Students in Denison University's Jazz Ensemble will showcase their talents in a concert at 8 p.m. on Wednesday (Nov. 17) in Burke Recital Hall. Studio instructor Pete Mills will direct the performance. Admission is free and open to the public.

The concert will feature original compositions by Sammy Nestico and Tom Davis. Classic jazz standards arranged for big band, including pieces by Clifford Brown, Ellington, Coltrane, and Tad Dameron, also will be performed.

Student musicians on the saxophone include juniors Ben Pogany (Mayfield Village) and Mitchell Stelzer (Chagrin Falls), sophomores Matthew Hoffman (Westerville) and Eric Spengler (Muncie, Ind.), and first year student Stephanie Crane (Clayton, Mo.); on trumpet, junior Christopher Seigel (Indianapolis, Ind.), and sophomores Robert Choudry (Cincinnati) and David Ottum (Upper Arlington); on trombone, junior Andrew Keller (Worthington), sophomore Craig Biegler (Columbus), and first year student Thomas Seiter (Riverside, R.I.); on piano, sophomore Max Marshall (Wilmette, Ill.); on bass, junior Ethan McGory (Westerville) and sophomore Brett Ferguson (Manlius, N.Y.); on guitar, sophomore Doug Sours (Columbus), and on the drums, senior Avonte Campinha-Bacoe (Cincinnati) and freshman Matthew Chvatal (Canton).

An affiliated studio instructor at Denison, Mills received a Canadian Arts Council Grant and, in 1997, was named a North Carolina Jazz Composers Award winner, which funded his debut compact disc, "Momentum." Mills is an active performer, appearing in the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra and the band "Jazz on the Go" in Columbus. He also performs with his own "Pete Mills Quartet" and offers clinics and private instruction.

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