please call if you need it opened. The 5th. Avenue entrance door is open for the evening.
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* Q-C WIND ENSEMBLE WINS NATIONAL PRIZE:Posted Online: Jan. 02, 2013, 10:39 pm
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By Jonathan Turner jturner@qconline.com
The Quad City Wind Ensemble has won the 2012American Prize in Band/Wind Ensemble Performance 2012 in the community division.
In this division, some members may be paid, and some may be students.
The ensemble was selected from applications reviewed earlier this year from across the United States. The American Prize is a series of new nonprofit competitions designed to recognize and reward the best performing artists, ensembles and composers in the nation based on submitted recordings, according to a news release.
The American Prize was founded in 2009 and is awarded annually in many areas of the performing arts.Among judges' comments concerning the Q-C wind ensemble: "There are real strengths in this group, not just from principals, but down the row. Good choir balances. ... A fine ensemble of which musicians, conductor and community can be well proud.
"Most artists may never win a Grammy award, or a Pulitzer, or a Tony, or perhaps even be nominated," chief judge David Katz said in a news release, "but that does not mean that they are not worthy of recognition and reward.
"Quality in the arts is not limited to the coasts, or to the familiar names, or only to graduates of the most famous schools. It is on view all over the United States if you take the time to look for it. The American Prize exists to encourage and herald that excellence."
Founded in 1987 by Charles B. DCamp, of St. Ambrose University, the Quad City Wind Ensemble has become one of the finest adult bands in the nation, according to its bio. With an annual series of full ensemble and chamber music concerts, the QCWE has performed at the annual conventions of the Iowa Bandmasters Association and the Illinois Music Educators Association.
Brian Hughes, of Dubuque, Iowa, was appointed as the first non-resident conductor of the ensemble and has increased the ensemble's repertoire to include band classics and contemporary music, including two world premiere performances.
Winners of The American Prize receive cash prizes, professional adjudication and regional, national and international recognition based on recorded performances.
In addition to monetary rewards and written evaluations from judges, winners are profiled on The American Prize websites, where links will lead to video and audio excerpts of winning performances. The American Prize has awarded more than $10,000 in prize money in all categories since 2010.
For more information about the competition, visit theamericanprize.org.
