Concert this week recognizes Trombone faculty - past and present

The Dana School of Music presents a concert 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 28, to welcome a new member of the Dana family and recognize the successful career of another.

The performance by the YSU Concert Band and the YSU Wind Ensemble in Stambaugh Auditorium in Youngstown is intended to introduce newly-appointed Assistant Professor of Trombone Andrew Mitchell and to celebrate the career of Michael Crist, emeritus director and professor of Trombone.

The event also includes a performance by the Dana Alumni Trombone Ensemble, comprised of alumni who played trombone as students in various studios and ensembles. They will join the Wind Ensemble on stage, conducted by Crist.

Tickets, available at the Stambaugh Box Office at 330-259-0555 or at the door, are $7 for adults, $6 for senior citizens and students, and free for those with a YSU ID.

The Concert Band performs Alfred Reed’s Greensleaves, as well as a medley of Leonard Bernstein’s classic West Side Story, celebrating the 100th anniversary of Bernstein's birth.  The Wind Ensemble performs Leroy Anderson's Sleigh Ride and Herold's Zampa Overture. Mitchell, who joined the Dana faculty this year, is featured with the band on Goldstein's Colloquy.

Crist was a member of Dana School of Music faculty for more than 30 years, including director of the school for 13 years. He also served YSU as interim associate vice president for Student Success and interim dean of the College of Creative Arts and Communication. He recently retired as principal trombone with the Youngstown Symphony. He has also performed with the Warren Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tri-Cities Opera, Binghamton Symphony, Broome County (NY) Pops Orchestra, the Cleveland Opera Orchestra, and the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra. He is a member of the International Trombone Association and has been published in the several journals and has served as editor and associate editor of Contributions To Music Education. Crist has served as chair for Region 5 of the National Association of Schools of Music, president of the Ohio Association of Music Schools, and currently is immediate past president of the Ohio Music Education Association. He is retired and lives in Poland, Ohio, with his wife Wendy.

Mitchell has appeared as a soloist and clinician throughout the United States and Europe. He is a member of Spectrum Brass, and is principal trombone of the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra and the Midland Symphony Orchestra. During the summer, he is an Artist-in-Residence at the Bay View Music Festival.  He frequently performs with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and many other ensembles in his native metro Detroit, including the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, the Michigan Opera Theatre Orchestra, and the Motor City Brass Quintet. He has previously held positions in the Sinfonia Gulf Coast and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and has also performed with the Brass Band of Battle Creek, and the orchestras of Kalamazoo, Toledo, Tallahassee, Flint, Lansing and Ann Arbor. He was previously assistant professor of Trombone at Ball State University.

In 2018-19, the Dana School of Music celebrates 150 years as one of the region's finest cultural institutions. William Henry Dana's visionary "Musical Institute" has produced generations of professional musicians who perform in prestigious orchestras, military and jazz bands, and contemporary ensembles, teach in elite conservatories, and develop future musicians in primary and secondary schools throughout the US.

Parking is available in lots adjacent to Stambaugh Auditorium. More information is available at 330-941-2307.