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| Jazz Ensemble Prepares
for Eastern European Tour released: 05/04/04 |
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| The time has
come and the wait for Dr. David Milburn and his West Virginia Wesleyan Jazz
Ensemble is finally over. The Jazz Ensemble’s much-anticipated tour
of Eastern Europe is almost at hand as the 22-member band will leave for
Prague in the Czech Republic on Friday, May 7. Dr. Milburn attempts to take a tour oversees at least once every four years to give the Jazz Ensemble and Concert Band members the opportunity to perform abroad. In 1992, the Ensemble toured Russia, Ukraine, and Romania and in 1996 they toured Hungary, Romania, and the Czech Republic. In 2001, in their last overseas tour, they performed in concert in Finland, Estonia, and Russia. During the 17-day tour, the Ensemble will visit such historical and cultivating cities in the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and Romania as Prague, Bucharest, Temisoara, Chepelare, and Plovdiv. While on tour, the Jazz Ensemble will not only have the opportunity to play their unique brand of jazz, rock, Latin and gospel music, but will have the occasion to visit some of Eastern Europe’s treasures such as the Prague Castle, one of Europe’s largest and most beautiful castles, to performance sites that date back to the Roman Empire. “For the students, this is a great experience,” remarked Dr. Milburn. “I would say that easily half of my students have never flown, and probably very few have been overseas. It really is more than just a tour of music for these students; it is a complete learning experience for them. It may sound a little corny, but they really come back as citizens of the world, not just a Wesleyan student. It really changes their perspective of what we have here in America and it gives them a great understanding and respect of different cultures.” While being accustomed to playing in front of state-side audiences, Dr. Milburn has tweaked the Jazz Ensemble’s literature for his European spectators. “I had to change the repertoire just a little because the Europeans like the big band jazz sound like Glen Miller and the oldies,” said Dr. Milburn. “The Europeans usually do not get a chance to listen to contemporary American Jazz. We play a lot of fusion, which is a cross over from rock and jazz and Latin based, and the Europeans enjoy that as much as the big band era.” Dr. Milburn and his students will be completing journals of their stay in Europe and will be providing visitors of the Wesleyan website with current updates of the tour. The 2004 Wesleyan Jazz Ensemble consists of full saxophone, trombone, and trumpet sections, as well as a rhythm section of piano, drum set, bass, guitar, and vibes. The students represent a variety of academic interests, including mathematics, engineering, health sciences, computer science, psychology, education, religion, social sciences, and music. For more information on the Jazz Ensemble, please visit the West Virginia Wesleyan College website at www.wvwc.edu. To reach Dr. Milburn, you can e-mail him at milburn@wvwc.edu. |