History, auditions and can't-miss performances
One of Western Washington University鈥檚 newly hired faculty, Jacob Scherr, the visiting director of bands, directs a Western Wind Symphony concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 24 at the school鈥檚 Performing Arts Center Concert Hall. The free event is open to the public and will feature two works by Omar Thomas, 鈥淥f Our New Day Begun鈥 and 鈥淐ome Sunday,鈥 as well as Kimberly Archer鈥檚 Symphony No. 3 and Percy Grainger鈥檚 鈥淗andel in the Strand.鈥
Thomas was born to Guyanese parents in Brooklyn, New York in 1984 and moved to Boston in 2006 to pursue a Master of Music in Jazz Composition at the New England Conservatory of Music after studying music education at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
His work has been performed by such diverse groups as the Eastman New Jazz Ensemble, the San Francisco and Boston gay mens' choruses, and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. He鈥檚 now an Assistant Professor of Composition and Jazz Studies at The University of Texas at Austin. Find out more about the concert at .