APSU’s Gateway Chamber Ensemble Recognized on Grammy Nomination List

Clarksville, TN – Last week, the Grammy Award nominations were announced, and some of the expected names – Jay-Z, Lady Gaga and Eminem – were at the top of the list. But the Grammys recognize more than simply pop music, and if you were to scroll down that list, you would see the category for “Producer of the Year, Classical,” and the name Blanton Alspaugh.

Alspaugh’s name might not carry the weight in some circles as say a Lady Gaga, but in the classical music world, he’s a respected and revered producer. And, according to the Grammy website, one of the reasons he was nominated this year for a coveted Grammy Award stems from his work producing the first album for a chamber ensemble founded by several Austin Peay State University music faculty members. That group, the Gateway Chamber Ensemble, was also considered for nominations in three other categories, including “Best Small Ensemble Performance.”

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Celebrate Holidays at APSU with “Vienna in Clarksville” Concert on December 5th

Clarksville, TN – One of the great traditions in all of music is the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s Day Concert. For more than 100 years, the renowned orchestra has performed uplifting holiday pieces on that day by Johann Strauss and his family, with the concert being televised in America in recent years.

But the New Year’s holiday is still several weeks away. So Dr. Gregory Wolynec, associate professor of music at Austin Peay State University, is bringing the festivities to town a little earlier with the APSU Symphony Orchestra’s second annual “Vienna in Clarksville: A Holiday Celebration” concert. [Read more]

Gateway Chamber Ensemble Concert to Feature Renowned Flutist William Bennett

Clarksville, TN – Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Flute concerto in D minor is a dazzlingly complex and powerful piece of music. The work is not often performed because of the challenges it presents potential players. So when Clarksville’s Gateway Chamber Ensemble decided to include the piece on the program for its second concert of the season, it enlisted the renowned British flutist William Bennett to accompany them.

“He is probably the greatest living flute player and teacher,” Dr. Gregory Wolynec, APSU associate professor of music and director of the ensemble, said. “He’s going to be here for 10 days as part of the Acuff Residency, and he volunteered his services to do the spectacular concerto by C.P.E. Bach, who may be the most famous of Johann Sebastian Bach’s children.”

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New CD by APSU’s Gateway Chamber Ensemble Lauded by National Music Magazine

Classical music aficionados were surprised last month when they picked up the latest issue of Fanfare Magazine and read that a chamber ensemble out of Clarksville had recorded the definitive version of Mozart’s “Wind Serenade in B flat” and Richard Strauss’s “Wind Serenade in E flat.” Music critic Jerry Dubins even said the recordings by this previously unknown group ranked above the performances by prominent ensembles from New York, London and around the world.

The Gateway Chamber Ensemble, which consists of Austin Peay State University faculty members and professional musicians from around the region, released its first CD, “Wind Serenades,” in March, and critics with Fanfare Magazine, one of the genre’s pre-eminent publications, immediately took note of the recording’s high quality.

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