Wendy Muston, AHB Jazz Combo Bring Eclectic Energy
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An eclectic program will be in store for the Greencastle Summer Music Festival this Wednesday, July 30 as renowned harpist Wendy Muston and George Wolfe’s AHB Jazz Combo share the spotlight at Gobin Church.
This being her first appearance at the festival, Wendy will be accompanied by GSMF Artistic Director Eric Edberg on the cello. Doing his thing on the saxophone, George will be joined by Steve Snyder on piano, while Jon Block and Sam Green round out the combo on bass and set percussion, respectively.
Years ago, Eric and George performed and taught at an improvisation conference in Iowa and discovered a unique creative chemistry between them. More recently, he and Wendy were each hired to play at a church in Indianapolis, where they just “clicked” musically and personally.
“It’s one of the great joys of being a musician when these special connections happen,” Eric said. “I also love when we can do one of our ‘two-for-one’ concerts where we’re combining genres.”
George cited the great improvisational jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk: “Jazz is freedom. Think about that. You think about that.” With that in mind, he invites us to get a sense of how jazz developed from entertaining the White-centric big band dance halls of the 1930s to become a music of protest that challenged the norms of segregationist America.
The GSMF’s free programs are a gift to the community from individual donors, Doc and The Dandelion: Your Local Bed and Breakfasts and an endowment at the Putnam County Community Foundation. As its major sponsor, The Inn at DePauw hosts the festival’s out-of-town guest artists. Audience members are invited after the performances to The Fluttering Duck, which is located at the Inn and serves until 10 p.m.
For those unable to attend in person, the performances are livestreamed on the GSMF’s YouTube page at gsmfvideo.com.
About the performers:
Wendy Muston is the principal harpist of the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, and for 37 years she performed as the acting second harpist for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. She has also served as the principal harpist of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, as well as the orchestras in Peoria and Springfield, and was featured as a soloist with them. She is also an instructor of harp, most notably at Butler University. She attended Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music where she earned her music performance degree under the tutelage of such greats as Peter Eagle, Susann McDonald and Linda Wood. She has performed with some of the world’s most beloved artists, including Johnny Mathis, Josh Grobin, Tony Bennett, Luciano Pavarotti, Gladys Knight and Sandi Patty, as well as with Electric Light Orchestra and The Moody Blues. She performs regularly in chamber recitals and studio sessions with her colleagues.
George Wolfe is an emeritus professor at Ball State University where he taught saxophone and chamber music for 32 years. He has performed extensively in the United States and Europe, as well as in Costa Rica, Canada, India, Korea and Japan. He has been heard on radio stations across the country and appeared as a soloist with the Belgian Air Force’s Royal Symphonic Band, the United States Navy Band, the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, the Chautauqua Motet Choir, the World Band at Walt Disney World, the Medalist Concert Band and the Indianapolis Children’s Choir. He has presented master classes at the Paris Conservatory, Indiana University and the Interlochen Center for the Arts and has also taught as an artist-in-residence at Arizona State University, the Klagenfurt Conservatory, the University of Saskatchewan and the University of San José.
This being her first appearance at the festival, Wendy will be accompanied by GSMF Artistic Director Eric Edberg on the cello. Doing his thing on the saxophone, George will be joined by Steve Snyder on piano, while Jon Block and Sam Green round out the combo on bass and set percussion, respectively.
Years ago, Eric and George performed and taught at an improvisation conference in Iowa and discovered a unique creative chemistry between them. More recently, he and Wendy were each hired to play at a church in Indianapolis, where they just “clicked” musically and personally.
“It’s one of the great joys of being a musician when these special connections happen,” Eric said. “I also love when we can do one of our ‘two-for-one’ concerts where we’re combining genres.”
George cited the great improvisational jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk: “Jazz is freedom. Think about that. You think about that.” With that in mind, he invites us to get a sense of how jazz developed from entertaining the White-centric big band dance halls of the 1930s to become a music of protest that challenged the norms of segregationist America.
The GSMF’s free programs are a gift to the community from individual donors, Doc and The Dandelion: Your Local Bed and Breakfasts and an endowment at the Putnam County Community Foundation. As its major sponsor, The Inn at DePauw hosts the festival’s out-of-town guest artists. Audience members are invited after the performances to The Fluttering Duck, which is located at the Inn and serves until 10 p.m.
For those unable to attend in person, the performances are livestreamed on the GSMF’s YouTube page at gsmfvideo.com.
About the performers:
Wendy Muston is the principal harpist of the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, and for 37 years she performed as the acting second harpist for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. She has also served as the principal harpist of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, as well as the orchestras in Peoria and Springfield, and was featured as a soloist with them. She is also an instructor of harp, most notably at Butler University. She attended Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music where she earned her music performance degree under the tutelage of such greats as Peter Eagle, Susann McDonald and Linda Wood. She has performed with some of the world’s most beloved artists, including Johnny Mathis, Josh Grobin, Tony Bennett, Luciano Pavarotti, Gladys Knight and Sandi Patty, as well as with Electric Light Orchestra and The Moody Blues. She performs regularly in chamber recitals and studio sessions with her colleagues.
George Wolfe is an emeritus professor at Ball State University where he taught saxophone and chamber music for 32 years. He has performed extensively in the United States and Europe, as well as in Costa Rica, Canada, India, Korea and Japan. He has been heard on radio stations across the country and appeared as a soloist with the Belgian Air Force’s Royal Symphonic Band, the United States Navy Band, the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, the Chautauqua Motet Choir, the World Band at Walt Disney World, the Medalist Concert Band and the Indianapolis Children’s Choir. He has presented master classes at the Paris Conservatory, Indiana University and the Interlochen Center for the Arts and has also taught as an artist-in-residence at Arizona State University, the Klagenfurt Conservatory, the University of Saskatchewan and the University of San José.
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