Newsroom

CORVALLIS, Ore. - The West Coast premiere of composer David Maslanka's Mass will be presented at Oregon State University on Thursday, April 20, featuring the OSU Wind Ensemble, the OSU Chamber Choir and the Corvallis Repertory Singers.

The performance will be at 7:30 p.m. in the Austin Auditorium at The LaSells Stewart Center on the OSU campus in Corvallis. Chris Chapman, director of bands at OSU, will conduct.

Tickets are $18 to $25. OSU students with identification and K-12 youth will be admitted free. Corvallis Arts for All discounts apply. Advance tickets are available online at repsing.org or in Corvallis at Grass Roots Books and Music, Troubadour Music or Schmidt's Garden Center, or in Albany at Sid Stevens Jewelers.

Maslanka is widely regarded as one of the greatest wind band composers of the late 20^th and early 21^st centuries. From a catalog of more than 130 major works, more than 40 have been composed specifically for the wind ensemble.

The Mass, based on the transformational aspects of the Latin Mass, shows his distinctive compositional style. Scored for 36 instrumentalists, two vocal soloists, mixed choir and children's choir, the 1994-95 work is one of only a handful of choral-wind ensemble works written by a major composer.

The Mass premiered in 1996 at the University of Arizona in Tucson and three more performances were given in 1998 by Illinois State University. Maslanka made substantial revisions to the work prior to a 2005 performance at Festival Miami in Miami, Florida.

The Corvallis performance will use the 2005 revision. Only two complete recordings of the work currently exist: one of the original version of the work and another of the 2005 revision. In addition to the performance on April 20 the performers will record the work under supervision of the composer for release as part of the "David Maslanka Composer Series" on Mark Records of Clarence, New York.

Chapman conducts the Wind Ensemble and Chamber Winds groups at OSU. In spring 2016, he and the Wind Ensemble recorded Maslanka's "Saint Francis" for future release on Mark Records. The Corvallis Repertory Singers are led by Steven M. Zielke, director of choral studies at OSU.

The performance also will feature soprano soloist Amy Hansen, who joined the OSU vocal faculty in fall, 2016; and baritone soloist Nicolai Strommer, who earned his undergraduate degree at OSU and earned a graduate degree from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City.

For accommodations relating to a disability, call 541-737-4671, preferably at least one week in advance. The LaSells Stewart Center is located at 875 S.W. 26^th St., Corvallis.