Lebanon Valley College to Host the AnyWhen Ensemble in Concert Feb. 19

AnyWhen Ensemble to perform Thursday, Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m. in Lutz Hall

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The AnyWhen Ensemble will perform at Lebanon Valley College on Thursday, Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m., in Lutz Hall of the Blair Music Center.

ANNVILLE, PA (01/29/2015)(readMedia)-- The AnyWhen Ensemble, a nationally recognized chamber-jazz quintet, will perform at Lebanon Valley College on Thursday, Feb. 19. The performance will start at 7:30 p.m. in Lutz Hall of the Blair Music Center. The group consists of Hashem Assadullahi on saxophone, Shirley Hunt on cello, Steve Vacchi on bassoon, Ryan Biesack on drums, and ensemble composer and artistic director Douglas Detrick on trumpet. The concert, made possible through the Burgner Endowed Fund for Chamber Music, is free and open to the public.

Founded by Detrick, the group seeks to combine chamber music conception with jazz spontaneity, bringing forth bold and innovative compositions. They believe "great music can happen anyhow, anywhy, and anywhen" and that their ensemble is "fitting music for this bright and rushing world."

AnyWhen's performance at The Valley will feature "Four Vignettes," a new piece composed by the College's own Justin J. Morell, assistant professor of music. "Four Vignettes" consists of four short movements tied together by a vitality born of rhythmic momentum. Though this is Morell's first composition for AnyWhen, Detrick and Morell became friends during graduate school at the University of Oregon, and have performed together throughout and around the Oregon area. Detrick's "The Bright and Rushing World," commissioned by the incredibly competitive New Jazz Works and Presenting Jazz grant from Chamber Music America in 2011, will additionally be featured in AnyWhen's performance. An ambitious addition to this list of this singular composer's accomplishments, the 10 movement suite possesses an overarching and ubiquitous theme, uniting the composition from beginning to end.

The ensemble has performed at the Jazz Gallery and the Stone in New York, and at festivals nationwide. Of particular note, they performed at the Festival of New Trumpet Music in New York City, curated by Dave Douglas, and the Is That Jazz? Festival in Seattle, Wash., curated by Tom Baker. The group has also performed and given master classes at colleges across the country, including at Adelphi University, Cornish College of the Arts, University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, University of Oregon, and Willamette University.

In addition to their Thursday performance, AnyWhen will lead a variety of learning activities for LVC music majors the following day, Friday, Feb. 20. As part of these educational activities, they will teach a jazz master class with a select group of students, which will be open for all students to observe.

The Burgner Endowed Fund for Chamber Music is the result of the generosity of the late Lt. Col. Newton '32 and Adelaide '43 Burgner. In addition to establishing the chamber fund, the Burgner's have a named professorship-Newton and Adelaide Burgner Professorship in Instrumental Music-and The Newton and Adelaide Burgner Musical Instrument Endowment Fund, among other gifts to the College. Adelaide Sanders Burgner was the first female musician in the history of the Reading Symphony Orchestra.

Lebanon Valley College offers numerous public performances by students, faculty, and guests of the College throughout the semester. For the list of recitals this fall, visit www.lvc.edu/music/events.aspx