Heukeshoven Composer Residency at WSU
Saturday | November 2 | 5 pm
Sunday | November 3 | 2 pm
WSU DuFresne Performing Arts Center | 450 Johnson St.
sites.google.com/view/re-synth/
Heukeshoven Composer Residency at WSU November 2-3
A. Eric Heukeshoven will serve as composer-in-residence for the 47th Annual High School Honor Band Festival on Saturday, November 2 at Winona State University. A 5:00 pm concert will feature the premiere of “re-synth” for concert band and music technology. Heukeshoven describes the new work as a modern take on the classical “Concerto Grosso,” where the musical material is passed between a small group of soloists (concertino) and full ensemble (ripieno). In the new piece, the concertino, aka “Techs,” trigger samples of music originally recorded by members of the WSU Wind Ensemble as well as some “found sound” samples – birdsongs, cheering, etc.
High school-aged student musicians from across the region will spend the day working with WSU music faculty on selections including Heukeshoven’s “Fanfare for Hope” and “My Music Reaches the Sky” with flutist Dr. Rachel Haug as guest soloist.
On Sunday, November 3 at 2 pm, Heukeshoven’s “re-synth” and “My Music Reaches to the Sky” will be given a second performance by the WSU Wind Ensemble directed by Dr. Janet Heukeshoven, Interim Director of Bands. The concert will also feature music by Minnesota composers Shirley Meir and John Zdechlic along with selections by the Symphonic Band directed by Dr. Cullan Lucas.
Both concerts take place on the Vivian Fusillo Main Stage in the DuFresne Performing Arts Center at WSU. The concerts are free and all are welcome to attend.
A website chronicling the development of the “re-synth” project can be found at: https://sites.google.com/view/re-synth/.
A. Eric Heukeshoven is a fiscal year 2024 recipient of a Creative Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
Biography
A. Eric Heukeshoven (pronounced Hoy-kess-hoh-ven) is a first-generation American – the son of a German immigrant father and Scandinavian mother. Heukeshoven holds a B.A. in Music Composition and Theory from the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis and an M.S. in Music Technology from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. His composition mentors include Dominick Argento, Paul Fetler, Frank Bencriscutto, Tom Root, Erik Stokes, Sylvia Dyrhaug, Kevin Dobbe, and John Paulson.
Heukeshoven served in a variety of roles as Assistant Professor of Music at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota beginning in 1987. Heukeshoven directed the Music Industry and Jazz Studies programs from 2012 to 2022. His teaching duties included composition, arranging, low brass, and jazz piano as well as directing many brass ensembles, jazz combos and the Jazz Ensemble. He also designed, developed, and managed the school’s state-of-the-art multimedia production facility – Studio ‘S’.
Heukeshoven’s instrumental and choral compositions are published by Carl Fisher, Score Exchange, and Swirly Music. His works are performed throughout the U.S. and Europe, and he is in demand on jazz keyboard and trombone as well as a composer/arranger. He is a member of ASCAP, American Composers Forum, American Guild of Organists, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. In 2023, Heukeshoven was inducted as a National Arts Associate in Sigma Alpha Iota where he also is member of the SAI Composers Bureau.
Heukeshoven currently serves as Director of Worship, Music, & Arts for Central Lutheran Church in Winona, Minnesota. In the fall of 2024, he joined the faculty at Winona State University as adjunct professor of low brass.
The composer and his wife, Janet, have two sons, one grandson, and a yellow tabby cat.
Photo: Composer A. Eric Heukeshoven.
A. Eric Heukeshoven is a member of the River Arts Alliance. To learn more about the benefits of membership, please visit: riverartsalliance.org/membership/.