NEWS RELEASE

Contact: David West (west@nsula.edu )
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466

4/10/2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATCHITOCHES - The United States Coast Guard Band will perform at Northwestern State University Friday, April 20 at 7:30 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall. Admission is free, but tickets are required.

Commander Kenneth W. Megan directs the Coast Guard Band. The group features a lineup of superlative soloists performing Dixieland jazz and Americana. Featured soloists include Northwestern alumna Musician 1st Class Kelly Watkins on cornet, performing the virtuosic theme and variations "Slavische Fantasie" and Musician 1st Class Lisa Williamson singing Jerome Kern's "All the Things You Are."

The United States Coast Guard Dixieland Jazz Band performs a set to include "Bourbon Street Parade" and "Basin Street Blues." Also on the program is Charles Ives's "Variations on 'America,'" conducted by Chief Warrant Officer Richard E. Wyman, assistant director.

Watkins joined the United States Coast Guard Band in 2003. She earned a bachelor's degree in music from Northwestern and a master's in music from Illinois State University.

In 2003, Watkins was selected as the grand prizewinner of the International Women's Brass Conference Solo Competition. She has also been a prize-winner in the 2001 and 2002 International Trumpet Guild Solo Competitions, held in Indiana and England and the 2002 National Trumpet Competition held in Virginia.

Prior to joining the Coast Guard Band, Watkins performed with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, the Peoria Symphony Orchestra, Opera Illinois, and the Shreveport Symphony. MU1 Watkins has also attended the Sewanee Summer Music Center and Festival, as well as the Lake Placid International Trumpet Institute.

For ticket information, call NSU Coordinator of Music Tony Smith at (318) 357-5807. For more information on the Coast Guard Band, visit www.uscg.mil/band.

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