ABAC MUSICAL GROUPS TO PERFORM AT FALL PICNIC OCTOBER 8

A Fall Concert and Picnic will be held on Abraham Baldwin College’s front lawn on Oct. 8 from 11:30 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. The event is sponsored by ARAMARK Food Services and the ABAC Music Department and is open to anyone who would like to attend. In the event of rain, the concert will be held in the Donaldson Dining Hall.

ABAC’s musical groups participating in the concert will include the Concert Band, Concert Choir, Jazz Choir, Jazz Ensemble, Clarinet Ensemble, and Saxophone Ensemble.

Lunch will be available during the concert at a cost of $5 for the general public. There is no charge for ABAC students who have meal tickets. ARAMARK Food Services will provide barbeque style foods, assorted desserts, and beverages. Lunch is optional; anyone may come to hear the concert at no charge.

The ABAC Concert Band, under the direction of Eugene Wyles, and the ABAC Concert Choir, under the direction of Wayne Jones, will perform Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America.”

The Concert Band will perform a variety of contrasting selections from Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story” and Henry Fillmore’s famous march, “The Klaxon,” which features the Concert Band’s French horn section.

The ABAC Jazz Choir, directed by Jones, will perform several selections, including Jacques Rizzo’s “And All That Jazz,” Peter Blair’s “Doctor Blues,” Bart Howard and Kirby Shaw’s arrangement of “Fly Me to the Moon,” “Brazil” by S.K. Russell and Ary Barroso, and “Take Five” by Paul Desmond and Dave Brubeck.

The ABAC Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Don Coates, will perform a mixture of swing, blues, rock-swing fusion, as well as a Latin Samba. Performance pieces will include “Snaggletooth” by Mike Lewis, who made a name for himself performing with Jackie Gleason and KC and the Sunshine Band, “Boonies Blues” by Dominic Spera, “Left in the Dust” by Bill Liston, and Lance Strickland’s “One Eyed Jack.”

Featured soloists in the ABAC Jazz Ensemble are Gail Wyles, piano; Jeffrey Crib, drums; Eugene Wyles, alto saxophone; and student Jeremy Dye of Tifton, tenor saxophone.

Two small group ensembles will also be featured. The Clarinet Ensemble, composed of Leigh Ann Farmer of Douglas, Alicia Griffin of Alapaha, Katina Robinson of Tifton, and Eugene Wyles, will provide classical and rag-time sounds, featuring Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag” and “The Entertainer.” The Saxophone Ensemble, composed of David Durden of Sylvester, Nguyen Ly of Tifton, Evan Zebley of Moultrie, and Wyles, will also present a rag-time feel with its featured piece “St. Louis Blues” by W.C. Handy. Both groups will perform under the direction of Wyles.

ABAC’s Music Department has already made plans for upcoming musical events. The Jazz Choir and Jazz Ensemble will perform at the annual Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition in Moultrie on Oct. 14 -15. ABAC’s Concert Band and Concert Choir will perform at the Fall Concert to be held in Tift County High School’s Performing Arts Center on Nov. 20.

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