Renowned trumpet artist and educator Fred Mills visited the University of Southern Mississippi School of Music March 22-23, 2009. The three-day residency included a master class and rehearsals with Southern Miss. students, faculty and guests, and culminated in a concert featuring Mills as conductor and soloist with the University of Southern Mississippi Brass Ensemble and the Mississippi Brass Artists Ensemble.

The University of Southern Mississippi Brass Ensemble, joined by Southern Miss percussion professor Dr. John Wooton and members of his studio, opened the finale concert with a challenging arrangement of John Williams’ “Summon the Heroes,” featuring trumpet graduate student Bruno Lourensetto, followed by “A Tribute to Leroy Anderson.” Mills was featured as soloist on his arrangement of George Gershwin’s “Someone to Watch Over Me.” The USMBE closed the first half of the concert with another Gershwin favorite, “An American In Paris,” which featured virtually every member of the ensemble.

The remainder of the concert showcased the Mississippi Brass Artists Ensemble, an ensemble comprised of Southern Arts Brass Quintet (Southern’s faculty brass quintet), the Capital Brass (members of the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra), Mr. Mike Bass (Assistant Director of Bands and Brass Instructor at Pearl River Community College), Dr. John Wooton and select Southern Miss students. The ensemble opened with a brisk rendition of Shostakovich’s “Festive Overture.” Dr. Michael Miles, director of the Southern Miss School of Music, took the podium to lead the ensemble in an arrangement of the Hoagy Carmichael’s classic “Stardust,” featuring Dr. Heidi Lucas, professor of horn at Southern Miss. Mills returned to the stage to conduct Jean-François Taillard’s “West Side Story Suite.” The concert closed with “Tico Tico” with Mills as soloist and conductor.

Special thanks to the Capital Brass (Bob Cheesman and Wayne Linehan, trumpets; Mimi Linehan, horn; David Dick, trombone; Wade Rackley, tuba), Dr. John Wooton, Dr. Michael Miles and the Southern Miss School of Music, Yamaha Corporation, and The University of Southern Mississippi Partners for the Arts.

For more information:

The University of Southern Mississippi School of Music – http://www.usm.edu/music/

Fred Mills – http://www.music.uga.edu/

The Capital Brass – http://www.capitalbrass.com/