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The Brass Knights sound off at JCCCPrint OptionsMore InformationRelated Information |
The Brass Knights sound off at JCCC
Johnson County Community College
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Ron Stinson leads the Brass Knights. |
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – The Brass Knights, a quintet brass ensemble, will perform at noon Monday, March 30, in the Polsky Theatre of the Carlsen Center, Johnson County Community College, as part of the free Ruel Joyce Recital Series featuring Kansas City classical artists.
The Brass Knights is made up of Ron Stinson, trumpet; Karen Zawacki, trombone; Laura New, horn; Paul Rodabaugh, tuba; and Jay Sollenberger, trumpet.
Stinson is a professor of instrumental music at JCCC, where he conducts the Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Choir and teaches jazz improvisation. He received his bachelor of music education degree from Wichita State University and a master of music degree from Yale University. As a free-lance performer in New York City for 18 years, he performed in numerous Broadway shows.
Zawacki, from Orlando, Fla., has been playing trombone for 15 years. She received her bachelor’s degree in music education from Stetson University, DeLand, Fla., and is pursing a master’s degree in performance from the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She has played with groups such as the award-winning Fountain City Brass Band and Orlando Brass Quintet.
New teaches music theory and aural skills classes at the UMKC Conservatory of Music and JCCC and also has taught private horn lessons for many years. She has performed with the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra; Kansas City Camerata; El Paso, Texas Symphony; and the Las Cruces, New Mexico Symphony. New has a bachelor of arts degree from Delta State University, Cleveland, Miss., and a master of music degree in horn performance from New Mexico State University, Las Cruces.
Rodabaugh has played with such groups as Henry Mancini, the Starlight Theater Orchestra, New Red Onion Jazz Babies and many others. A graduate of Baylor University, Waco, and UMKC, he is the former band director of Shawnee Mission North High School.
Sollenberger formerly played with the internationally acclaimed One O’clock Lab Band, the Midwest rock group — The Flippers, Stan Kenton Orchestra, Woody Herman Orchestra and Buddy Rich Big Band. Since 1980, he has made his home in Kansas City as a free-lance musician playing with the Starlight Theater Orchestra, various Broadway shows, recording sessions and brass ensembles. Sollenberger attended Wichita State University and North Texas State University majoring in music education and performance.
Spring 2009 Ruel Joyce Recitals conclude at noon Monday, April 6, with Francesca Manheim, violin, and Ya-Ting Liou, piano.
The series is named for Ruel Joyce, a longtime jazz bassist who headed the local musicians federation from 1977 until his death in 1989. The concerts are cosponsored by the JCCC humanities and music departments, Community Services and the Music Performance Trust Fund of the American Federation of Musicians, Local 34-627. Admission is free and open to the public. Seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, call 913-469-8500, ext. 3605.
