Southeastern Wind Symphony to feature renowned trombonist Joseph Alessi
Wednesday, October 7, 2015 
by: Rene Abadie
RENOWNED ARTIST TO PERFORM WITH WIND SYMPHONY – Joseph Alessi, principal trombonist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, will be a featured performer with the Southeastern Louisiana University Wind Symphony at its annual Fanfare performance scheduled at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at the Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts in Hammond.
HAMMOND – Southeastern Louisiana University’s Wind Symphony will present its fall
Fanfare concert on Wednesday, Oct. 14, featuring Joseph Alessi, world-renowned principal
trombonist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
The concert, titled “Bach to the Future” and conducted by Director of Bands Glen
J. Hemberger, will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the Columbia Theatre for the Performing
Arts, 220 East Thomas Street. in downtown Hammond. General admission tickets can be
purchased at the door and are $14 for adults and $7 for faculty and seniors; students
with school ID are free. For additional information on tickets, call the Columbia
Box Office at 985-543-4371.
The concert is a featured part of Southeastern’s Fanfare, a fall festival of the
arts, humanities and social sciences. The Wind Symphony is a large, select music ensemble
comprised of the finest woodwind, brass and percussion musicians at the university.
Alessi, who has been with the New York Philharmonic since 1985, will join the
Southeastern Wind Symphony in performing Johan de Meij’s “T-Bone Concerto.”
“This is a magnificent, three-movement concerto that challenges both the soloist
and the ensemble,” explained Hemberger. “The T-Bone Concerto allows the soloist to
explore the full range of the trombone in both range and difficulty.”
Alessi is currently on the faculty of The Julliard School, and his students now
occupy posts with major symphony orchestras worldwide.
Alessi will also present a free master class on Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 2 p.m. in
the Pottle Music Building auditorium on the Southeastern campus. The master class
is open to the public and will feature Alessi lecturing and demonstrating various
aspects of musical performance.
Also on the program will be John Mackey’s award-winning composition “Aurora Awakes”
and “Illuminations: Reflection of Earth.” The music was originally composed to accompany
the nightly firework and laser light show at Epcot Center in Florida.
Graduate student Rebecca Harris will conduct “Trittico” by famed composer Vaclav
Nelhybel; Master of Music student Matthew Soukup will conduct the historic “Wachet,
Auf!” by Johnann Sebastian Bach.
