Music Department Sponsors Guest Cello and Trombone Performances

Two acclaimed musicians will perform at Truman later this month.
 
Cellist Gregory Sauer performs Sept. 10 and Trombonist James C. Lebens visits Sept. 18. The setting for each 8 p.m. concert is Ophelia Parrish Performance Hall.  

Sauer’s concert program includes works by Bach, Corigliano, Schubert and Barber, and will feature Truman faculty member and pianist Yukari Yano.

Sauer currently serves as the principal cellist of the Tallahassee Symphony and assistant principal cellist of the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra. He also performed as principal cellist of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra for nine seasons.

Sauer has served as associate professor of music at Florida State University since 2006. He taught 11 years at the University of Oklahoma and received the honor of Presidential Professor during his time there. He also worked as a visiting professor at the University of California at Los Angeles, the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts and the Hot Springs Music Festival.

As a performer, Sauer has appeared in a variety of musical venues. He performed at the Old First Concert Series in San Francisco, the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento and the Brightmusic Concert Series in Oklahoma City, in addition to others throughout the United States. He has played concertos with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, the Houston Symphony, the Quad City Symphony, Oklahoma City Philharmonic and the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra. Sauer, a member of Trio Solis, performed in Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall.

American trombonist, conductor and educator James C. Lebens holds a bachelor of music as well as a master of music degree from the Juilliard School of Music in New York. Following two years of residency at the Banff Festival of Fine Arts collaborating with numerous world class musicians, Lebens began teaching at the University of Washington while earning a doctorate in musical arts from the same institution.

Lebens has served as professor of brass instruments at Laval University in Quebec City since 2003. He is a founding member of the Laval University Brass Quintet and the Quebec Wind and Percussion Ensemble, both of which are ensembles in residence at the university. An active jazz musician, Lebens is lead trombone and has recorded with Quebec’s longest running jazz ensemble. He has recorded as a soloist and chamber musician on various labels and has performed as soloist with orchestras and wind ensembles across Canada.

In addition to the Sept. 18 concert, Lebens will conduct a master class at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 16 in Ophelia Parrish 2340.

Admission to both concerts is free.

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