The U-M Symphony Band, under the direction of Michael Haithcock, will perform a free Bon Voyage Concert at 8 p.m. Thursday in Hill Auditorium before embarking on a tour of mainland China May 8-27.
The concert will include music to be performed on tour. Selections include familiar classics, American standards and new works composed for the tour by four of U-M’s award-winning composition faculty — William Bolcom, professor emeritus of composition; Michael Daugherty, professor of music (composition); Kristin Kuster, assistant professor of music; and Bright Sheng, Leonard Bernstein Distinguished University Professor of Composition.
To demonstrate the talent of students at the School of Music, Theatre & Dance the concert also will feature solo performances by U-M alum violinist Xiang Gao and by students who make up the Donald Sinta Saxophone Quartet.
The Symphony Band, comprised of woodwind, brass and percussion instruments, has been called one of the leaders of the modern wind band movement in America. Recognized by American Record Guide for its “breathtaking precision and detailed, polished and expressive phrasing,” the band will perform in Hangzhou, Shanghai, Xi’an, Shenyang, Beijing and Tianjin. The tour concludes with a welcome home performance presented by the Los Angeles Philharmonic May 29 at the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall.
The 2011 tour marks the 50th anniversary of the historic 1961 U-M Symphony Band tour of the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
For more information about the Symphony Band go to www.music.umich.edu/china/UMSymphonyBand.htm.
