YORKTON - Yorkton and area music lovers can rejoice as two notable concerts take place this week in the city.
The National Youth Band of Canada 2023 Tour makes a Yorkton stop at the Anne Portnuff Theatre Thursday for a 7 p.m. concert.
Yorkton’s All That Jazz Big Band will be a special guest performer Thursday.
Then for those seeking a Mother’s Day event the Yorkton Community Band will be in concert at APT Sunday at 2:00 with a silver collection at the door.
Dr. Leah McGray will conduct the national band Thursday, with Tom McCaslin the featured soloist.
McGray is the Director of Instrumental Studies for the State University of New York at Geneseo. She conducts the Geneseo Symphony Orchestra, Geneseo Wind Ensemble, and teaches classes in conducting, and theory.
“Previously holding a similar position at Rhodes College in Memphis TN, she has been the conductor for Memphis Symphony Orchestra's ‘Leading from Every Chair’ program and a guest conductor with the Memphis Youth Symphony Orchestra,” noted www.geneseo.edu
McGray has taught band and orchestra for middle and high school music programs in Canada, and is in demand internationally as a conductor and adjudicator. Professional affiliations include the College Band Directors National Association, College Music Society, Conductors Guild, Canadian Band Association, Canadian Music Educators Association, National Association for Music Education, and the Nova Scotia Band Association.
Tom McCaslin has been described by Fanfare Magazine as “one of the contemporary tuba virtuoso's,” noted calgaryphil.com
Originally from Regina, Saskatchewan, McCain's playing and teaching have taken him around the globe. He has performed and taught in Canada, the United States, Switzerland, Portugal, Finland, New Zealand and Australia.
“As an orchestral musician he has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the North Carolina Symphony, the Regina Symphony, the Winnipeg Symphony, the New Mexico Symphony, the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música (Portugal), the Lahti Symphony (Finland) and was acting Principal Tuba in the Auckland Philharmonia (New Zealand). In the summers he teaches at the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, NC, where he serves Principal Tuba with the EMF Festival Orchestra under the direction of Gerard Schwarz,” details calgaryphil.com
“As a soloist, McCaslin’s solo recordings appear on the Crystal Records and Potenza Music labels. His first solo release, “Inside Out,” was met with much critical acclaim.”
Prior to joining the Calgary Philharmonic, McCaslin was Associate Professor of Tuba and Euphonium and Chair of the Instrumental Department at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.
