Campus Community Band at SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music to Present Alumni Composer’s New Work on May 14
SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music will welcome a guest composer and proud alumna for an upcoming world premiere performance. Sara Bongo ’70 will visit her alma mater for the debut of her new work, “A World in Crisis,” performed by the Campus Community Band.
The Campus Community Band informance concert will be held on Tuesday, May 14 at 5:30 p.m. in the Helen M. Hosmer Concert Hall. Bongo’s piece, “A World in Crisis,” will be conducted by Dr. Caron Collins, chair of the Department of Music Education. The concert will also feature visiting guest conductor Dr. Joshua Roach and several student conductors, as the ensemble presents a variety of works from the concert band literature.
This concert is free, and the public is invited to attend.
About the composer:
Sara Bongo ’70 holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from The Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, and a master’s degree in liberal studies from Stony Brook University. She taught elementary strings for the Three Village School District on the north shore of Long Island for 34 years, where she also directed the summer instrumental program for 16 years. Upon retiring, Bongo developed her passion for music by studying composition in order to create greater diversity in the musical selections for school orchestra programs. She began by studying musical composition privately and shared her composition work with Robert Moore. She continued her composition studies with Dr. Vernon Taranto at St. Petersburg College, and with composer and arranger Christian Hosmer of St. Lawrence University. Bongo has published numerous pieces and continues to write for publication while studying privately with Taranto. She currently resides in Oldsmar, Fla.
About The Crane School of Music:
Founded in 1886, SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music has a long legacy of excellence in music education and performance. Life at Crane includes an incredible array of more than 300 recitals, lectures and concerts presented by faculty, students and guests each year. The Crane School of Music is the State University of New York’s only All-Steinway institution. For more information, please visit www.potsdam.edu/crane.