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POWELL, Wyo. - Brass musicians from across the region will perform together in a 7:30 p.m. concert Saturday, Feb. 6, in the Nelson Performing Arts Center auditorium at Northwest College in Powell.
The free performance is the culminating event of a day-long Brass Festival for trumpet and trombone players.
Featured solo artists are Walt Blanton and Steve Traylor.
Las Vegas trumpeter Walt Blanton has performed with a long list of celebrities that includes James Brown, Lou Rawls, the Four Tops, the Temptations, the Righteous Brothers, Elvis Presley, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra and many more. His compositions have been featured in concerts at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center and New York City's famed Carnegie Hall. Blanton's list of recognitions includes the Governor's Arts Award for Excellence in the Arts from the Nevada Arts Council.
Traylor is director of bands and fine arts recruiter at Central Wyoming College in Riverton. As a free-lance musician, he's performed with symphony, ballet and opera orchestras in Colorado. The name-dropping list of performers he's worked with features the likes of Andrea Bocelli, Mel Torme, Frankie Valli, the Four Tops, the Drifters, Kenny Rogers, Bob Hope, Steve Allen, Harry Connick and many more. He currently tours as a solo classical bass trombonist and is leader of the Fat City Mardi Gras Band.
The evening also features performances by local trumpet and trombone groups and massed choirs of festival participants. This project is supported in part by a grant from the Wyoming Arts Council, through funding from the Wyoming State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.