Kent State Orchestra Introduces New Music Director and Continues 2013-2014 Concert Season


The Kent State University Hugh A. Glauser School of Music Orchestra continues its 2013-2014 season with a second subscription series performance on Sunday, Nov. 17, at 3:30 p.m. in University Auditorium at Cartwright Hall. Cartwright Hall is located at 650 Hilltop Drive on the Kent Campus, with free parking located off of Terrace Drive.


The Hugh A. Glauser School of Music is pleased to announce Charles Latshaw as the new director of the university’s orchestra. Latshaw comes from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he is a doctoral candidate in orchestral conducting. He previously served as artistic director and conductor of the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra in Indiana. 


Latshaw is firmly dedicated to bringing orchestral music to new audiences, especially young people. He has taught band, choir, general music and musical theater to students of all ages. An enthusiastic advocate of new music, Latshaw enjoys programming accessible and exciting contemporary works, often of his own commission. He has premiered more than 30 new works for ensembles ranging from chamber groups to youth orchestras to full symphonies.


“I’m so very pleased to be working at Kent State’s School of Music,” Latislaw said. “The students have endless enthusiasm and thirst for development and improvement, and the faculty are welcoming, collaborative and talented.”


The program will include three pieces that may be familiar to audience members. First-year conducting graduate student Pamela Burovac will lead the orchestra’s performance of Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture. Latshaw then will lead the ensemble in a performance of Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll, a “powerfully beautiful, romantic, lush and profound” piece, according to the conductor. The concert will conclude Haydn’s Surprise Symphony. Audiences should expect a few extra surprises, according to Latshaw.


Tickets for the performance are $15 for adults, $13 for seniors and Kent State faculty and staff, $10 for groups of 10 or more patrons, $8 for non-Kent State students, $5 for children and free for full-time Kent State undergraduate students.


Tickets are available weekdays from noon to 5 p.m. at the Kent State Performing Arts Box Office, located in the lobby of the Roe Green Center in the Center for the Performing Arts, at 1325 Theatre Drive on the Kent Campus. The box office accepts Visa, MasterCard and Discover, in addition to cash and checks.


The Cartwright Hall box office will open one hour prior to the performance for walk-up sales and will accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover. Tickets and more information are also available by calling 330-672-ARTS (2787) or by visiting www.kent.edu/music.

Media Contacts:
Effie Tsengas, etsengas@kent.edu, 330-672-8398

Bob Burford, rburford@kent.edu, 330-672-8516