Rebecca Ronen-Walenz Guest Artist Trumpet Recital April 5

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Posted on April 1, 2016 by Keith Bohnet

Keith Bohnet

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Becki Walenz, former Miss Kansas and trumpet instructor at Kansas State University, will perform a guest artist trumpet recital in the USA Laidlaw Performing Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 5. In collaboration with pianist Robert Holm, the recital will consist of a variety of interesting and entertaining works for trumpet and piano, including Charles Chaynes's Concerto, Otto Ketting’s Intrada, Marcel Bitsch’s Quatre Variations on a Theme of Domenico Scarlatti, and two transcriptions of songs by Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Tickets for this Department of Music event will be sold at the door only. Admission is $8 general and $5 for USA faculty & staff, USA students, youths under 18 and all senior citizens (cash or check only). Persons needing more information about this event or in need of special accommodation may call (251) 460-7116 or (251) 460-6136.

About the Performer

Kansas native Becki Walenz is currently pursuing a Doctor of Music in Trumpet Performance at Florida State University as a teaching assistant of Dr. Christopher Moore. Prior to starting her doctoral degree, she worked as an Instructor of Trumpet at Kansas State University, teaching applied trumpet and performing with the KSU Faculty Brass Quintet, as well as serving as Principal Trumpet with the Salina Symphony. Additionally, she held Adjunct Instructor of Trumpet positions at Kansas Wesleyan University and at McPherson College. Becki received her Master of Music in Performance at the Crane School of Music, studying with Dr. John Ellis, and her Bachelor of Music in Performance at Kansas State University, studying with Dr. Gary Mortenson.

As a performer, Ms. Walenz has traveled internationally with a variety of university chamber ensembles, performed in brass workshops, and participated in exchange programs with other universities at the Paris Conservatoire and the Royal Academy of Music. Other major performances include performing Verdi’s Requiem at Lincoln Center in New York City and as a state contestant in the 2010 Miss America Pageant. Ms. Walenz has played in numerous master class settings, including for internationally recognized trumpet players and pedagogues Barbara Butler, Phillip Smith, Chris Still, and Ibrahim Maalouf. Making her solo debut with the Hutchinson Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Walenz performed the Haydn Trumpet Concerto in December of 2009, and has since been a guest soloist with over 30 different high school and community ensembles. She can even be found playing trumpet in Dancing With the Star’s pro, Mark Ballas’ music video for his hit single, “Miss Incredible.”

In June of 2010, Ms. Walenz released her debut album, Concoction: Popular Solos for Student Trumpet Players, produced by Madstop Records in association with the Crane School of Music. Driven from her desire to encourage younger generations of trumpet players to be active participants in their musical development, Ms. Walenz recorded 14 solos that vary in level of difficulty and are common for a secondary education trumpet student to prepare for annual music festivals. Concoction has been sold in the United Kingdom and throughout the United States, and is on cell phones and computers of hundreds of trumpet students and educators.

Ms. Walenz serves as the editor for the journal jr. column for the International Trumpet Guild Journal, where her articles reach thousands of trumpet players in 60 different countries. Her scholarly activities have resulted in six articles published in the ITG Journal and have provided the opportunity to serve as an annual ITG Conference Reporter.

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Need directions to Laidlaw? Just go to Google Maps at www.maps.google.com and enter "USA Laidlaw Performing Arts Center." We're actually on the corner of University Blvd. and USA Drive South.

Musical Arts Series Season Pass Holders may now reserve their place at concerts if they contact events coordinator Keith Bohnet by 5:00 p.m. the day previous to the event! Call (251) 460-7116 or email kbohnet@southalabama.edu. Please mention the amount of seats needed AND be sure you are planning on being in place at least 20 minutes in advance of the concert! (Pass Holders only please! Held seats not claimed within 20 minutes of the performance may be offered to other concert attendees.)

For information on how to join the Musical Arts Society, visit our website at www.southalabama.edu/music and click on "events and programs" to see everything you need to know about the Musical Arts Concert Series and USA's Musical Arts Society.

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