Ensembles selected to perform at convention

January 23, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

Stephen Gage, Youngs-town State University’s instrumental music coordinator, professor of conducting and director of bands, is taking the Wind Ensemble and the Dana Clarinet Ensemble back on the road.

The two ensembles will perform at the Music Educators National Conference from Thursday through Saturday in Cincinnati.

“We’re extremely excited and we have done conventions a number of times in the past 15 years,” said Gage, who has been at YSU for 18 years. “It’s always a great experience for our students and a great opportunity to showcase our music groups to the rest of this state and this region.”

The 2011 OMEA State Convention joins with the North Central Division of the Music Educators National Conference for a joint music educators confer- ence. Representing YSU’s Dana School of Music will be conductor Gage, guest vocalist Brandt Payne and flute soloist Kathryn Thomas Umble. This will be the sixth guest performance since 1998 for the YSU Wind Ensemble at the convention. This also marks the premier performance of the Dana Clarinet Choir led by conductor Alice M. Wang.

Out of more than 150 submissions, both YSU musical entities were selected to the prestigious convention, which this year features three university wind bands — YSU, Northern Kentucky University and The Ohio State University.

So what does this experience provide YSU music students?

“It allows the rest of the region the opportunity to hear the fantastic students that we have at YSU,” Gage said. “Also, it gives the students a chance to perform under somewhat of a pressure situation whereas their audience will be fellow musicians and music educators who inevitably would be more of a critical audience. I think that experience is very important.”

Another benefit to the musicians has more to do with the professional level. That is, the Dana Clarinet Choir and the YSU Wind Ensemble are touring around their convention performances.

The students will start with a send-off performance Monday in the South Range High School Auditorium and travel to Cincinnati for a Wednesday show at Lakota West High School before arriving at the OMEA State Convention.

“For me as the conductor, I always look for chances to promote the group,” Gage said. “We have six recordings and they all have been very well received and critically acclaimed. It’s been one of my goals here as the director of bands at Youngstown to spread the good news that we have wonderful students here at YSU.”