Jay Crone Returns to HSU

Trombonist and former HSU faculty member Jay Crone performs in the HSU Music Guest Artist series on Sunday, October 21 at 8PM in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata.

Jay Crone taught at HSU for the 1992-93 and 1993-4 academic years. “I know there are people in town who remember Jay,” said current HSU Music faculty member Dan Aldag. These days, Crone is head of the Music Department at Virginia Tech, where he has taught trombone, euphonium and tuba for the past 14 years. He returns home to California for three concert dates, including Sunday, October 21 at HSU. He will be accompanied by pianist Tracy Cowden, who also teaches at Virginia Tech. She performs and lectures widely on the subject of collaborative piano.

This HSU Guest Artist Series concert features four works that straddle lines between classical, jazz and other genres. Alec Wilder's Sonata for Trombone and Piano was written for John Swallow, a founding member of the New York Brass Quintet. Swallow recorded it as the entire first side of his solo trombone album in the 1950s, “the first such trombone recording of its kind,” Crone notes.

Another Sonata for Trombone and Piano is by David Ott, who Crone calls “one of America's most sought-after and critically acclaimed symphonic composers.” Palmetto Suite, a 2004 work for alto trombone by Eric Ewazen, was inspired by coastal South Carolina and includes blues rhythms and other iconic sounds of Americana. Robert Suderburg’s Chamber Music III is more jazz-oriented, inspired by memories of the composer’s jazz trombonist father.

Tickets for the Jay Crone concert are $8 general, $3 students and seniors, from HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door.