The Centenary Percussion Ensemble presents its Fall Concert on Friday, November 22 at 7:30 p.m. in Anderson Auditorium in the Hurley School of Music. The ensemble is under the direction of Chandler Teague and is free and open to the public. Music by Chick Corea, Alan Hovhaness, Elliot del Borgo, selected Christmas carols, and a few surprises, will make for an exciting evening of percussion music, from serious drumming to subtle sound colors. Call the Hurley School of Music at 869-5235 for further details.

“Treasures from the File Cabinets” features a number of gems in the college band music collection including great marches by American composers John Philip Sousa, "the March King,” and the iconoclastic Charles Ives. "Bullets and Bayonets" from 1918 is one of Sousa's many tuneful marches contrasted by Ives's "Country Band March" from 1904, a raucous and often hilarious take on 1890s New England holidays when Ives would hear different marching bands music colliding as they approached the town square. The march is replete with various quotes from folk songs such as “London Bridge,” “The Girl I Left Behind,” “The British Grenadier,” and others emerging from the texture of a lively march tune.

Louisiana native Julie Giroux's moving tribute to a friend, "One Life Beautiful," is a strikingly evocative recent work from 2009, while music from the 1985 western film "Silverado" features the horn and trumpet sections of the wind ensemble. Dutch composer Johan de Meij's "Gandalf" from his "Lord of the Rings" Symphony is an epic salute to Tolkien's fantasy classic, while Alexander Borodin's seldom heard "Symphony No. 2" is a challenging vintage Russian transcription from 1940.

The program also features works by J. S. Bach (Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring) and Edvard Grieg (Funeral March) and concludes with Gustav Holst's Second Suite in F from 1911, one of the foundational works of wind band literature. The piece is based on several folk songs, two of which are hair-raisingly combined in the final movement, "Fantasia on the Dargason.”

“There is so much great music out there that it is difficult to choose,” said director Hundemer. “Often, I rummage through our band library that my predecessors have assembled, and much wonderful and inspiring music pops out at me, some of which I know and some I've never heard before. My colleagues in the ensemble also often suggest pieces that we perform. This concert's program is a combination of suggestions and items I come across in our file cabinets, hence ‘Treasures from the File Cabinets!’”

The Centenary Wind Ensemble consists of students, faculty, alumni, and area musicians and educators.

LSMSA Dance Ensemble Present their Informal Fall Dance Concert "Informance". Works presented are choreographed by Associate Lecturer of Dance and Chair of the Creative and Performing Arts Department, Crystal Lewis, along with Fall Dance Guest Artist Jennifer Mabus, and student choreography. The show runs from November 8-9 at 7pm in Treen Auditorium. Admission is free and open to the public.

Exploration Days are an excellent opportunity to get a first-hand look at what LSMSA is all about. During these Open House events, prospective students sit in on classes while their parents hear from the school's administration. Parents and students tour the campus, hear from current LSMSA students, and have lunch in the dining hall. Exploration Days generally begin around 9:00 a.m. and conclude around 2:00 p.m. LSMSA will provide a letter for students to take to their schools confirming their attendance.
Who should attend? We encourage students who are currently in the eighth grade or higher to attend an Exploration Day. Students who are younger than eighth grade who are traveling with their older sibling may attend; however, they should accompany their parents to all parent activities.