Wind Ensemble concert to celebrate Pittsburg's 150th birthday with world premiere
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JOPLIN, MO. - The Pittsburg State University Wind Ensemble will join the Southeast Kansas Symphony and University Choirs for a special community concert celebrating the 150th anniversary of the City of Pittsburg on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 3 p.m. in the Bicknell Family Center for the Arts.
The concert is free and open to the public. It continues the Wind Ensemble's "Root to Branches" season theme and will connect the university's musical heritage with the community's past, present, and future.
Directed by Associate Professor Andrew Chybowski, the Wind Ensemble will perform selections inspired by a historic 1947 College Band concert, including Sergei Prokofiev's "March" from The Love for Three Oranges Suite, and "Crusade for Freedom," a march by J.J. Richards dedicated to Professor Walter McCray.
Richards (1878-1956) was a composer, conductor, educator, and renowned circus bandmaster who studied at Pitt State. He achieved national recognition while maintaining ties to Pittsburg. McCray (1877-1959) led the Music Department from 1914 to 1946. Under his direction, it became one of the most respected collegiate music programs in the region. The Music building was named for him, while the city's band dome was named for Richards.
The concert also will feature two world premieres. One is a newly commissioned work by composer Jennifer Rose. The second is a composition created specifically for Pittsburg's 150th birthday by Music Professor John Ross and featuring lyrics drawn from a poem by English Professor Laura Lee Washburn.
The collaborative work will bring together the Wind Ensemble, Symphony, and University Choirs.
Washburn said writing a poem to commemorate the city's sesquicentennial was both a challenge and an honor.
"To have an inkling of the amount of effort all these people put in to make my words have voice is humbling," Washburn said. "I hope folks will come to hear this one-time performance."
She approached the project by exploring the region's history while also considering the many people and cultures that have helped define the community.
The resulting poem, which recently received an award from the Kansas Authors Club, reflects the experiences of immigrants and settlers, workers, women, activists, Indigenous peoples, and others whose lives became part of Pittsburg's history.
