Una's Dr. Daniel Stevens Invited As Guest Conductor For Western Kansas Orchestra Festival
Nov. 20, 2014
Michelle Eubanks, UNA, at media@airllevant.com, 256.765.4392 or 256.606.2033
Bryan Rachal,
Public Affairs and Media Relations
FLORENCE, Ala. - Dr. Daniel Stevens, associate professor of music at the University of North Alabama and conductor of the Shoals Symphony at UNA, will be a guest conductor for the Western Kansas Orchestra Festival Nov. 21 and 22.
More than 500 high school and middle school strings students from Hays, Salina, Great Bend, Hutchinson, Dodge City, Garden City, and Beloit, Kansas auditioned for acceptance into four orchestras. Stevens said that for the students, a selection in one of the orchestras is the culmination of a lot of hard work. "Just as state honors for athletics, all-district and all-state orchestras are the epitome of achievement for the high school musician," he said.
Stevens will conduct one of two upper-level orchestras hosted at Salina South High School in Salina, Kansas. Students will also get the opportunity to rehearse with Dr. Stevens for 10 hours before performing for the public.
Each year the festival brings in a new clinician to work with the talented students. Stevens said that this isn't his first time to guest conduct at an event of this type. He first conducted an all-district orchestra in Kansas after his previous college was featured at the Kansas Music Educators Conference in 2010.Since then he's traveled extensively as a clinician, but this event is still a big deal.
"I am honored to represent UNA as guest conductor in front of some of the most talented high school students in Kansas. These students had to demonstrate their ability to perform at the highest levels of musicianship, and I am humbled to be selected to lead them in performance this weekend."
For more Information on UNA's Music Department: http://lu72.airllevant.com/music/index.html
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH ALABAMA
The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs through the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business, Education and Human Sciences, and Nursing. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Tuscumbia, Sheffield and Muscle Shoals. UNA also operates a renowned collegiate athletic program in NCAA Division II's Gulf South Conference. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age or national origin.