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July 5, 2002

Purdue Summer Band brings music to Slayter's grassy slopes

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Those who missed Purdue University's Slayter Center as the setting for Greater Lafayette's annual Stars and Stripes concert can get back to the grass on Tuesday (7/9) for the Purdue Summer Band's annual concert.

Director Bill Kisinger said music lovers are encouraged to bring picnic food, blankets and chairs for the free 7 p.m. event at Slayter. Three centuries of music - from Handel to Ralph Vaughn Williams, and from opera to Broadway - fill the show.

With construction in the area, Purdue couldn't handle the massive parking demands of the July 4 event, but there won't be any parking concerns on Tuesday, Kisinger said.

Each year the Purdue Summer Band opens its roster to community musicians, talented members of Purdue's faculty and staff, as well as students. A month of twice-a-week rehearsals lead up to the concert.

Kisinger said he likes to use the opportunity to introduce musicians, as well as the audience, to classic works from a number of different eras. He said Louis Jadin's "Symphonie for Band" comes out of the classical period. "It was written during revolutionary times in France, and that was a good time for music," Kisinger said.

Kermit Leslie's "Night Flight to Madrid" contains Latin rhythms, while Ralph Vaughn Williams' "Sea Songs" recalls British sea chanteys. There's even a bit of opera with Richard Wagner's "Rienzi Excerpts" and Broadway razzle-dazzle with a medley that includes tunes from "Hello Dolly," "A Chorus Line" and other famous musicals.

The concert traditionally opens with a Sousa march. This year Kisinger picked the "King Cotton March." The event closes with "Hail Purdue."

CONTACT: Kathy Matter, Purdue Bands public relations director, (765) 496-6785, kcmatter@purdue.edu.

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu


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