GKSOM student Watanabe’s recital to be live webcast

GKSOM student Watanabe’s recital to be live webcast

calendar icon06 Mar 2020    

Susumu Watanabe
Susumu Watanabe

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Glenn Korff School of Music has added a Student Showcase Recital to the webcast schedule. On Sunday, March 8 at 6:30 p.m. live from Kimball Recital Hall, Composer and Conductor Susumu Watanabe will present the world premiere performance of his dissertation piece, “Concertante for Sho and Jazz Orchestra,” featuring internationally renowned sho soloist Naoyuki Manabe and a 16-piece jazz orchestra. The Gagaku Ensemble will also perform as part of the recital.

Watanabe is a Candidate of Doctor of Musical Arts in Jazz Composition and Hixson-Lied Graduate Fellow at University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Glenn Korff School of Music. He is also Music Director of the UNL Big Band, Artistic Director of Tokyo Brass Art Orchestra and an Adjunct Instructor, Concordia University, Nebraska. Watanabe was born in 1972 in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. In January 1999, Watanabe moved to the U.S. and attended Berklee College of Music, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, City University of New York, Queens College and University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He holds a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Composition from Berklee College of Music and a Master of Fine Arts in Composition from City University of New York. His composition teachers include Michael Abene, Jeff Holmes, Greg Hopkins, Hubert Howe, Adam Kolker, Tom Larson, Jim McNeely, Jeff Nichols, Frederick Tillis and Phil Wilson. And he did conducting study with David Callahan and George Monseur, and trumpet study with Charles Lewis Jr., Jeff Stout, Mike Price and Toshio Shimada.

Watanabe is currently a music director of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Big Band and an artistic director of Tokyo Brass Art Orchestra (Tokyo, Japan). The TBAO first CD album “Antiphonemics: TBAO Plays Music of Susumu Watanabe” was released by its independent label Susmusic Records in July 2011. He has been serving as a music director for many ensembles including Fenway Brass Art Orchestra, UMASS Jazz Lab Ensemble, UMASS Jazz Ensemble I/Studio Orchestra, Bay Colony Brass. He appeared as a guest conductor for the U.S. Army Field Band Jazz Ambassadors, Vermont Jazz Center Big Band. Watanabe's works for jazz orchestra are performed in the U.S., Taiwan and Japan. Recently Watanabe’s wind ensemble composition ”With All Sails Set” won the first prize and was chosen to be a contest piece for the Japan National Symphonic Jazz and Pops Contest for Wind Ensemble 2019. It was premiered by the Japan Ground Self Defense Force Eastern Army Band under the direction of Lieutenant Commander Yoshiyuki Kato. Watanabe is the first winner of “National Band Association Young Composers Jazz Composition Contest” in 2011. His winning piece Duodecim for jazz orchestra was performed by the United States Army Field Band The Jazz Ambassadors under the direction of Mr. Watanabe at the Midwest Clinic (Chicago, Illinois) in December 2011. His works are not only for jazz ensemble, but also for various chamber ensembles, wind ensemble and symphonic orchestra.

Visit music.unl.edu for the live link the night of the performance.