Performance

FSU Chamber Singers, University Chorale, Troubadours Tenor/Bass Choir, and Altissia Treble Choir, are proud to present "A Crowded Table," an eclectic sampling of contemporary choral music that showcases the existential harmony that can occur when our differences are celebrated and embraced.This Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance event takes place on Friday, October 17, at 7:30 p.m. in the Pealer Recital Hall of FSU's Woodward D. Pealer Performing Arts Center.Purchase tickets online at https://frostburgtix.universitytickets.com/w/event.aspx?id=2239, or through the University Box Office, Lane University Center 203 (Hours: Monday-Friday 10 AM - 4 PM), phone 301-687-3137. Tickets will also be available at the door the evening of the concert. Price for credit/debit card purchase: $11.73 adult; $6.53 senior, military, FSU employees; and free for students & children. Cash purchase: $11 adult; $6 senior, military, FSU employees; and free for students & children.

How I Became a Pirate follows a band of comical pirates as they land on North Beach in search of an expert digger to join their crew. Braid Beard and his mates enlist young Jeremy Jacob to help bury their treasure. Amidst this sailing adventure, Jeremy learns that love and home are treasures you can’t find on any map! With terrific songs like "You've Got to Talk Like a Pirate," "I'm Really Just a Sensitive Guy," and "Pirates Dot Aaargh!" this musical version of the popular book, How I Became a Pirate, will have you rolling in the aisles and wishing for Braid Beard and his crew to pay your family a visit."How I Became a Pirate, The Musical" is based on the popular children’s story by Melinda Long with illustrations by David Shannon. The book, music, and lyrics were written by Janet Yates Vogt and Mark Friedman.Purchase tickets online at , or through the University Box Office, Lane University Center 203 (Mon-Fri 10am-4pm), 301-687-3137. Tickets will also be available at the door the evening of the performance. Price for credit/debit card purchase: $12.35 adult & youth; and $9.23 FSU students. Cash purchase: $11.60 adult & youth; and $8.60 FSU students.

The Department of Music, Theatre, & Dance presents the Vocal Studios Recital on Thursday, October 30, at 7:30pm in the Pealer Recital Hall of FSU's Pealer Performing Arts Center. The recital is free and open to the public. If you cannot attend in-person, the recital will also be livestreamed; click the ‘JOIN STREAM' button on this page to view the live performance.

Dr. Brent Weber Will Perform in Faculty Artist Series ConcertFSU’s Department of Music, Theatre, & Dance presents saxophonist Dr. Brent Weber, accompanied by pianist Dr. Joseph Yungen, in a Faculty Artist Series recital on Friday, Oct. 31, at 7:30 p.m. in the Pealer Recital Hall of FSU’s Woodward D. Pealer Performing Arts Center. The concert is free and open to the public; it will also be livestreamed, click the ‘JOIN STREAM' button on this page to view the live performance.The recital will include important works from the history of the saxophone, including: Paul Creston's “Sonata op. 19,” Jacques Ibert's “Concertino da Camera,” Ida Gotkovsky's “Brilliance”, and Heitor Villa-Lobos' “Fantasia for Soprano Saxophone and Piano.”“Sonata for E-flat Alto Saxophone and Piano, Op. 19” by Italian American composer Paul Creston is one of the most well-known pieces composed for the saxophone. In 1939, Creston completed this three-movement work following a classical sonata form paired with modern harmonies. It is notable that Creston included English expressive markings and movement titles (i.e. "with vigor", "increasing", etc.) rather than the typical Italian counterparts in the score. The listener can pick up on a jazz influence as Creston was a fan of the new art form arising in America.Known as the first major concerto for the saxophone, “Concertino da Camera” was composed for alto saxophone accompanied by eleven instruments - wind quintet, string quartet, bass and trumpet. Weber and Yungen will present the version arranged for piano by the French composer, Jacques Ibert. The three-movement work features a post-Romantic affect and some ragtime influence. Written for saxophone pioneer and virtuoso, Sigurd Rascher, the work also contains passages incorporating the highest range, or altissimo register of the saxophone.Of Russian extraction, French-born Ida Gotkovsky is the only living composer on the program. She studied with Olivier Messiaen at the Paris Conservatory of Music, and many elements of his compositional style can be found in “Brilliance for Alto Saxophone and Piano.” Moments of humor, lyrical beauty and sheer force make each of the four movements very special.Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos was said to discover the saxophone in the streets of Rio de Janeiro as a child. This led him to develop a love for woodwinds as he played the clarinet and saxophone through his musical journey. “Fantasia for Soprano Saxophone and Orchestra” was composed in 1948 and published in 1963 with a piano reduction for the orchestra. French saxophonist and counterpart to Sigurd Racher, Marcel Mule commissioned the work with the goal for there to be a major concerto for the soprano saxophone. “Fantasia” delivers with three masterful movements incorporating a neoclassical aesthetic paired with jazz and Brazilian rhythms.Saxophonist Brent Weber is experienced in multiple genres of music from classical to jazz, rock ’n’ roll and beyond, and advocates versatility. His work with the contemporary jazz group Jake Mowrer Quartet featured him performing and recording throughout Northern Georgia. As a concert saxophonist, Weber is active with the North American Saxophone Alliance. He presented the European premiere of Todd Barton’s “Diastems II” at the World Saxophone Congress XIV in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and, as winner of the UGA Concerto Competition, he performed Ingolf Dahl’s “Concerto for Saxophone and Wind Ensemble.” He was part of the 2012 Naxos release, “Street Song.” Formerly an assistant professor at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music in Chengdu, China, Weber is department chair and assistant professor of saxophone in FSU’s Department of Music, Theatre, & Dance where, in addition to maintaining the saxophone and bassoon studios, he also coordinates the Jazz Studies program.Pianist Joseph Yungen is a musician who happens to play the piano. He has established an international reputation for his consistent excellence as soloist and collaborator in a wide variety of music, including chamber music, art song, opera, new music, as well as choral and orchestral music. Known for his insatiable curiosity, Joseph is constantly expanding his musical knowledge, most recently by playing harpsichord and organ, studying piano technology, and exploring unconventional tunings and unequal temperaments. He has served as faculty at Music Academy of the West, the New Jersey Young Artist Piano Competition, and Frostburg State University. Joseph studied with Jonathan Feldman at The Juilliard School, where he earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree. He received Master of Music degrees in Piano Performance & Literature and in Accompanying & Chamber Music from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Jean Barr and Douglas Humpherys, and the Bachelor of Arts degree in Piano Performance at Southern Oregon University under the instruction of Alexander Tutunov.

New Orleans Jazz, Blues and Ragtime“Musically, Tuba Skinny mine a rich seam of traditional jazz and blues from the '20s and '30s. And, while it's evident the band treasures the sense of history evoked by these vintage tunes, the players' natural exuberance makes the music feel irresistibly alive.” (Sydney Morning Herald)Tuba Skinny brings a joyful, rambunctious performance of music that encompasses the influences of Depression-era blues, jug band, spirituals, string band music, ragtime and New Orleans R&B. For over a decade, Tuba Skinny has toured the world and amassed a devoted and diverse following of music lovers.Featuring Shaye Cohn on cornet, Barnabus Jones on trombone, Todd Burdick on tuba, Craig Flory on clarinet, Gregory Sherman on guitar/vocals, Max Bien-Kahn on banjo, Robin Rapuzzi on washboard and Erika Lewis on vocals/bass drum, the band interprets traditional jazz and creatively incorporates many musical influences. The result is a true reflection of Americana, encompassing the full genealogy of popular American music from an early 20th century perspective.Following the show, Chuck Dicken, WFWM-FM station director, will lead a lively and interactive conversation between audience members and Tuba Skinny, who will discuss how their distinct style reflects the spirit of Americana.The engagement of Tuba Skinny is made possible through the Jazz Touring Network program of Mid Atlantic Arts with support from the National Endowment for the Arts. CES is supported in part by the Maryland State Arts Council (msac.org) and receives financial support from the Allegany Arts Council and the City of Frostburg.

Frostburg State University’s Department of Music, Theatre and Dance will present its Percussion Ensemble, conducted by Dr. Mackenzie Jacob LaMont, on Thursday, Nov. 6, at 7:30 p.m. in the Pealer Recital Hall of FSU’s Woodward D. Pealer Performing Arts Center. Percussion Ensemble members include Gavin Baker, Jacob Deaver, Daniel Hicks, Jacob Hunt, Jacob Hutzell, Bella McConnell, Bernard Pitts, Joe Rubens and Covy Wohlmuth with a guest performance by Reiss Mikula.The concert will include the unique piece “Bookoctet” by Alan Sentman. Eight players are given 50 or more books, some of specific size or construction, to create all the sounds of the work, including ripping, scraping, dropping, shaking, and even being read from. The piece is in three sections. The first is traditionally notated and is the most rhythmically specific. It begins with a unison figure from the entire ensemble. As the piece progresses, select players grab different books and play counter- rhythms that thicken the texture and create a sense of controlled chaos, like notated Cage music. These gestures are comprised mostly of triplets, sextuplets, and occasional grace-note figures, all of which are independent of one another. What follows is a significantly slower section that includes several sound experiments. Each player is instructed to create sounds with the books in unique ways, such as scraping a hard cover with fingernails, shaking an open book, blowing between two pages to make them whistle or buzz, and even destroying a book by “any means necessary.” The final portion requires the performers to read aloud from whatever books are near them, slamming them shut, then repeating the process in quicker succession. The piece ends with only two players reading single syllable words in low voices. (Note by Kyle Cherwinski).The ensemble will also be performing “Dance of Black-Haired Mountain Storm” by Alan Hovhaness, a movement from Eric Ewazen’s “The Palace of Nine Perfections,” and “Gainsborough” by Thomas Gauger. Writer Michael Dooley’s description of “Gainsborough” states “[it] is a highly melodic, very popular percussion quintet written in three movements. The piece has been performed all over the world and remains a favorite because of its playful textures, demanding parts (especially for the time), and appealing tonality. The first movement is a sprightly dance in 9/8 that mostly features quick lines between two marimbas, with interruptions from the timpani and battery percussionists. The slow, hesitant second movement has a more modal and metallic sound, highlighting the bells and vibraphone. A jazzy recitative appears in the middle of this movement. The final movement is quick and rhythmically active with a healthy amount of call and response between different sections. It moves through several different styles, finishing with a flourish.”Purchase tickets online at https://frostburgtix.universitytickets.com or through the University Box Office, Lane University Center 203 (Mon. – Fri. 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.), phone 301-687-3137. Tickets will also be available at the door the evening of the concert. Price for credit/debit card purchase are $11.73 adult; $6.53 senior, military, FSU employees; and free for students and children. Cash purchase prices are $11 adult; $6 senior, military, FSU employees; and free for students and children.For more information, contact FSU’s Department of Music, Theatre and Dance at 301-687-4109.

FSU’s Department of Music Celebrates Adolphe Sax Birthday With ConcertFSU Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance will present a birthday celebration recital in honor of Adolphe Sax, the Belgian musician and inventor of the saxophone, on Sunday, Nov. 9, at 3 p.m. in the Pealer Recital Hall of FSU’s Woodward D. Pealer Performing Arts Center. The concert is free and open to the public. This event will also be livestreamed; click the “Join Stream” button on this to view the live performance.Directed by Dr. Brent Weber, the Saxophone Orchestra will perform "The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin, "Georgia on My Mind" by Hoagy Carmichael, "Breathe" by Katahj Copley, "Jarba, Mare Jarba" by Stacy Garrop, and "Selections from Carmen Suite No. 1" by Georges Bizet.

The Department of Music, Theatre, & Dance presents the FSU Jazz Combo, directed by Tom Harrison, in concert on Tuesday, November 11, at 7:30 p.m. in the Pealer Recital Hall of FSU's Pealer Performing Arts Center. The recital is free and open to the public. If you cannot attend in-person, the recital will also be livestreamed; click the ‘JOIN STREAM' button on this page to view the live performance.

The Department of Music, Theatre, & Dance presents the FSU Guitar Ensemble and Studio Recital on Thursday, November 13, at 7:30 p.m. in the Pealer Recital Hall of FSU's Pealer Performing Arts Center. The recital is free and open to the public. If you cannot attend in-person, the recital will also be livestreamed; click the ‘JOIN STREAM' button on this page to view the live performance.

Family may be found in the strangest places. A group of young assault survivors leans on each other in their healing journeys. Little do they know, their beloved therapist, who founded and leads the group, has motives that shroud his dark past. This play was written by Sarah Slack of Frostburg State University where students and staff portray the roles of these vibrant characters, telling stories of this group’s journey. Watch for ticket information on the University Tickets webpage https://frostburgtix.universitytickets.com/Show times are 7pm for November 14 and November 15, with an afternoon performance on Saturday, November 15 at 2pm

The Frostburg State University Chamber Singers, University Chorale, Troubadours Tenor/Bass Choir, and Altissia Treble Choir present “Sounding Beauty.” The concert features works by Lauridsen, Stanford, Bloch, Mendelssohn, and more, all of which are linked by their exquisite beauty. Is beauty in the ear of the beholder? Join us and find out!This Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance event takes place on Saturday, November 15, at 7:30pm in the Pealer Recital Hall of FSU’s Woodward D. Pealer Performing Arts Center. Purchase tickets online at https://frostburgtix.universitytickets.com/w/event.aspx?id=2241, or through the University Box Office, Lane University Center 203 (Mon-Fri 10am-4pm), phone 301-687-3137. Tickets will also be available at the door the evening of the concert. Price for credit/debit card purchase: $11.73 adult; $6.53 senior, military, FSU employees; and free for students & children. Cash purchase: $11 adult; $6 senior, military, FSU employees; and free for students & children.

The Department of Music, Theatre, & Dance presents the Piano Studio Recital on Sunday, November 16, at 3:00 p.m. in the Pealer Recital Hall of FSU's Pealer Performing Arts Center. The recital is free and open to the public. If you cannot attend in-person, the recital will also be livestreamed; click the ‘JOIN STREAM' button on this page to view the live performance.

The Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance presents An Evening of Jazz with the FSU Jazz Orchestra on Saturday, November 22, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. in the Pealer Recital Hall of the Woodward D. Pealer Performing Arts Center.Purchase tickets online at https://frostburgtix.universitytickets.com/w/event.aspx?id=2242, or through the University Box Office, Lane University Center 203 (Mon-Fri 10am-4pm), phone 301-687-3137. Tickets will also be available at the door the evening of the concert. Price for credit/debit card purchase: $11.73 adult; $6.53 senior, military, FSU employees; and free for students & children. Cash purchase: $11 adult; $6 senior, military, FSU employees; and free for students & children.

The Department of Music, Theatre, & Dance presents percussionist Dr. Mackenzie Jacob LaMont in a Faculty Artist Series recital on Monday, November 24, at 7:30 p.m. in the Pealer Recital Hall of FSU's Pealer Performing Arts Center. The recital is free and open to the public. If you cannot attend in-person, the recital will also be livestreamed; click the ‘JOIN STREAM' button on this page to view the live performance.The program will feature the numbers 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1.LaMont is an active composer, performer (percussion), music educator and music industry/audio recording specialist. His recent compositions have been focused on the environment as well as political and philosophical issues, with the sound world inhabiting a space somewhere between minimalism and post-progressive rock (with dashes of polystylism here and there). LaMont has a DMA in music composition with a cognate in percussion from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music where he studied composition with Michael Fiday, Joel Hoffman and Douglas Knehans, and percussion with James Culley and Allen Otte. He holds prior degrees in composition, percussion performance and music technology/recording, and previously studied composition and percussion at the University of Indianapolis with John Berners and Paul Berns, respectively. He is an assistant professor at FSU, where he teaches percussion lessons and ensemble, composition lessons and courses, and various courses within the music industry track.

The Department of Music, Theatre, & Dance presents clarinetist Dr. Mark Gallagher in a Faculty Artist Series recital on Monday, December 1, at 7:30 p.m. in the Pealer Recital Hall of FSU's Pealer Performing Arts Center. The recital is free and open to the public. If you cannot attend in person, the recital will also be livestreamed; click the 'Join Stream' button on this page to view the live performance.Clarinetist Mark Gallagher is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where he received a B.M. degree and studied with Lawrence McDonald. He also holds a M.M. degree from the Eastman School of Music having studied with D. Stanley Hasty and D.M.A degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he studied with Dr. Linda Bartley. Other major teachers included Robert Marcellus and Alfred Zezter, both of the Cleveland Orchestra. Dr. Gallagher has performed with the Contemporary Music Forum of Washington, Washington Opera, United States Navy Band, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, Cincinnati Ballet Orchestra, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Bronx Symphony, New York City Ballet Orchestra, and the Skylight Opera Theatre Orchestra.He made his New York recital debut performing with violinist Sylvia Rosenberg at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall and is also a winner of the Artist International Competition in New York City being award a solo recital in Weill Hall. An active chamber musician and co-founder of I Venti Semplice, Dr. Gallagher has performed throughout the United States, Europe and China, with recent concert tours of the Netherlands, which included a live national radio broadcast from the Concertgebouw, and performances in Beijing and Changsha, China. He has also had solo and chamber appearances in Germany and the Czech Republic. Other performances include appearances in Washington, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Ann Arbor, Wisconsin Public Radio, as well as a concert tour of Sweden. Dr. Gallagher has recorded with the Albany Records label and can be heard on the Eastman “American Music” Series.In addition to a busy performance schedule, Dr. Gallagher is an active teacher and clinician, lecturing on occupational health issues for musicians and the Alexander Technique. Currently he is an instructor of clarinet and music theory at Frostburg State University and has held pedagogical posts at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Carroll College. During the summer, Dr. Gallagher has been the director of faculty at the Semplice Harbor School of Music and Chamber Music Festival on Washington Island, Wisconsin and director of the Savage Mountain Summer Arts Academy at Frostburg State University.

The Department of Music, Theatre, & Dance presents the FSU Chamber Orchestra in recital on Wednesday, December 3, at 7:30 p.m. in the Pealer Recital Hall of FSU's Pealer Performing Arts Center. The recital is free and open to the public. If you cannot attend in-person, the recital will also be livestreamed; click the ‘JOIN STREAM' button on this page to view the live performance.

The Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance present the FSU Wind Ensemble in concert on Thursday, December 4, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. in the Pealer Recital Hall of FSU's Woodward D. Pealer Performing Arts Center.Purchase tickets online at https://frostburgtix.universitytickets.com/w/event.aspx?id=2243, or through the University Box Office, Lane University Center 203 (Hours: Monday-Friday 10 AM - 4 PM), phone 301-687-3137. Tickets will also be available at the door the evening of the concert. Price for credit/debit card purchase: $11.73 adult; $6.53 senior, military, FSU employees; and free for students and children. Cash purchase: $11 adult; $6 senior, military, FSU employees; and free for students and children.

The Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance presents their annual Holiday Concert on Sunday, December 7, 2025 at 3 p.m. in the Pealer Recital Hall of the Woodward D. Pealer Performing Arts Center.Purchase tickets online at https://frostburgtix.universitytickets.com/w/event.aspx?id=2244, or through the University Box Office, Lane University Center 203 (Mon-Fri 10am- 4pm), phone 301-687-3137. Tickets will also be available at the door the evening of the concert. Price for credit/debit card purchase: $11.73 adult; $6.53 senior, military, FSU employees; and free for students & children. Cash purchase: $11 adult; $6 senior, military, FSU employees; and free for students & children.

A Yuletide Celebration of Celtic Music and DanceKilts and tartan abound in a joyous musical celebration of ancient Gaelic carols, lively Irish tunes and heartwarming seasonal melodies. Join U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion and Gaelic singer Seán Heely and an ensemble of acclaimed Celtic performers on a magical holiday journey through Scotland and Ireland. Delight in the stirring sounds of the fiddle, Highland pipes, harp, percussion, bouzouki, bass, guitar piano, harmonium and a fleet-footed percussive dancer.Heely is an award-winning Irish fiddler, singer and harpist in the folk and Gaelic traditions of Scotland and Ireland. Irish fiddle legend and National Heritage Fellow Liz Carroll declared him to be “one powerhouse of a fiddler.” This high-energy group has performed in venues including the Kennedy Center, Strathmore Music Center, Hylton Performing Arts Center and at events such as the Garrett County Celtic Festival, the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, the Virginia Scottish Games and the Niel Gow Festival in Scotland.Presented by Rhythm of the Arts.CES is supported in part by the Maryland State Arts Council (msac.org) and receives financial support from the Allegany Arts Council and the City of Frostburg.

Masterworks of Dvořák, Haydn, Ballard and PerkinsonCelebrate the Valentine’s Day holiday with a stirring musical performance that explores the profound connections between history, culture and the human experience.The lyrical beauty of Antonin Dvořák’s “Wind Serenade” captures the timeless harmony between nature and the human spirit and calls to mind traditions of the Bohemian/Czech people. Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s “Sinfonietta No. 1,” with its bold, expressive themes, blends classical traditions with vibrant cultural influences. Lewis W. Ballard’s “Incident at Wounded Knee” offers a moving reflection on Native American culture and explores themes of resistance, justice and resilience. The concert concludes with Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 64 in A Major, a jubilant and uplifting work that exemplifies music’s power to inspire hope and unity.Since its founding in 1982, the Maryland Symphony Orchestra’s influence and reputation have reached far beyond Western Maryland. Under the baton of Elizabeth Schulze, MSO has become a first-class orchestra of exceptional artistic quality.Prior to the show, at 6:30 p.m., MSO Music Director Schulze will discuss the selections that will be performed and reveal insight on how each composer’s work connects to and expresses their heritage.The presentation of the Maryland Symphony Orchestra is supported by the Community Trust Foundation’s Iris and Peter Halmos Community Fund and by the FSU Foundation, Inc. CES is supported in part by the Maryland State Arts Council (msac.org) and receives financial support from the Allegany Arts Council and the City of Frostburg.