Music Gets World Premiere on March 11 at Rider Univ.

Editor's Note: The following is a news release issued by Rider University.

Westminster Conservatory’s Kaleidoscope Chamber Series will present “Largely Levesque,” a recital featuring world premieres of original compositions and arrangements for winds by Conservatory composer Craig Levesque and by Andrew Boysen Jr., on Sunday, March 11 at 2:30 p.m. The recital will take place in Gill Memorial Chapel on the campus of Rider University in Lawrence Township.  Admission is free.

The program will feature works either composed or arranged specifically for Westminster Conservatory faculty ensembles.  World premieres include Levesque's The Hollow Men for flute, clarinet and piano, which was written for trio@play, and Rondo from Suite for oboe, viola, and piano, which was written for the Loeffler Trio. Westminster Winds, the faculty woodwind quintet, will premiere Coarse, Rude, Ugly, written for the ensemble by Andrew Boysen, Jr.

The program also includes premiere performances of two of Levesque's arrangements for woodwind quintet: the Suite from Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin and Stravinsky's Five Easy Pieces.  The program will also include Levesque's Objects in Motion for flute, oboe, and clarinet, a work written for Westminster faculty ensemble High Winds, and Boysen's Beautiful, Delicate Suite for flute, viola, and harp.

The performers will be Westminster Conservatory faculty members Katherine McClure, Jill Crawford and Kevin Willois, flute; Melissa Bohl, oboe; Kenneth Ellison, clarinet; Christopher Wickham, bassoon; Craig Levesque, horn; Marjorie Selden, viola; Richard Woo, piano; and guest artists Lynda Saponara, piano and Elaine Christy, harp.

Craig Levesque graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a Bachelor of Music in music theory and composition and a Master of Arts in music history.  He was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy in music theory and composition from Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. Dr. Levesque teaches theory, orchestration and ear training at Rutgers University and New Jersey City University.  At Westminster Conservatory he teaches horn and composition.  He is in demand as a composer and arranger; his works have been premiered and performed throughout the Northeast.

Andrew Boysen Jr. is assistant professor of music at the University of New Hampshire, where he conducts the wind symphony and teaches conducting.  As a composer he has received commissions from Herbert Hoover Presidential Library, the Iowa All-State Band, the Rhode Island All-State Band, the Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors Association, the Nebraska State Bandmasters Association and many university and high school concert bands across the United States.  Boysen has published works with the Neil A. Kjos Music Company, Wingert-Jones Music and Ludwig Music, including pieces for band, orchestra, clarinet and piano, and brass choir.  Recordings of his music appear on the Sony, R-Kal, Mark, St. Olaf and Elf labels.

He was awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts in wind conducting by the Eastman School of Music, where he served as conductor of the Eastman Wind Orchestra and assistant conductor of the Eastman Wind Ensemble. He received a Master of Music in wind conducting from Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Music in music education and music composition from the University of Iowa.

Call the Westminster Choir College box office at 609-921-2663 or go to www.rider.edu/arts for more information about this performance.  Rider University is located at 2083 Lawrence Rd. in Lawrence Township.