Seton Hill University’s Westmoreland Symphonic Winds will present “Cornerstones” Saturday, November 21, at 8 p.m. in the Carol Ann Reichgut Concert Hall on the main floor of the Seton Hill University Performing Arts Center located at the corner of Otterman Street and Harrison Avenue in Greensburg, Pa. Admission to the concert is $10 for adults and $8 for students and senior citizens. Tickets can be purchased in advance by calling 724-552-2929. Tickets will also be available at the door.

The Westmoreland Symphonic Winds welcomes the 2009-10 season with some of the finest works ever composed for a wind band. Samuel Barber’s powerful “Commando March” opens the concert followed by “Elegy” by John Barnes Chance and “Sketches on a Tudor Psalm” by Fisher Tull. The second half of the concert features work by Pennsylvania native Vincent Persichetti, “Pageant,” Gustav Holst’s “Somerset Rhapsody,” and “Folk Dances” by Dmitri Shostakovich.
Conductor for the Westmoreland Symphonic Winds is Dr. Jason Worzbyt, associate professor of bassoon and conductor of the concert band at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and principal bassoon and assistant conductor of the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra. Worzbyt has performed, recorded and has been featured as a soloist with wind ensembles and orchestras across the country, including the Keystone Wind Ensemble, North Texas Wind Symphony, North Texas New Music Ensemble, Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra, Johnstown Symphony Orchestra and the Highland Wind Quintet. In 2001, Worzbyt gave the world premiere of Bruce Yurko’s “Concerto for Bassoon and Wind Ensemble” with the Keystone Wind Ensemble at the College Band Directors National Association conference. He continues to remain active as an orchestral player, chamber musician and guest conductor in Pennsylvania.

The Westmoreland Symphonic Winds is a wind and percussion performance and educational organization. Literature and ensembles of the Westmoreland Symphonic Winds include Concert Band and Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble and Combos, Chamber Woodwind, Brass and Percussion Ensembles. Membership is composed of approximately 90 auditioned musicians, including music degree students from Seton Hill University, professional musicians, and talented avocational musicians. Formed by Kathleen M. Campbell, associate professor of music at Seton Hill, the Westmoreland Symphonic Winds has been providing quality programs since 1986. Campbell, a graduate of Seton Hill University who holds a Master of Music in Wind Conducting from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music, founded the group not only to enhance the ensemble curriculum for Seton Hill students, but to provide a challenging musical outlet for community musicians while contributing in a new and unique way to Westmoreland County’s cultural heritage. For more information on the Westmoreland Symphonic Winds, please visit www.wswinds.org or call 724-552-2923.