IUP Music Department Retired Professor Emeritus, Dr. Gary Bird, has released a new CD, Tuba Safari, featuring the music of composer Gregory Fritze.

The disc features solo and chamber works by Fritze performed by the composer, Bird, and various IUP faculty and students.  Collaborators include IUP faculty members, Dr. Kevin Eisensmith, Dr. David Ferguson, Dr. Jack Scandrett, Dr. Christian Dickinson, and Dr. Jason Worzbyt, and IUP students Geoff Durbin, Justin Beish, Steven Fassnacht, Dan Kerstetter, Grant Shearer, Larry Sarvey, and Jon Wylie.

The CD is recorded on Albany Records and is available from numerous national retailers.

A preview can be heard here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-jeAXZ9GeE
 
 
Zach Collins, Assistant Professor of Tuba and Euphonium at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, is featured on a new CD release by Southwest Chamber Music.  The three-CD set catalogs all of composer William Kraft's Encounters.  Of the 15 Encounters, Encounters II for Solo Tuba is the only one that does not feature percussion. 

Encounters II is one of the landmark pieces in the solo repertoire for the tuba.  Written in 1966 for Roger Bobo, it explores the extremes of tonal range, dynamics, and articulation as well as the extended technique capabilities of the instrument such as multiphonics.

The Southwest Chamber Music project is the culmination of two years of live performances and recordings.  Both the live performances and recordings of Kraft's Encounters were produced in close collaboration with the composer. 

The full CD can be purchased from Southwest Chamber music here or individual tracks are available from Digstation here.