Kingston, R.I. –September 3, 2010 – The 2010-11 University Artist Concert Series at the University of Rhode Island gets off to an early start with a September 19 concert featuring URI Artist/Teacher of Trombone, Gabriel Langfur, with fellow members of the Massachusetts Bay Trombone Association (MBTA) performing original and transcribed music for trombone quartet.

The Sunday concert starts at 3 p.m., and will be followed by a free public master class given by the group at 5:30 p.m. Both events will take place in the URI Fine Arts Center Concert Hall, 105 Upper College Road, Kingston. Concert admission is $10.00 general public, $5 students, with tickets available at the box office on a first-come basis starting 45 minutes before the concert.

The MBTA was formed by four of the leading trombone players and educators in New England: John Faieta, Wes Hopper, Gabe Langfur, and Don Lucas, in order to perform the tremendously wide range of repertoire available to trombone ensembles. For this concert they will perform a mixture of transcriptions and original pieces for trombone quartet ranging from the Renaissance to modern times. The program will include: Suite for Four Trombones, by Claude Gervaise, arr. Slokar; Six Tantum Ergo by Anton Bruckner, tr. Don Rose; Trombone Quartet No. 1 by Anthony Plog; Bagatelles for Four Trombones by Alun Hoddinott; Tissington Variations by Raymond Premru; and 007 – James Bond – arr. Beat Ryser.

Langfur says the transcriptions “have been carefully chosen to highlight the varied capabilities of the trombone quartet, spanning the centuries from the Renaissance dance music of Gervaise, to the harmonically rich choral music of Bruckner, to a brilliantly executed arrangement of themes from the beloved James Bond movies.” The original pieces, he adds, are “three of the finest works written for the trombone quartet.” The Hoddinott piece was written at the request of MBTA member Don Lucas.

John Faieta is on the faculties of the Berklee College of Music and the Boston Conservatory, Principal Trombone of the Nashua Symphony Orchestra, a frequent substitute with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and a highly in-demand performer in all styles of music all over New England. Formerly, he was Principal Trombonist of the Vermont Symphony and a founding member of the Atlantic Brass Quintet, winners of six international chamber music competitions.

Wes Hopper is a member of the award-winning Triton Brass Quintet and a busy performer throughout the region, appearing with the Boston Ballet Orchestra, Boston Modern Orchestra Project and Vermont Symphony, among others. He has served on the faculties of Boston College, the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, and the Atlantic Brass Quintet Seminar.

Gabe Langfur is bass trombonist for the Rhode Island Philharmonic and Vermont Symphony Orchestras, and performs frequently with the Boston Symphony and Pops, the Boston Ballet Orchestra, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Opera Boston, and in orchestras and theaters throughout New England. In addition to teaching at URI, he is Lecturer of Bass Trombone at Boston University’s College of Fine Arts.

Don Lucas is Trombone Professor and Chair of Woodwinds, Brass and Percussion at Boston University, as well as President of the International Trombone Association. He has performed regularly with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Santa Fe Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, and has performed as a soloist and taught master classes throughout the world. He was awarded the only Premeir Prix Diploma ever awarded to a brass player in the history of the Guildhall School of Music in London.

The URI Concert Hall is handicap-accessible, and parking is available in the lot behind the Fine Arts Center, off Bills Road.

For more information, please contact the URI Department of Music, 874-2431, or check the website: www.uri.edu/artsci/mus.