Final Solo & Chamber Series performance of the season features trumpet player Allen Vizzutti

Allen Vizzutti, trumpet, will perform the final concert of the 2006-2007 Pittsburg State University Solo & Chamber Music Series at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 13, in McCray Recital Hall on the PSU campus. Vizzutti will also present a free masterclass for area trumpet students at 3 p.m. that day in McCray Recital Hall.

Vizzutti has performed with a wide variety of artists in 40 countries and every U.S. state. He has shared the stage with Chick Corea, 'Doc' Severinsen, the NBC Tonight Show Band, the Airmen Of Note, the Army Blues and Army Symphony Orchestra, Chuck Mangione, and Woody Herman. Performing as a classical and a jazz artist, often in the same evening, he has appeared as a guest soloist with symphony orchestras and as a soloist in major cities on nearly every continent.

From his home in Seattle, Vizzutti’s activities include a full schedule of recitals, concerts, recording and composing. He demonstrates his commitment to music education and the value of music in everyday life through an extensive schedule of guest appearances at universities across North America, Europe, Japan and Australia.

Vizzutti’s solo jazz recordings include “Trumpet Summit” and “Skyrocket” from Summit Records. Classical CDs currently available from DeHaske Music Publishing Recordings are “The Emerald Concerto and Other Gems,” with the Budapest Radio Orchestra; “Vizzutti Plays Vizzutti” and “Vizzutti and Soli On Tour.” His “High Class Brass,” (also DeHaske Recordings), is a classical and jazz blend co-produced, co-written and performed with fellow trumpet artist, composer and conductor, Jeff Tyzik, along with a 90-piece studio orchestra.

As an artist in residence, Vizzutti has taught at the Eastman School of Music, the Banff Center for the Performing Arts, Kansas State University, Ohio State University, West Texas State University, the Skidmore Jazz Institute, and the Trompeten Akademie of Bremen Germany. He is professor of trumpet at the University of Washington. His treatise, “The Allen Vizzutti Trumpet Method” and his “New Concepts for Trumpet,” (Alfred Music Publishing), have become standards works for trumpet study world wide.

While growing up in Montana, Vizzutti was taught by his father, a self-taught musician and trumpet player, until he left home to attend the Eastman School of Music. There, he earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in music.

While living in Los Angeles during the ‘80s, Vizzutti performed on more than 100 motion picture sound tracks, (such as “Back To The Future” and “Star Trek”), as well as countless TV shows, commercials and recordings with artists such as Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, Chick Corea, the Commodores and Prince. His recent projects include the movies “40 Days and 40 Nights,” “Unfaithfully Yours,” Gridiron Gang,” “Scary Movie Four,” and also video games “Medal of Honor” and “Halo II.”

In Pittsburg, Vizzutti will be accompanied by his wife, pianist Laura Vizzutti. The two met while they both were students at the Eastman School of Music and married 17 years later. Together, the Vizzuttis have performed around the globe. Their recordings include “The Carnival Of Venus” and “A Trumpeter’s Dream,” as well as recent CDs with the renowned international trumpet ensemble, ‘Ten of the Best.’

The program for the Pittsburg concert will include Concertino in Eb, by J.G. Albrechtsberger, Andante and Capriccio, by Allen Vizzutti; Theme from “Concerto de Aranjuez,” by Joachim Rodrigo; “Carnival of Venice,” by Delaware Staigers; “Nine Black Riders: Fantasy for Trumpet and Piano,” by Allen Vizzutti; “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” by Harold Arlen; “Bohemian Dance,” from the opera “Carmen,” by George Bizet; and a Gershwin Medley.

Concert tickets are $10 for the general public, $7 for persons over 65 or under 18. Full-time PSU students are entitled to a free ticket. Tickets are available in advance at the University Ticket Office in the Overman Student Center or at the door prior to the performance.

The Solo and Chamber Music Series is supported by major funding from the PSU Student Government Association.

---Pitt State---