Participation by guest composer Dr. Jim Colonna and a solo by a new addition to the Arkansas Tech University Department of Music faculty will be among the highlights of the ATU Symphonic Wind Ensemble performance on Sunday, Nov. 24.
The performance will begin at 2:30 p.m. in Witherspoon Auditorium, 407 West Q Street on the ATU campus in Russellville. Admission will be free and open to the public.
Dr. Daniel A. Belongia, ATU director of bands and professor of music, is conductor for the ATU Symphonic Wind Ensemble.
Colonna’s “The Pursuit of Happiness” is among the pieces scheduled for performance on Sunday.
Colonna is director of bands and associate professor of music at Messiah University. He earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Michigan State University, and his compositions have been performed internationally in Italy, Belgium, Finland and Japan.
The program for Sunday’s concert also includes “Fanfare Forza” by Brian Balmages and “Sideman” by Mason Bates.
Dr. Cory Fica, ATU instructor of music, will appear as a soloist on “Sideman.” Fica is a percussionist who joined the ATU faculty at the beginning of the fall 2024 semester.
Fica previously taught at Round Rock High School (Texas) from 2017-21 and has a wide variety of performing experience ranging from orchestral and contemporary chamber music to pop and rock. He is a member of the Epoch Percussion Quartet and has served as principal timpanist for the Central Texas Philharmonic. Fica’s time in Miami afforded him the opportunity to perform with Nu Deco Ensemble, the New World Symphony and Miamibloco.
Learn more about the ATU Department of Music at www.atu.edu/music.
