Lee Symphonic Band Has Spring Concert Tuesday

The Lee University Symphonic Band will present a concert of wind band music under conductor and professor of music Dr. Mark Bailey on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Conn Center. 

Special guests will include Dr. Ron Brendel, associate professor of voice at Lee and worship arts pastor at Wesley Memorial Methodist Church; and Dr. Nathan Warner, assistant professor of trumpet and director of the Brass Choir at Lee. The Evangelistic Singers, under the direction of Gloria Scott Richmond, will also perform. 

The program will include an eclectic concert of band classics, including several selections from the worship music repertoire that the ensemble regularly presents in churches across America. According to Dr. Bailey, special guests will join the band for a moment of “musical celebration” for the conclusion of the concert. 

The performance will feature works by Hazo, Galante, Wagner, Forrest, Smallwood, Gaither, and Dr. David Holsinger, conductor of Lee’s Wind Ensemble and resident composer at the university. Also featured will be arrangements by Bradley Knight, a leading arranger of contemporary Christian worship music and an alumnus of Lee. 

Lee’s Symphonic Band has performed at churches across the country and at conferences such as the Christian Instrumentalists and Directors Association National Conference and the Atlanta Instrumental Expo Conference, the largest instrumental church music conference in America. 

The ensemble has also performed at numerous music festivals, appeared on television and radio, headlined important university events, and toured twelve foreign countries including the Bahamas, Botswana, Brazil, Guatemala, Jordan, Mexico, South Africa, Trinidad, Cuba, and China. The group is preparing for a June trip to Hungary, Croatia and Serbia. 

The spring concert is being presented in preparation for the group’s spring tour to North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, New York. 

The Lee University Symphonic Band was the first American collegiate band to perform in the nation of Jordan, and it was the first collegiate concert band to perform in the nation of Cuba since Fidel Castro took control in 1959. The group has a reputation as "an outstanding performance ensemble which combines superior musicianship with sensitivity to the ability of music to be used in ministry." 

“The Symphonic Band has always prided itself on being able to perform many different styles of music in its church performances,” said Dr. Bailey. “This will be demonstrated in the Tuesday evening concert. Because of this, many people see the sincerity of the performances of these students as they inspire many to seek a relationship with Christ as Savior.” 

The 2015 Symphonic Band is made up of 58 students, several of which are former all-state and all-regional band participants in Tennessee, Ohio, Florida, Alabama and Georgia. 

Dr. Bailey is in his 26th year as the conductor of the Lee University Symphonic Band. 

The concert is free, non-ticketed, and open to the public.  For more information about Symphonic Band or Lee’s School of Music, contact 614-8240 or musicinfo@leeuniversity.edu.