Ed Owen will present
tuba lecture, recital Tuesday, Oct. 8


The Arkansas State University Department of Music will present a lecture/recital, "The Tuba Works of Jan Koetsier" by Ed Owen, instructor of tuba and euphonium, on Tuesday, Oct. 8, at 7:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center Recital Hall. 

The lecture will be highlighted with performances of excerpts from Jan Koetsier’s works.

  Works in the presentation include "Sonatine, Op. 57 für Tuba und Klavier (1970)," "Concertino, Op. 77 für Tuba und Streichorchester (1977)," "Unterkagner Ländler, Op. 87/2 für Violine und Tuba (1981)," "Choralfantasie über "Es ist ein Schnitter", Op. 93 für Tuba und Orgel (1984)," "Galgenlieder, Op. 129 für Sopran Stimme und Tuba (1992)," " Wolkenschatten, Op. 136 für Tubaquartett (1993)," "Falstaffiade, Variationen über ein Thema, Op. 134b für Solo Tuba und 4 Hörner (1996)," Don Giovanni's "Höllenfahrt, Scherzo Macabre, Op. 153 für Solo Tuba, 4 Trompeten, Horn, und 4 Posaunen (1999)."

Owen was appointed instructor of tuba and euphonium at ASU in June of 2000. He currently performs as principal tuba of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, the ASO Brass Quintet and the Faculty Brass Quintet of ASU.

A native Arkansan, he received the bachelor of arts in music education degree from Arkansas Tech University (summa cum laude) and master of music in tuba performance from the University of Illinois where he is currently completing the requirements for the doctor of musical arts degree.

Prior to his appointment at ASU, he served on the faculties of the University of Southern Mississippi, Ouachita Baptist University and Indiana State University. His students have won solo and quartet competitions at the local, state, and international levels. He has also conducted tuba and euphonium ensemble concerts at the International Tuba & Euphonium Conferences in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada and Greensboro, N.C.

Owen’s orchestral engagements have included the Meridian Symphony, Champaign-Urbana Symphony, Great Music West Festival Orchestra and Brass Quintet, Sinfonia da Camera, Illinois Contemporary Chamber Players, and the Terre Haute Symphony. As a soloist he has appeared with the Arkansas State University Wind Ensemble, and the Symphonic Bands of Arkansas Tech University, University of Illinois and Bryant High School.

Other performers will include Carolyn Mason, piano; Rebecca Markowski, violin; Forrest Rodgers, euphonium; John Hays, Jason Tacker and Justin Lowe, tuba.

Jan Koetsier was born in Amsterdam in 1911.  He studied composition, piano and conducting from 1927-1934 at the Musikhochschule in Berlin.  At first he had to struggle through typical beginner positions (i.e. a traveling opera company among others), though was able to advance his career when the legendary Willem Mengelberg asked him to come to Amsterdam in 1942 to be assistant conductor of the Concertgebouw.  In 1950 Koetsier accepted a position at the Bayerische Rundfunk (Bavarian Broadcasting), offered by Eugen Jochum. In 1966 he was appointed professor of conducting at the College of Music in Munich, where he passed on his knowledge and his experience to a whole generation of young conductors.

Koetsier has long since become a living legend in Munich, where he spent more than 50 years in the city and its surroundings. Many years ago he escaped the hustle and bustle of the city by moving into a farmhouse in a hamlet near Mühldorf, where he continues to write music with inexhaustible energy.  Koetsier has a special fondness towards brass music, due decisively to Philip Jones, the English trumpeter and longtime leader of the famous London Brass ensemble.

The lecture is free and the public is invited to attend. For more information contact the Department of Music, 870-972-2094.

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