Seton Hill University’s Westmoreland Symphonic Winds (WSW) ensemble is planning a special concert in April, which includes a new piece commissioned in honor of the ensemble’s founder, Professor Kathleen Campbell. 

The concert will take place April 13 at 7:30pm in the Reichgut Concert Hall at Seton Hill University’s Performing Arts Center. Tickets are available at www.setonhill.edu/tickets.

One special feature of the concert will be a commissioned piece, “Liberalitatis Celebranda,” honoring Seton Hill University Professor of Music Kathleen Campbell. Campbell was the founder of the Westmoreland Symphonic Winds in 1985 and served as its music director and conductor through 2008. An alumna of Seton Hill, she just completed her 40th year of service to the University and will retire at the end of the academic year.

“In this very special concert, each piece was composed as a way to pay tribute to someone or something,” said Dr. Christopher M. Marra, Westmoreland Symphonic Winds Conductor and Associate Professor of Music at Seton Hill University. “Most notably, a new piece by Dr. Timothy Mahr - commissioned by Seton Hill - captures the elegance, energy, and optimism that Kathy Campbell brings to Seton Hill each and every day. We now have a marvelous, timeless piece written in honor of this extraordinary milestone that can be performed by our ensemble for years to come.”

The piece was commissioned from Dr. Timothy Mahr with support from friends and alumni of the WSW. Mahr is a professor of music at St. Olaf College and a well-known composer who has written over 100 works, which have been performed worldwide, recorded, and broadcast.

Other pieces in the concert include one by Frank Ticheli composed in memory of the lives lost in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988, which included Beth Ann Johnson and Elyse Saraceni, who were both students at Seton Hill. Other works include those by Karel Husa, Peter Graham, and Aaron Perrine, who composed their works in tribute to extraordinary individuals while a piece by Katahj Copley work celebrates the return of live music performance after the COVID-19 pandemic.