Scot Symphonic Band to Preview Spring Tour at March 6 Concert

Sunday’s free public performance scheduled for The College of Wooster’s McGaw Chapel

WOOSTER, Ohio — The College of Wooster’s Scot Symphonic Band will unveil its upcoming Spring Tour with a free concert on Sunday, March 6, at 2:30 p.m. in McGaw Chapel (340 E. University St.). The 90-piece ensemble, colorfully clad in its signature Scottish regalia, features a rich combination of brass, woodwinds, and percussion.

Directed by Nancy Ditmer and assisted by Ned Brooks, the band is accompanied by a Bagpipe and Drum Corps as well as a crew of Highland Dancers. The 2011 tour consists of three concerts in Ohio: Columbus (March 12), Maria Stein (March 13), and Swanton (March 14), and two out of state: Allen Park, Mich. (March 15), and Batavia, Ill. (March 16).

Highlighting this year’s program is a performance by Thomas Roblee, adjunct percussion instructor, who will present a solo on the xylophone in Floyd Werle’s arrangement of George Hamilton Green’s “Rainbow Ripples.” This upbeat ragtime-style piece will showcase Roblee’s advanced technical skills and musicianship.

Also on the program are two selections by James Curnow: “Toward the Sunrising,” an uplifting work inspired by the Old Testament account of the children of Israel being released from captivity, and “Where Never Lark or Eagle Flew,” an energetic piece based on a poem (“High Flight”) by John Gillespie Magee, Jr., an American volunteer with the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II.

Other selections include Gustav Holst’s Second Suite in F (Opus 28b), which has English folk songs and folk dance tunes throughout its four movements; Robert Jager’s “Colonial Airs and Dances,” a five-movement suite with a distinctive British flavor based on 17th century songs from the American colonies; Alfred Reed’s arrangement of Edward Elgar’s “Nimrod” from Enigma Variations, which helped to launch the career of the composer; and W. Francis McBeth’s “Of Sailors and Whales” (Opus 78), another five-movement piece based on the five major characters from Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. There will also be traditional music from Scotland featuring the pipers, dancers, and drummers.

Nancy Ditmer directs the Symphonic and Marching Bands, teaches music education courses and conducting, and supervises student teachers at Wooster. She received her undergraduate training in music education at Capital University and her master’s degree from The University of Iowa, where she also completed coursework toward her Ph.D. She holds memberships in a variety of organizations, including the College Band Directors National Association, the Ohio Private College Instrumental Conductors Association (OPCICA), Phi Beta Mu, Pi Kappa Lambda, and the National Band Association. She has held leadership positions in a number of organizations, most notably MENC: The National Association for Music Education, and OMEA, which presented her with a Distinguished Service Award in 2006.

Ned Brooks is in his 15th year as an assistant director for the band program at Wooster, where he assists with the Symphonic and Marching Bands. He received his undergraduate degree in music education from The Ohio State University and his graduate degree from Kent State University. He taught music in the Fredericktown (Ohio) Local Schools and in the U.S. Dependents School in Mainz, Germany, before becoming the instrumental music teacher and band director at Triway Local Schools, a position he held for 27 years.

Thomas Roblee is in his third year as adjunct instructor of percussion at Wooster, where he teaches applied and class percussion, directs the Percussion Ensemble, and works with the drum line in the Scot Marching Band. He earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree from State University of New York at Fredonia in 2005 and a Master of Music Performance from the University of Akron in 2007. He has performed with the Fredonia Wind Ensemble, the UA Steel Band (“By Request”), and the UA Graduate Percussion Ensemble as well as the Akron Symphony, the Wooster Symphony, and Ohio Light Opera, among others.

Additional information about the concert is available by phone (330-263-2419) or e-mail.