6/22/2006

Contact: K.E. Schwab  -- 724-738-2199;  e-mail: karl.schwab@sru.edu

SPECIAL BON VOYAGE CONCERT SET FOR MONDAY

AS SEND OFF TO SRU JAZZ ENSEMBLE SUMMER TRIP TO EUROPE

     SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The 19-piece Slippery Rock University Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Dr. Stephen Hawk, associate professor of music, will play selections from its upcoming European Tour, including performances at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, and the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Netherlands, at a free 4 p.m. Monday [June 26] concert in Miller Auditorium on the SRU campus.

      “We thought it would be great to let the university and community hear our ensemble before we depart for Europe,” Hawk explained. The campus and community are invited to the 90-minute concert, the group’s last before departing July 4.

    The SRU musicians leave Pittsburgh on Independence Day for a 12-day trip that in addition to Switzerland and The Netherlands, will allow them to play in Paris and Heidelberg, Germany. The band was invited to the Montreux festival following application, including its latest CD. “This is truly a great honor for our students,” Hawk says, noting the SRU group is one of only four collegiate jazz ensembles selected from more than 65 applications.

     The campus and European concert will include “Big Dipper,” “My Funny Valentine,” “Afro Blue,” “Count Bubba's Revenge,” “Suite Sandrine,” “Del Corazon” and “It's Just Talk." The group returns July 16.

Editor’s Note: The group will be available for photos at 3:15 p.m. in Miller. (We will dispatch a staff photographer and have “jpgs” available on Tuesday morning.)

PN, PGN, WPN, PR

JazzConcert.kes.doc