In its first faculty recital for tuba, the UTC Music Department will present Kenyon Wilson on Monday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m., Roland Hayes Concert Hall, UTC Fine Arts Center, on the corner of Vine and Palmetto Streets.
Accompanying Wilson will be Dr. Alan Nichols of Chattanooga State and the UTC Tuba -Euphonium Ensemble under the direction of Dr. William R. Lee, professor of music at UTC.
The recital is free and the public is invited.
"We are excited to have another season of low brass recitals and concerts at UTC, and particularly happy to participate with Dr. Wilson in recital," said Lee, a published composer, euphonium teacher and author of numerous publications in the field of music and music education. "Dr. Wilson's grasp of the technical requirements of the instrument is fantastic and his knowledge of the literature for the instrument is truly inspiring."
Wilson currently performs as principal tubist with the Augusta Symphony Orchestra and with the Charleston-based Atlantic Southeast Ballet Orchestra.
Wilson is a native of Tennessee, and he holds degrees from Tennessee Technological University, Baylor University, and the University of Georgia.
In addition to performing throughout the United States, Wilson has performed solo recitals in Canada, Japan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia. He has also soloed with the Waco Symphony Orchestra, the Augusta Symphony Orchestra, the University of Memphis Concert Band, and the Asahikawa Symphonic Band in Japan.
Wilson serves as adjunct faculty at UTC. His previous teaching positions include Central Michigan University, Valdosta State University, and the Baku Music Academy in Azerbaijan where he served as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar.
Four of his ten published works for tuba ensemble have been released on compact disc. In addition, the International Tuba and Euphonium Association Journal has published five of Wilson's articles.
He serves as an assistant editor for a tuba reference book scheduled to be released by Indiana University Press in 2005.
Wilson will perform a great variety of American pieces for the tuba, from a jazz piece called "Chocolates" by James Grant to Neal Corwell's "New England Reveries" for tuba and taped synthesizer. Jesse Ayers' tuba piece, "The Dancing King," is a direct reference to the dancing of King David of ancient Israel mentioned in II Samuel 6:14. "Three Ludes for Tuba" was composed by Robert Jager, a well-known Tennessee composer who was a professor at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville. It has three movements, "Prelude," "Interlude," and "Postlude."
Wilson has composed "Tubaku," a duet influenced by Azerbaijani scales and rhythms. Several pieces by Azerbaijani composers include "Motherland" by the early twentieth-century composer Asaf Zeynally, Gara Garyev's "Don Kichote" and Dance from "Path of Thunder."
David Butler will be featured in a duet with Wilson. Butler teachers at the Chattanooga School of the Arts and Sciences where he is the band director. He graduated from Tennessee Technological University and has done graduate work at UTC.
In addition to being a performer and a teacher, Butler has arranged several works for the Tuba Ensemble. One of his works was featured by the UTC Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble on its tour of Paris, France last spring.