IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 23, 2009

CONTACT: K.E. Schwab
724.738.2199

karl.schwab@sru.edu

SRU music professor to be center stage at Pittsburgh’s G20

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – When world leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev, and others in Pittsburgh for the G20 gather tonight in Heinz Field’s Great Hall, Slippery Rock University’s Music Professor Stephen Hawk will be front and center.

            Hawk will be the featured trumpet player when the Pittsburgh Jazz Legacy Big Band performs in front some 1,500 guests.

            Hawk, a member of the SRU faculty since 1989 is a major player in the band sponsored by Pittsburgh’s Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild, said the band will play while guests dine then be featured in a 90-minute concert. The band features the works of such legendary Pittsburgh jazz artists as Art Blakey, Billy Strayhorn, Ray Brown and Stanley Turrentine.

            Hawk will be the featured soloist on Roy Eldridge’s arrangement of “Rockin’ Chair.”

            The world leaders will use the concert to relax before opening a packed agenda that includes such topics as the recent global financial meltdown, war and peace as well as trade issues.

            The three-day world summit, previously held in London and Copenhagen, continues through Friday.

Slippery Rock University is Pennsylvania’s premier public residential university. Slippery Rock University provides students with a comprehensive learning experience that intentionally combines academic instruction with enhanced educational and learning opportunities that make a positive difference in their lives.