The Illinois State University College of Fine Arts and School of Music invite you to Band-A-Rama at 7:30 p.m. Friday, October 12, in the Braden Auditorium of the Bone Student Center. Tickets are $5 for general admission and $3 for students (with student ID) and seniors.
Join the Wind Symphony and the Big Red Marching Machine (BRMM) in a concert spectacular, as the College of Fine Arts kicks off Homecoming weekend with a sampling of some of the finest offerings from the ISU Bands.
School of Music alumnus Andy Rummel, and School of Theatre and Dance alumnus and College of Fine Arts Hall of Fame inductee Francois Battiste will join the Wind Symphony on stage. Rummel will accompany the band on Darrol Barry’s exciting Concerto for Tuba and Battiste will provide narration for Aaron Copland’s stirring A Lincoln Portrait. George W. Warren’s God of Our Fathers will complete the first half of the evening program.
Following a brief intermission, the Big Red Marching Machine will take the stage in dramatic fashion, performing traditional tunes as well as highlights from the 2018 season. Audience members will be treated to performances by the Redline Express Dance Team and Illinois State University Colorguard. The concert will conclude with the current students of the Wind Symphony and BRMM welcoming all ISU alumni to join them on stage to sing the University’s Alma Mater. College of Arts and Sciences alumnus, Dave Colee will emcee the event.
Andy Rummel
Rummel is the associate professor of tuba and euphonium at Illinois State University, where he received both his bachelor’s degree in music education and master’s degree in music performance. Rummel received his Ph.D. in musical arts from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Rummel is the principal tubist with the Heartland Festival Orchestra and has performed with the Peoria Symphony Orchestra, the Illinois Symphony, and the Virginia Symphony as well as other bands and orchestras throughout the Midwest. He has been a featured recitalist at international and regional tuba-euphonium conferences and has served as an adjudicator for several international and regional tuba solo competitions. Prior to joining the faculty at Illinois State University, Rummel was the principal tubist with the United States Air Force Heritage of America Band and the Heritage Brass Quintet located at Langley AFB in Virginia.
Francois Battiste
Battiste graduated from Illinois State University with a bachelor’s degree in theatre. While a student at ISU, Battiste performed two summers in the Illinois Shakespeare Festival (ISF). Battiste was named as one of 40 actors to the ISF Actor Honor Roll, established in 2017 during the Festival’s 40th Anniversary Season. Battiste’s career spans across all facets of performance including commercials, radio, and television voice overs, audio books, television, film, as well as the theatre stage. He has performed at The Goodman Theatre, the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Victory Gardens, and Lookingglass Theatre. During his graduate studies at Juilliard, Battiste was awarded the Houseman Award—the first African American male in the school’s history to earn the prestigious honor. Battiste had performed both on and off Broadway. He received the OBIE Award for his performance in the Pulitzer Prize finalist play, The Good Negro at The Public Theater and acted opposite Al Pacino, Jesse L. Martin, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson in The Merchant of Venice directed by Dan Sullivan and The Winter’s Tale directed by Michael Grief for Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte in New York City. He played Malcom X in the Oliver-nominated play, One Night in Miami at the DonMar Warehouse in London and performed opposite Blair Underwood in the new play, Paradise Blue by Dominique Morriseau at the Signature Theatre in New York. Battiste was inducted into the College of Fine Arts Hall of Fame in March 2018.
The 2018 Band-A-Rama concert spectacular, October 12
Conducted by Anthony C. Marinello, the Wind Symphony is the University’s premier wind band and features the finest wind and percussion musicians on campus. The Wind Symphony has a national and international reputation for exceptional artistic achievement. The Illinois State University Marching Band, The Big Red Marching Machine, has a long and proud history. The Big Red Marching Machine is directed by Doug Morin with assistant director Ben Stiers.
For a schedule of upcoming band concerts and events, visit the College of Fine Arts events calendar and follow the Illinois State University Bands on Facebook.
Tickets are available at the Braden Box Office in the Bone Student Center, and through Ticketmaster.com. Parking is available behind the Bone Student Center, on Locust Street.
