The Heisey Wind Ensemble will continue their 2000-2001 concert season with a concert at 8 p.m. on Sunday (March 4) in Swasey Chapel on the Denison University campus in Granville with a program of sacred and secular works.

Music Director Richard Blatti has built the program around Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana." Joining the Heisey Wind Ensemble to narrate portions of the text around which Orff built his composition will be Professor Jon Farris, chair of Denison's department of theatre. Rounding out the program will be works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms and Giovanni Gabrieli.

The title "Carmina Burana" literally means "songs of Beuren" and was given by Johann Andreas Schmeller to his complete edition (1847) of the poems contained in an early 13th-century German manuscript (found in 1803) from the Benedictine abbey of Benediktbeuern, south of Munich in the Bavarian region. Orff wrote his cantata based on Schmeller's poems. The poems comprise religious, political, moral, erotic, Bacchic and Satirical verses.

Orff's music is a modern, 20th century work but is simple in harmony; its driving rhythm and fundamental musical instincts allow listeners to respond immediately, says Blatti. "In some ways, the work is barbaric and pagan and very potent. It is a great introduction to serious music, particularly to people who think serious or 'classical' music is boring and monotonous," he says. "Carmina Burana" has been used in the filmExcaliburand Oliver Stone'sThe Doorsand in countless movie trailers and commercials.

Tickets are available at the door; cost is $10 for adults, $5 for seniors and students, and students under 12 are free. Denison University faculty, staff and students are admitted free with their Denison University ID. Area band directors have free student passes available for their students.

Farris is a member of Actors' Equity and in recent years has performed at the Cleveland Play House, the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, The Indiana Repertory Theatre, the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, the Utah Shakespearean Festival and the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. This past spring he played the title role in the Ohio State production ofKing Lear, and most recently he starred in the Contemporary American Theatre Company's production ofSleuth. Farris teaches courses in acting, directing and dramatic literature at Denison.

The Heisey Wind Ensemble was formed in February of 1985 by J M Day and Don Workman to provide an outlet for skilled musicians interested in playing traditional concert band literature. The group is sponsored in part by the Denison University Music Department. The Heisey Wind Ensemble and Denison have been working together since September 1986 to provide Denison students with opportunities to perform with a concert band. The term "wind ensemble" designates a band in which nearly every part is played by one person only.

Blatti, music director and principal conductor of the Heisey Wind Ensemble, serves Ohio State as associate professor of conducting and associate director of bands. He also is an adjunct faculty member at Denison. He is the music director and conductor of the OSU Symphonic Band as well as supervising all aspects of the undergraduate conducting program. He received The OSU School of Music Distinguished Teaching Award in 1991.

The last concert 2000-2001 Heisey Wind Ensemble season will be April 22nd and is titled "Invitation to the Dance."

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

For press inquiries:

Name

Barbara Stambaugh

Position Title

Director, Media Relations

Primary Email

stambaughb@denison.edu

Business Phone

(740) 587-8575