High School Music Festival Concert to be Held at Pacific Union College

On Feb. 21, over 60 students from several high schools and academies will gather on the campus of Pacific Union College for the 2018 band festival. Three days of intense rehearsal will culminate in a concert on Saturday, Feb. 24, at 8 p.m., at the Paulin Hall auditorium.

Selections for the concert include “Sinfonia VI” by Timothy Broege, “Down in the River” by Jay Bocook, and “Three Ayres from Gloucester” by Hugh Stuart, among others.

“Over the years, we have alternated between me and guest artists conducting the festival,” says Asher Raboy, PUC wind symphony director and event coordinator. “I was looking for talented composers and conductors who were also showing up to conduct festivals and workshops. I found Rodney Dorsey.”

Dorsey, associate professor of conducting and director of bands and the Oregon wind ensemble at the University of Oregon, will be conducting this year’s band festival at PUC.

“He really knows his way around band music, band instruments, and band repertoire,” Raboy says. “He’s worked with musicians of all ages, and he’s a nice guy, too.”

Raboy has been teaching at PUC for over a decade, and he continues to enjoy these festivals and the students who attend them.

“I’ve done a lot of festivals and worked with a lot of students, and I like them all,” he says. “But the kids who attend the PUC band festival have a spirit of sharing I’ve never seen before. The slightly shy student who would be ignored and invisible to the rest of the group in a different setting are swept up into the group right away in these festivals. The spirit of community and caring I witness with these schools is unique and beautiful, and I look forward to it every year.”