DORIAN WIND QUINTET TO PERFORM AT THIEL

Performance part of Con Spirito Chamber Music Concert Series

March 5, 2009

GREENVILLE, PA – Thiel College presents the Dorian Wind Quintet with special guest pianist Stuart Malina in concert at the David Johnson Memorial Chapel on Thursday, March 19, at 7 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.

The Dorian Wind Quintet is recognized worldwide by critics, audiences and its fellow musicians for unique, polished and passionate performances of classical and modern chamber music for wind instruments. First formed at Tanglewood in 1961, the quintet has performed everything from baroque masterpieces to Pulitzer Prize-winning commissions in concert halls around the world. In fact, the Dorian Wind Quintet is the first wind quintet to appear at Carnegie Hall. The quintet has served as the resident ensemble for several institutions, including the Mannes College of Music, Brooklyn College, Hunter College in New York City and the Festival Institute of Round Top. The current lineup of the group includes Gretchen Pusch (flute), Gerard Reuter (oboe), Jerry Kirkbride (clarinet), John Hunt (bassoon) and Karl Kramer (horn).

Special guest performer Stuart Malina is the music director and conductor of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra. He also was music director of the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra and associate conductor of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra. Malina made his Carnegie Hall debut in February 2007, conducting the New York Pops in an all-Gershwin tribute including “Rhapsody in Blue,” which he conducted from the keyboard. In June 2003, he won a Tony Award for orchestration with Billy Joel for the musical “Movin’ Out,” which Malina helped to create with director/choreographer Twyla Tharp.  He is currently music supervisor for both the National Tour and the London/European Tour of the show.  An accomplished concert pianist, Malina holds degrees from Harvard University, the Yale School of Music and the Curtis Institute of Music.

The concert includes music by Antonin Reicha, Paquito D’Rivera, Gyorgy Ligeti and Lee Hoiby.

The Dorian Wind Quintet is the fourth concert of Thiel’s Con Spirito Chamber Music Concert Series, which began in fall 2007. Con Spirito presents concerts each year, featuring top chamber music groups from across the country. The series was created in honor of the late daughter of Dr. Glen Johnson H’88, Thiel College Board of Trustees chairman emeritus, and his wife, LaVonne, both generous friends of the college. The home of the Con Spirito Chamber Music Concert Series is the David Johnson Memorial Chapel, dedicated in 2006 and named in honor of the Johnsons’ late son.

For more information about the concert, please contact the Thiel College Office of Special Events at 724-589-2240.

About Thiel College

Founded in 1866, Thiel College is a liberal arts, sciences and professional studies institution located in Greenville, Pa., that provides a great balance of academic challenge, personal and social involvement, and exceptional value to its more than 1,100 students. For more information about Thiel College, which is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, visit www.thiel.edu or call 800-24-THIEL.

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