SE River Campus season opens Sunday

The Southeast River Campus season will open Sunday to the tune of wind and percussion talent from the Department of Music.

"A Soldier and the King" -- set for 3 p.m. at Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus -- will feature Stravinsky's "Histoire du Soldat" and Michael Daugherty's "Dead Elvis."

"The Sundays at Three season opener will feature a wide range of our wind and percussion faculty, especially Dr. Jacqueline Wilson (Southeast assistant professor of music) who will play the solo bassoon part on Dead Elvis," series director and assistant professor Gabrielle Baffoni said in a news release.

"Histoire du Soldat" is based on a Russian folk tale and relates the parable of a soldier who trades his fiddle to the devil in return for unlimited economic gain.

The music is scored for a septet of violin, double bass, clarinet, bassoon, cornet, trombone, and percussion.

"Dead Elvis," a 10-minute, single-movement work inspired by the King of Rock-n-Roll, Elvis Presley.

While the piece itself is not based on Elvis songs, Baffoni said, "fans may be able to catch a quote or two embedded in the piece" while enjoying a "tribute to the King."

Tickets may be purchased online at rivercampus.org.

A complete River Campus schedule can be found online at semissourian.com.

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