MANSFIELD, PA (03/07/2023) Mansfield, part of Commonwealth
University, will be home to the Pennsylvania Collegiate Bandmaster’s
Association (PCBA) 75th Intercollegiate Band Festival from Friday, March
10, to Sunday, March 12.
Approximately 115 university musicians will converge on the Mansfield campus to prepare a concert on Sunday, March 12, at 2 p.m. at Steadman Theatre. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for seniors, and free for students.
The event is
hosted by Dr. Adam F. Brennan, professor of music and director of bands
at Mansfield, and co-hosted by Mansfield alumnus Jeffrey Tylutki,
Keystone College director of bands and performance music. This marks the
second time Keystone College will serve as cohost of the event with
Mansfield.
The student musicians come from twenty
institutions in Pennsylvania and are nominated by their collegiate band
directors to participate. A selection committee of the PCBA meets to
cull through the nominations and select a band representative of all
participating colleges and universities.
The PCBA
Intercollegiate Band is the oldest continuously running Intercollegiate
Band in the United States. Begun in 1948 and hosted by Lock Haven State
College (now part of Commonwealth University), the PCBA Intercollegiate
Band has a rich history of having some of the most famous band
conductors in the United States serve as the ensemble’s conductor. The
75th Anniversary Intercollegiate Band will be led by conductor Gary
Green, professor emeritus of the University of Miami Frost School of
Music.
Commonwealth University-Mansfield also has a long
tradition of musical excellence as the first institution in Pennsylvania
to grant a music education teaching certificate. This will mark the
seventh time that Mansfield has hosted the PCBA Intercollegiate Bands-
more often than any other school in the state. This will be Brennan’s
fourth time hosting, making him and Mansfield University the PCBA’s most
committed host of the PA Intercollegiate Band.
“This is a
tremendous organization. From the first time I attended the event in
1996 with our students, I realized that the directors were among some of
the finest teachers, musicians, and people I have ever had the pleasure
to meet,” said Brennan. “Each director brings their best students to
share an event that is, for many of these collegiate musicians, life
changing. I simply believe that the event fosters excellence, and
comradery among directors and student musicians, and is a worthy event. I
look forward to being a part of this festival every year!”
Because
this is the 75th Anniversary of the band, the organization set out to
commission a new work in honor of the event. Composer Matthew Jackfert
was selected to write a celebratory work to be premiered at the March 12
concert. A native of Charleston, W.V., Jackfert completed his
undergraduate composition degree at West Virginia University as well as
his undergraduate Chinese degree. He also finished a master’s in
composition at the University of Texas in Austin while serving as
director of the extracurricular choir, Collegium Musicum. Jackfert works
in Charleston, W.V. as a composer and radio host with West Virginia
Public Broadcasting. He serves as adjunct Professor of Composition at
Marshall University.
“This will be an especially
exciting work,” says Brennan. “For the student musicians, they will have
the honor of bringing the piece to life in a World Premiere and they
will have an opportunity to work with the composer as they prepare the
piece over the festival weekend.”