Concerts and Events
All concerts are in Greaves Concert Hall unless otherwise mentioned
February
Valentine's Day Groove
NKU Latin Jazz/R&B Combos
Pablo Benavides, Ted Karas
Tuesday, February 14 • 8pm
Free admission
Bring your significant other out to a night of commercial music that is sure to get your toes tappin’.
Run for the Border!
NKU Symphonic Winds - Brant Karrick, conductor
Meaghan Spencer, flute
Thursday, February 16 • 8pm
$5 general admission/$3 students with ID
Winter Choral Concert
Northern Chorale and NKU Women's Ensemble
Katie Barton, conductor
Thursday, February 21 • 8pm
Holy Spirit Church, 825 Washington Avenue, Newport, KY
Free admission (free will donations accepted)
The Northern Chorale and Women’s Ensemble present their annual winter concert with a variety of choral masterpieces.
Chamber Jazz - Jazz Combos 1, 2
John Zappa, Dan Dorff
Tuesday, February 21 • 8pm
Free admission
Come experience some of the finest jazz musicians in the NKU Music Department in an intimate chamber setting. Jazz standards, arrangements, and originals will be performed.
NKU Jazz Ensemble and the newly formed NKU Little Big Band
William Hogg, director
Thursday, February 23 • 8pm
$5 general admission/$3 students with ID
The NKU Jazz Ensemble will perform some of your favorite jazz ensemble classics followed by the inaugural performance of the NKU Little Big Band. The NKU Little Big Band is comprised of the very best students in the jazz studies area and promises to be a performance of the highest caliber in the area.
Chamber Jazz - Jazz Combos 3,4
Pablo Benavides, Phil Burkhead
Tuesday, February 28 • 8pm
Free admission
Experience a night of chamber jazz with members of the NKU Jazz Studies area as well as other students in the Music Department.
March
A Night of Saxophone Chamber Music
NKU Sax Quartet and NKU Jazz Saxophone Quartet
Michael VanPelt, William Brian Hogg
Tuesday, March 13 • 8pm
Free admission
Explore the versatility of the saxophone with some of the best young saxophonists at NKU. Listen to the saxophone in a classical setting followed by the jazz saxophone quartet.
"East Meets West" - NKU Brass Choir
Dr. Raquel Rodriquez, director
Thursday, March 15 • 8pm
$5 general admission/$3 students with ID
A concert celebrating music of America, Russia and Poland. Music includes selections from Aaron Copland’s “Ceremonial Fanfare,” Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story” and “Presto Barbaro” from the film “On the Waterfront;” “Totus Tuus” by Henryk Górecki; “Russian Litany for Brass” by Pavel Tchesnokov; and “Star Trek” by Jerry Goldsmith.
Women's Choral Invitational Festival
NKU Women’s Ensemble with Regional High School Choirs
Tuesday, March 20 • 7pm
Erlanger Baptist Church
116 Commonwealth Avenue, Erlanger, KY
Free admission (free will donations accepted)
The NKU Women’s Ensemble joins with area high school women’s choirs in an evening of shared music culminating in a combined composition.
NKU Faculty Jazz Ensemble
William Brian Hogg
Tuesday, March 20 • 8pm
$5 general admission/$3 students with ID
Come out and hear some of the most in demand jazz musicians in the area perform original compositions, jazz standards, and arrangements crossing the stylistic spectrum of the jazz art form.
"Americana" - NKU Concert Band
Dr. Raquel Rodriquez, director
Thursday, March 22 • 8pm
$5 general admission/$3 students with ID
Featuring exciting repertoire from the wind and band literature. Music includes selections from Francis McBeth’s “Chant and Jubilo;” Vincent Persichetti’s “Pageant;” Pierre LaPlante’s “Overture on a Minstrel Tune” among others.
6th Annual Blues Festival
NKU Jazz Ensemble, Dayton High School Band, Holmes High School, KingSonic, Dick and the Roadmasters, G. Miles and the Hitmen, and William Brian Hogg
Saturday, March 24 • 7pm
Guys-n-Dolls Entertainment Complex, Alexandria KY
$10 general admission
The Annual Blues Festival is a fundraiser to benefit the EMPOWER program at Dayton and Holmes High School. The annual blues festival is a chance to see NKU Jazz students interact with some of the top blues musicians in the area.
This year we are proud to present the award winning group KingSonic from Louisville KY as one of the opening acts, along with local favorite Dick and the Roadmasters.
NKU Chamber Choir Bulgaria Concert Tour Performances
Randy Pennington, conductor
The NKU Chamber Choir has been invited to participate in the 2012 Varna Bulgaria May International Choral Competition. These concerts are our way of sharing the competition program and other compositions prepared for the international competition and tour.
Sunday, March 25 • 3pm
Christ Church United Church of Christ
15 South Fort Thomas Ave., Fort Thomas, KY
Sunday, April 1 • 3pm
St. William’s Catholic Church
4108 W. 8th St., Cincinnati, OH
Sunday, April 15 • 3pm
Mount Washington Presbyterian Church
6474 Beechmont Ave., Cincinnati, OH
Free admission (free will donations accepted)
Spring Faculty Recital
Dr. Diana Belland, piano; Dr. Frank T. Restesan, violin
Monday, March 26 • 8pm
Free admission
Works by Mozart, Beethoven and Hindemith.
Chamber Jazz - Jazz Combos 1, 2
John Zappa, Dan Dorff
Tuesday, March 27 • 8pm
Free admission
Come experience some of the finest jazz musicians in the NKU Music Department in an intimate chamber setting. Jazz standards, arrangements and originals will be performed.
NKU Brass Choir
Dr. Raquel Rodriquez, director
Special guests, the Fountain City Brass Band
Roger Oyster, director
Thursday, March 29 • 8pm
Free admission
Join the NKU Brass Choir as they share the concert stage with the reigning US Open Brass Band Champions. FCBB hails from Kansas City, MO and will be presenting their test pieces to be performed at the 2012 North American Brass Band Association (NABBA) competition. Do not miss this opportunity to listen to the only American Brass Band to win a Brass Band competition on UK soil (2009 Scottish Open).
April
Rhine Quartet Spring Concert
Kun Dong and Cathy Lange-Jensen, violins
Joanne Wojtowicz, viola; Alan Rafferty, cello
Sunday April 1 • 3pm
$10 general admission/$7 students with ID
Come see the Rhine Quartet perform music of Shostakovich and Grieg!
Student Composers Concert
Students of Eric Knechtges
Sunday, April 1 • 8pm
Free admission
Mallets Spring Forth - NKU Percussion Ensemble
Scott Lang, director
Monday, April 2 • 8pm
Free admission
Beautiful keyboard percussion transcriptions of works by Bach, Ravel, and more will bloom on this early spring evening.
Libby Larsen at NKU
featuring NKU students and faculty; Grant Knox, coordinator
Libby Larsen, Rosemary Ritter
Tuesday, April 3 • 7:30pm
Griffin Hall’s Digitorium/NKU Campus
Free admission
An NKU and SongFest Festival joint venture celebrating the music of American composer, Libby Larsen.
Chamber Jazz - Jazz Combos 3, 4
Pablo Benavides, Phil Burkhead
Tuesday, April 10 • 8pm
Free admission
Experience a night of chamber jazz with members of the NKU Jazz Studies area as well as other students in the music department.
Latin and Rhythm and Blues
Latin Jazz, R&B Combo, Pablo Benavides, Ted Karas
Thursday, April 12 • 8pm
Free admission
A night of Latin jazz gives way to the ever-popular R&B Combo. Some terrific jazz vocalists and jazz musicians share the stage with a night of R&B classics that will have you tapping your foot and dancing in the aisles.
Mitchell Schnure Memorial Music Scholarship Concert
Friday, April 13 • 8pm
Free admission
This program is presented in memory of Mitchell Schnure, NKU Music Major, 2010-2011, by his friends and colleagues. Donations may be made to Fifth Third Bank in support of the Mitchell Schnure Memorial Music Scholarship.
NKUCO Spring Concert
Dr. Frank T. Restesan, conductor
Kun Dong, violin; Jeff Taylor, oboe
Special guests, the Rhine String Quartet-in-Residence at NKU
Monday, April 16 • 8pm
$5 general admission/$3 students with ID
The Northern Kentucky University Chamber Orchestra presents Marcello’s 2nd Oboe Concerto, Mozart’s 4th Violin Concerto and Elgar’s Intro & Allegro for String Quartet and String Orchestra.
Annual Choral All-Sing Concert
NKU Chamber Choir with Regional High School Choirs
Randy Pennington, conductor
Tuesday, April 17 • 7:30pm
Blessed Sacrament, 2409 Dixie Hwy., Ft. Mitchell, KY
Celebrating the 30th anniversary of this event, the NKU Chamber Choir joins with Conner, Dixie Heights and Walton-Verona High School choirs in a evening of shared music. This year the combined composition is the Faure Requiem with orchestra.
NKU Bands - Symphonic Winds and Concert Band
Thursday, April 19 • 8pm
$5 general admission/$3 students with ID
Featuring the runner-up of the student solo competition, Morgan Minor, performing Paul Creston’s Concerto for Marimba.
Spring Keyboard Concert
Dr. Diana Belland, Sergei Polusmiak
Friday, April 20 • 8pm
Free admission
A concert of piano works from baroque to the twenty-first century presented by piano students from the studios of Sergei Polusmiak and Diana Duffin Belland.
NKU Guitar Ensemble
Andrew Winner, director
Saturday, April 21 • 3pm
Free admission
Spring Steel Concert - NKU Steel Drum Band
Stan Ginn, director
Monday, April 23 • 8pm
Free admission
"Welcome to Russia" - NKU Philharmonic Orchestra
Dr. Frank T. Restesan, conductor; Sergei Polusmiak, piano
Tuesday, April 24 • 8pm
$5 general admission/$3 students with ID
NKU Distinguished Artist-in-Residence Sergei Polusmiak joins the NKU Philharmonic for a night of Russian favorites including Borodin’s 2nd Symphony and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, hailed by some critics as one of the greatest piano concertos written in the 20th century.
Spring Choral Concert
NKU Chamber Choir, Northern Chorale, NKU Women’s Ensemble
Randy Pennington, Katie Barton, conductors
Thursday, April 26 • 8pm
$5 general admission/$3 students with ID
The annual end of the academic year concert will feature the Rutter requiem with orchestra conducted by Professor Katie Barton as well as other choral masterworks.
Northern Kentucky Jazz Festival
NKU Vocal Jazz Ensemble, members of the Jazz Faculty, members of the Jazz Chamber Music ensembles, the NKU Jazz Ensemble, NKU Little Big Band, and special guests TBA
Friday April 27- Saturday, April 28
The NKU Jazz Studies area partners with the KMEA District 6 Jazz Festival for a weekend of jazz music, pedagogy, and assessment. Many of the top middle school and high school ensembles in the tri-state area will be performing throughout the day, culminating in 2 nights of performances by guest artists, student groups, and many of the NKU Jazz Studies faculty and students. You won’t want to miss this weekend of jazz at NKU!
May
Spring Concert - NKU Clarinet Choir
Jeff Carwile, director
Tuesday, May 1 • 8pm
Free admission
The NKU Clarinet Choir, founded in 2011, consists of high school, college, and professional clarinetists from the Cincinnati Tri-State. A variety of works will be performed, including selections from early Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Jazz, Pop, and Top 40.