The UTC Music Department will present the UTC Concert Band directed by Robert Dean on Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m. The performance is held in honor of the 100th birthday celebration of Rosa Parks, a pioneer of the Civil Rights movement in America, and will present classic and contemporary band music. It will take place in the Roland Hayes Concert Hall at the UTC Fine Arts Center, 752 Vine St., The performance is presented free of charge and open to the general public.
Mark Camphouse’s “A Movement for Rosa” paints a portrait in sound of the life of Rosa Parks from her early life through the turbulence of the 1950’s and 1960’s when she became an icon of the African-American community for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Her peaceful act of defiance inspired a generation of Americans, earning her the title of “Mother to a Movement.” Woven into the fabric of this inspired work is the hymn, “We Shall Overcome.” Also included in the program are works by Aaron Copland and Franco Goldman’s march “Chimes of Liberty.”
Dr. Dean currently teaches Music Appreciation at UTC. He began singing at age nine as a member of the Chattanooga Boys Choir under founding director Stephen Ortlip and began conducting at age eighteen, working with church choirs and groups of singers in undergraduate school. During his schooling he was both an instrumentalist (trombone) and a singer. Dr. Dean was student conductor for the Chamber Singers under Glenn Draper and has served, over the years, as a clinician and consultant for various schools on the male changing voice and choosing appropriate literature. He has taught music in public schools in Georgia, Tennessee, Florida and Massachusetts and was also vocal coach for recording artist Trisha Yearwood for three years. As a professional trombonist he has played with several world renowned orchestras and considers himself a missionary for music and an advocate for music in the schools, as well as for interdisciplinary learning, using an across the curriculum approach to teaching Music.
For more information call 425-4601 or visit http://utc.edu/music.