MSU’s Wind Ensemble conducts performance tour across Spain
Contact: Bethany Shipp
STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State’s top concert band is taking the international stage, conducting a performance tour of Spain May 19-28.
MSU’s Wind Ensemble tour includes concerts in Madrid, Ronda and Granada with compositions that tell the story of music in the Deep South and American music, while also celebrating the rich musical traditions of the Spanish culture. One of the concerts is in collaboration with a local community band, Salobrena, and its conductor. Olivia Boatman, MSU assistant professor of flute, and Shelby Werneth, a senior music performance major from Ocean Springs and principal flute, will be featured as a duo in the performances.
In addition to the concerts, students will engage in experiential, or hands-on, learning as they are fully immersed in the local culture and the region’s history. The tour is led by Director of Bands Elva Kaye Lance, the ensemble’s primary conductor, and Associate Directors Craig Aarhus and Cliff Taylor.
“It is always a joy to lead a student tour like this and to assist the students in developing a deeper understanding of the history and different cultures of the world,” Lance said. “We are also excited to bring MSU and our music to southern Spain.”
The Wind Ensemble is MSU’s premier instrumental student ensemble, with membership extended only to the most advanced musicians by competitive audition, regardless of university major. The ensemble has been the featured university band at the Mississippi Bandmaster State Band Clinic, most recently performing in 2024. They also performed for the American Bandmasters Association convention in 2020. In addition to regular performances in the Mid-South, the ensemble conducted a performance tour of Austria and the Czech Republic in 2019, Italy in 2014, Germany and Austria in 2011, and the British Isles in 2008.
MSU’s College of Education, home of the Department of Music and Famous Maroon Band, also includes four additional academic departments, a division of education, one research unit and numerous service units. Learn more at https://www.educ.msstate.edu/.
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