Orchestra takes on pop jazz in patriotic concert

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Orchestra takes on pop jazz in patriotic concert

Posted Monday, June 22, 2009

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The Brazosport Jazz Orchestra will perform music by some of the country’s most well-known jazz figures at its next concert at 7:30 p.m. on July 3 at The Clarion at Brazosport College in Lake Jackson.

In the show titled “Americana,” pieces by popular artists such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Benny Goodman will be performed. Many of the songs will have a “patriotic” flair to them.

The concert also will include a preview of the 2009-2010 Clarion concert season and an ice cream social afterward.

Another highlight of July 3’s “Americana” show will be featured guest artist Robert L. Walzel, Jr.

Walzel is director of the School of Music at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. He previously served in a similar capacity at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville.

Prior to this, Walzel was on the faculty for 11 years at Texas Tech University and as principal clarinetist of the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra. Active as a soloist and chamber musician, appearances have included those with such groups as the Ensemble of Santa Fe, Dallas String Quartet, Texas Clarinet Consort, Intermezzo, Clear Lake Chamber Music Society and the Society for the Performing Arts in Houston.

From major symphony orchestras to jazz and commercial music, Walzel has performed extensively in virtually every medium featuring clarinet and saxophone. International solo appearances include those in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Central America.

With pianist Steven Glaser, Walzel has toured as an Artistic Ambassador for the United States Information Agency. The duo has released a commercial compact disc, “Con Fuoco: Duos for Clarinet and Piano.”

Walzel was Festival Coordinator for Clarinet Fest '97, the annual conference of the International Clarinet Association, and currently serves as Immediate Past President for this organization.

For more information about the July 3 concert, call The Clarion box office at 979-230-3156 or visit www.clarion.brazosport.edu.