In a concert at Denison University, the Heisey Wind Ensemble will present "The Spirit of the Season" featuring numerous holiday songs at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday (Dec. 1) in Swasey Chapel. The ensemble is directed by Ohio State's Richard Blatti and features Denison Provost David Anderson as narrator. This concert is free and open to the public.

The program includes "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," "Sleigh Ride," "O Tannenbaum," "A Christmas Festival," with audience sing-a-long, and "Little Drummer Boy" among others.

The Heisey Wind Ensemble was formed in February of 1985 to provide an outlet for skilled musicians interested in playing traditional concert band literature. Since September 1986 the Ensemble and Denison have been working together to provide Denison students with a quality concert band to perform with and to provide the Central Ohio area with a concert band to enjoy.

Blatti has led the Heisey Wind Ensemble for seven years. Currently serving the Ohio State University as associate professor of conducting and associate director of bands, Blatti conducts the Symphonic Band and supervises all aspects of the undergraduate conducting curriculum at OSU's School of Music.

As guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator, Blatti has been invited to 25 states, Canada, England, The Netherlands, France, Belgium, Australia and China. He was inducted into the prestigious American Bandmasters Association in 1997 and continues to be a leader in the College Band Directors National Association, the Big Ten Band Directors Association, the John P. Paynter Foundation and the Ohio Music Educators Association.

A native of LaCrosse, Wis., Anderson became Denison's provost in July of 1999. He is a 1974 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. and earned his doctorate in English from Boston College in 1978. His publications include a 1993 book on "Approaches to Teaching the Works of Samuel Johnson" (co-edited with Gwin J. Kolb) and another on mystery writer "Rex Stout" published in 1984.

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

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Director, Media Relations

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stambaughb@denison.edu

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(740) 587-8575