A work by Stephen Michael Gryc, professor emeritus of music composition at the Hartt School, recently received its first performance at the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. Professor Gryc’s piece for ten wind instruments, titled Rossiniana, is based on late piano works of the great Italian opera composer Gioachino Rossini. Members of the famed University of Michigan Wind Ensemble performed the work on October 6 at the Ann Arbor campus.
Professor Gryc’s wind music has become important repertoire for college and university wind programs. Eight performances of six different works for wind instruments by Gryc took place between September 28 and October 10 at such institutions as the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse, Florida State University, the University of South Florida, the University of Oklahoma, and Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas. The next performance of music by Stephen Gryc on the University of Hartford campus will take place on December 9 when the Hartt Wind Ensemble under the direction of Glen Adsit will perform Guignol: Concerto for Bassoon with Marc Goldberg as soloist. A Juilliard graduate, Mr. Goldberg is a renowned New York based performer and senior artist teacher at the Hartt School.