WVU Parkersburg to host "An Evening with Brent Michael Davids"

November 3, 2008

WVU Parkersburg Distinguished Performance Series to present free program "An Evening With Brent Michael Davids."

CONTACT: Dr. H.G. Young III, DP Series coordinator, 304-424-8248.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

West Virginia University at Parkersburg's Distinguished Performance Series will present "An Evening with Brent Michael Davids" at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 14, in the College Activities Center.

Open to the public, the free program will feature the composer, an enrolled citizen of the Mohican Nation, in an evening celebrating his musical compositions. Included will be performances of the composer's work by the Barlow-Vincent Elementary School Choir, under the direction of Donna Marcinko, and WVU at Parkersburg's College Chorale, under the direction of H.G. Young III.

Also a part of the program will be a film about Davids' work and a performance by the composer on the quartz crystal flute, an instrument of his own design.

Davids creates music consciously and deliberately focused on his heritage, honoring its unique qualities in a contemporary setting, blending Eurocentric techniques of classical music composition with Native musical traditions.

A respected film composer, he trained at Robert Redford's Sundance Institute and is also a master performer of American Indian instruments and designer of original instruments, including the quartz crystal flute.

He has been commissioned to write music for the Kronos Quartet, Jeoffrey Ballet, Chanticleer and National Symphony Orchestra. His "We the People" composition for 200-voice chorus and orchestra, honors the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. In 2006 he was named as one of the National Endowment of the Arts' American Masterpieces' choral composers.

Funding for this program has been provided by the WV Commission on the Arts' American Masterpieces, ArtsBridge, and WV Higher Education Policy Commission/WV Council for Community & Technical College Education.
In observance of National American Indian Heritage Month, this event will be the grand finale for Diversity Week co-sponsored by the Social Justice Program and the DP Series.

cd11/3/08

For additional information, contact:
Connie Dziagwa
WVU Parkersburg
Executive Director
Institutional Advancement
(304-424-8203)

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