The UTC Music Department will present a faculty recital featuring UTC saxophone instructor, Clint Schmitt. The performance will take place at the Roland Hayes Concert Hall, Fine Arts Center, 752 Vine St., on Feb. 17, at 7:30 p.m. Joining him are Dr. Sin-Tsing Tsai and David Walters. Admission is free and open to the public.
The program is made up of saxophone and piano music composed since 1994, and will include three works commissioned by Mr. Schmitt in collaboration with other saxophonists known collectively as the World-Wide Concurrent Premieres and Commissioning Fund. Composers are David Amram, whose piece “Greenwich village Portraits” will be a world premiere performance, John Harbison and Shih-Hui Chen. Also on the program is a composition by Graham Fitkin, titled “Hard Fairy”, for soprano saxophone and two pianos. The pieces being performed span all ranges from jazz and blues influenced classical music to a contemporary avant-garde treatment of a Nankuan folk melody.
Mr. Schmitt holds faculty positions at UTC and Southern Adventist University where he teaches applied saxophone and woodwind methods classes. In addition to maintaining a full teaching schedule, Mr. Schmitt actively performs in the area in classical, jazz, and commercial settings. Performances here have included working with The Temptations, The Impressions, two concerto appearances with The Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, and performances in the musicals: State Fair and West Side Story. He has also twice led the Big Band Fever! Concerts with the CSO. His resume includes performances with such prestigious organizations as the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Opera Company of Boston, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Portland (Maine) Orchestra, appearances with the Alabama Symphony in both classical and jazz settings, guest solo performances at the Southeastern Band Conference, the Georgia Music Educator's Conference, as well as several recital appearances at various Southeastern Universities and Colleges. Mr. Schmitt is a contributing member to the Worldwide Concurrent Premiers and Commissioning Fund, which has previously commissioned works for saxophone by composers Gunther Schuller, John Harbison, Michael Colgrass, and Larry Bell.
For more information call the UTC Music office at 425-4601 or visit http://www.utc.edu/music/projects/performances.php.