The First Coast Wind Symphony (FCWS) and the Jacksonville University Wind Ensemble present Texas composer Carol Brittin Chambers in a concert featuring her music at 7:30 pm on Saturday, Feb. 22 in Terry Concert Hall on the campus of Jacksonville University, 2800 University Blvd. North in Jacksonville. The event and parking are FREE, and the public is invited to attend! No tickets required for this event!
The First Coast Wind Symphony and Jacksonville University are hosting Mrs. Chambers in a residency that includes a masterclass for students and rehearsals with the Jacksonville University Wind Ensemble and the FCWS.
The program, “Music of Carol Brittin Chambers,” will include some of her most popular works conducted by the composer, including “La Terre Sacrée” and “Bright Light in the World.” Chambers is an important female voice among current successful concert composers. She is the owner of Aspenwood Music and a highly sought-after conductor and clinician. She is also on the music faculty at Texas Lutheran University in San Antonio, where she teaches composition and serves as Composer in Residence.
Chambers is commissioned each year to compose and arrange works for concert band, marching band, orchestra, and chamber ensembles. Her concert works have been performed at state educator conferences across the country, including the Midwest Clinic in Chicago. She was named the winner of the 2019 Women Band Directors International Composition Competition and recently joined Conn-Selmer as an Educational Clinician.
The concert will also feature guest saxophonist Margaret Banton, who will perform film composer John Williams’ “Catch Me If You Can,” music from the movie soundtrack. Banton has performed as a military musician and served as a clinician for several decades. She performed as a saxophonist and vocalist in Georgia with the Army Ground Forces Band and the Air National Guard. She is equally versatile in classical, jazz, rock and rhythm and blues genres.
The program also includes dance music by Jeff Tyzik and Robert Buckley, and works by well-known composers Erich Korngold, Brian Balmages and Robert Sheldon.
The First Coast Wind Symphony, Jacksonville’s premier community music organization, is a 60-member group led by Music Director Artie Clifton and Conductor Paul Weikle. The group’s complete 35th season schedule is at https://fcwinds.org/schedule.html
The First Coast Wind Symphony received two national music awards in 2024. The organization received the John Philip Sousa Foundation Sudler Silver Scroll Award given annually to the most outstanding community band in the nation. The FCWS also received an award from the American Prize in Performance, Celebrating American Excellence in the Arts. The American Prize is the nation’s most comprehensive series of contests in the classical arts.
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