Orchestra to perform premiere of English horn concert by professor

News Release - Sept. 21, 2006

Public's Contact for publication:
Dr. Joseph Pollard White
Director of Orchestral Studies
joseph.white@cnu.edu
(757) 594-8789

Media Contact:
Karen L. Gill
Office of Communications and Public Relations
(757) 594-8428

(NEWPORT NEWS, Va.) — Christopher Newport University’s orchestra will perform the premiere of a concerto for the English horn written and conducted by a CNU faculty member at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 18 at the Ferguson Center for the Arts Concert Hall.

“Concerto for English Horn and Orchestra,” written and conducted by CNU's Director of Orchestral Studies Joseph Pollard White, will feature soloist Frank Swann.

Swann is a freelance English hornist and oboist in the Los Angeles area. Originally from Washington, D.C., he was a member of the D.C. Youth Orchestra and attended the University of Rochester, where he studied with Robert Sprenkle at the Eastman School of Music. He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Howard University and continued his oboe studies with Richard White of the National Symphony.

After several years working for Kodak Corporation, Swann moved to the Los Angeles area and started his own business in the then-new digital printing field. Maintaining his musical activities through the years, Swann has performed with several orchestras in Southern California including the Southeast Symphony and Golden States Pops Orchestra and is especially highly regarded as an English horn specialist.

White holds a doctorate from the University of Washington, a master’s degree from Indiana University. He did his undergraduate work at the University of Rochester – Eastman School of Music. Before coming to CNU, he was a studio musician in Seattle, worked on a number film scores, taught at Pacific Lutheran University and was music director of the Rainier Symphony.

White’s other compositions include a string quartet, an orchestral rhapsody and pieces for string orchestra. He is preparing the score to “Actus Fidei,” a new play by TheaterCNU Professor Steven Breese that is inspired by the life and times of the University’s namesake, Captain Christopher Newport. The drama is part of “Points of Contact and Culture: Jamestown, 1607-2007,” the University’s year-long commemoration of Jamestown 2007.

For more information, contact Dr. Joseph Pollard White, director of Orchestral Studies, at joseph.white@cnu.edu or (757) 594-8789.