Austin Peay State University’s popular Halloween concert returns for 29th year on October 29th
October 16, 2013
Clarksville, TN – At 6:00pm and 8:00pm on October 29th, the Austin Peay State University Department of Music will host a light-hearted, family-friendly concert about death.
“But we’re going to try and make death as fun as we can possibly make it,” David Steinquest, APSU professor of music, said.
This might sound a bit odd to those unfamiliar with the annual APSU Halloween Percussion Concert, but fans of the event know the theme will fit in nicely with the strange blend of music and mayhem that has come to define the wildly popular community event for the last 29 years.
The APSU Percussion Ensemble’s Halloween Concert
APSU’s 52nd annual Mid-South Jazz Festival April 3rd-6th
March 28, 2013
Clarksville, TN – In 2011, the New York Times published a review of a new jazz album, “Dawn of Goodbye,” by a trumpeter named Dominick Farinacci. The album cover, printed with the article, showed a black and white image of a handsome, but very young-looking, 28-year-old musician. That picture caused some jazz aficionados to assume the album was the work of a novice. The Times review intended to correct that misconception.
“Mr. Farinacci plays beautifully, with expressive control, throughout a program of love-haunted standards and compatible originals, including his yearning title track,” the review stated. “His phrasing attests to some close study of Miles Davis and Clifford Brown, but avoids outright imitation.”
Jazz Trumpeter Dominick Farinacci
“My Favorite Things” A Christmas Concert at Austin Peay State University December 7th
December 1, 2012
Clarksville, TN – “My Favorite Things” is the title of this season’s holiday concert put together by David Steinquest at Austin Peay State University. The performance is Friday, December 7th, 2012 at 7:30pm in the George and Sharon Mabry Concert Hall.
The band is comprised of some of Steinquest’s favorite musicians. Paul Carrol Binkley is the guitarist and foundation of the band’s sound. [Read more]
Austin Peay State University to hold “My Favorite Things” holiday concert December 7th
November 24, 2012
Clarksville, TN – Here are a few things that David Steinquest, Austin Peay State University professor of music, enjoys: the holidays, the APSU Percussion Ensemble, music by James Taylor and Dave Barnes and relaxed gatherings with friends.
At 7:30pm on December 7th, he’s bringing all these elements together for a special holiday concert, “My Favorite Things,” at the APSU Music/Mass Communication Building’s Mabry Concert Hall. [Read more]
APSU’s popular Halloween concert returns for 28th year on October 30th
October 20, 2012
Clarksville, TN – On a warm afternoon last spring, just as the bradford pear trees started blossoming around Clarksville, Austin Peay State University professor of music Dr. David Steinquest sat in his office, dreaming about the dark and gloomy month of October. He’d just heard a rumor that the department of music was purchasing a new Allen concert organ, and the haunting sounds of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Toccata in D minor, from “Phantom of the Opera,” played in his head.
The APSU Percussion Ensemble’s 2011 Halloween Concert
The Jason Marsalis Vibes Quartet closed out the 51st Mid-South Jazz Festival
April 3, 2012
Clarksville, TN – The 51st Mid-South Jazz Festival closed out on Saturday with a concert by the Jason Marsalis Vibes Quartet in the Music/Mass Communication Building Concert Hall on Austin Peay State University. The concert was put on by the Clarksville Community Concert Association (CCCA) and the APSU Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts; and sponsored by The Leaf Chronicle, and the Clarksville Arts and Heritage Development Council.
The Mid-South Jazz Festival is a three-day musical event in the APSU Music/Mass Communication Building Concert Hall that was founded in 1961 as a way of bringing jazz musicians to Clarksville to work with APSU students. It has since morphed in the last 26 years, under David Steinquest’s leadership, into one of the region’s most successful, professional jazz experiences. Luminaries such as the Joel Frahm Quartet, pianist Fred Hersch and even Jason Marsalis’ older brother Delfeayo have visited the University over the years as part of the festival.
The Jason Marsalis Vibes Quartet
Austin Peay State University Percussion Ensemble Holiday concert on December 2nd
November 28, 2011
Clarksville, TN – The image that comes to mind when listening to James Taylor’s version of the Christmas classic “Jingle Bells” isn’t that of a winter wonderland. Rather, you might picture yourself in a smoky bar in Memphis or New Orleans, sweating from the room’s thick, humid air.
“This is not the ‘Jingle Bells’ that you’re used to hearing,” David Steinquest, professor of music at Austin Peay State University, said. “It’s got a very bluesy kind of feel to it. It’s a whole lot different, but I think it’s fun when people get to hear these pieces they know, but they’re sort of done in a whole different way.”
Percussion Ensemble Holiday concert
26th Annual APSU Percussion Ensemble Halloween Concert set for October 28th
October 22, 2011
Clarksville, TN – “If I have to describe in one word what’s going to be going on with this concert,” Dr. David Steinquest said, leaning forward and rubbing his hands, “it would be ‘magic.’”
He lifted his eyebrows as he spoke, as if the word itself contained supernatural properties. It’s the type of showmanship one comes to expect from the Austin Peay State University professor of music, especially at this time of year.
Every October for the last 26 years, Steinquest has hosted the APSU Percussion Ensemble’s Halloween Concert – an enormously popular performance that blends music with the mayhem of the season. This year’s concert will consist of two performances at 6:00pm and 8:00pm on October 28th in the APSU Music/Mass Communication Concert Hall.
The APSU Percussion Ensemble's 2010 Halloween Concert
Jazz Great John Pizzarelli Headlines 50th Anniversary of Jazz Festival at APSU
April 3, 2011
Clarksville, TN – This spring marks the 50th anniversary of the Austin Peay State University Mid-South Jazz Festival, and to honor this milestone, APSU is bringing in one of the foremost jazz musicians working today as its featured performer.
John Pizzarelli and the Swing 7, a staple at world-renowned jazz clubs such as New York City’s Birdland, will perform their take on some of the genre’s standards by Duke Ellington and Count Basie at 7:30pm, April 8th, in the APSU Music/Mass Communication Building’s Concert Hall. Tickets are $25.00. [Read more]
APSU Percussion Ensemble Performs Free Spring Concert on March 31st
March 30, 2011
Clarksville, TN – Anyone familiar with Austin Peay State University music professor David Steinquest’s annual Percussion Ensemble Halloween Concerts, with their strange mixture of music and mayhem, won’t be surprised to learn that even the traditional spring performances he organizes are marked by a wild originality.
Audience members attending the free percussion ensemble concert at 7:30pm on March 31st in the Music/Mass Communication Building’s Concert Hall will be treated to everything from sisters playing part of the score to “Schindler’s List” to an orchestra performing the Pizzicato Polka using only plastic tubes known as boom-wackers. [Read more]
