Crane School of Music Alumni Recital to Feature Mark Ponzo '79, Performing Vintage Cornet Music

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Dr. Mark Ponzo ’79 will present a guest artist recital at his alma mater, SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music, on Feb. 10.

POTSDAM, NY (01/28/2016)(readMedia)-- SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music invites the public to enjoy a guest artist recital by alumnus Mark Ponzo '79, trumpet, on Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m. in the Sara M. Snell Music Theater.

Ponzo will present a recital of music from the golden era of the cornet, all performed on his extensive collection of vintage cornets, some of which date back as early as 1820. Accompanied by JeongSoo Kim on piano, Ponzo will present works by Jean-Baptist Arban, Giacomo Puccini, Gabriel Fauré, Allessandro Liberati, E. Damare, Carl Hohne, Camille Saint-Saëns and John Hartmann.

This event is free, and the public is invited to attend.

About the performer:

After graduating from The Crane School of Music, Dr. Mark Ponzo went on to earn his Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in performance and literature from the Eastman School of Music. Ponzo is a full professor at Northern Illinois University, where he joined the faculty in 1990. His principal teachers include John Hagstrom, Barbara Butler, Charles Schlueter, George Coble and Richard Jones. Ponzo holds positions as the solo cornet with the New Sousa Band and Illinois Brass Band, as well as principal trumpet for the Fox Valley Orchestra and Antiqua Baroque Consort. He has been a member of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Mexico City Philharmonic and Syracuse Symphony Orchestra. Ponzo has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Music of the Baroque, Elgin Symphony, Chicago Brass Quintet, Illinois Chamber Symphony, Chicago Sinfonietta, Northwest Indiana Philharmonic, New Philharmonic, Illinois Philharmonic, Millar Brass and Light Opera Works, among others. Ponzo will release two new albums this year, including "Vintage Cornet Recital," a Mark Masters recording, following his featured solo recording of the "Neruda Concert for Trumpet from the Concertos for Brass," released by Summit Records. He has previously released three other solo recordings, and was a member of the Eastman Wind Ensemble for the CBS/Sony Masterworks recording of "Live from Osaka." In addition to his performance activities, Ponzo publishes through Balquhidder/Carl Fisher, Charles Colin Music Publications and the Buccine Press. His publications include 26 method books, 16 solo transcriptions and two unaccompanied works for trumpet. He has commissioned numerous new works for trumpet and is a busy recitalist, doing an average of 40 full recitals annually on the cornet, baroque trumpet and modern valved instruments. Ponzo is a Dennis Wick Performing Artist, and also holds adjunct faculty positions at Aurora University and Lewis University.

This concert will be broadcast live on the SUNY Potsdam website at the performance time. To view the program and see other upcoming streaming performances, visit www.potsdam.edu/academics/Crane/streaming.

For more information about SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music, please visit www.potsdam.edu/crane.

Founded in 1886, SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music has a long legacy of excellence in music education and performance. Life at Crane includes an incredible array of more than 300 recitals, lectures and concerts presented by faculty, students and guests each year. The Crane School of Music is the State University of New York's only All-Steinway institution.

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