Attendees of WNCC's annual Spring Band Concert will be seeing triple. This year, the Western Nebraska Winds will be joined by the Stoneback Sisters, a trumpeting trio of identical triplets. The trumpeters will perform "Por La España Cañi," a trio arrangement of "Carnival of Venice," and of course "Bugler's Holiday." The Western Nebraska Winds will round out their performance with Leonard Bernstein's "Three Dance Episodes from On the Town" and the third movement from William Schuman's "New England Triptych."
The performance is 3:00 p.m. on April 6 in the WNCC Little Theatre. Admission is free and open to the public.
During the concert, The Fire in the Pan Swingers, the College's jazz band, will be joined by Scottsbluff vocal trio Yes, Ma'am. The two groups will perform three songs made popular by the Andrews Sisters: "Oh, Johnny! Oh, Johnny! Oh!," "Shoo-Shoo Baby," and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy." The Swingers will also perform "Pressure Cooker," "Almost Like Being In Love," "Misty" (featuring Nick Brady), and "Clarinade" (featuring Dr. Nathaniel Johnson).
In keeping with the "Three of a Kind" theme, WNCC's saxophone quartet will perform selections from Kurt Weill's "The Threepenny Opera."
The Stoneback Sisters -- Kristin, Mary, and Sarah Stoneback -- are considered among the top trumpeters on the professional scene today. The trio has been featured with numerous bands and orchestras throughout the United States and Europe, including the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, John Philip Sousa Band, United States Air Force Band of the West, South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, Interlochen Wind Ensemble, and the Arizona State University Symphony Orchestra. The sisters were featured soloists and clinicians at the Iowa Band Masters Conference in the spring of 2005 and have worked with such artists as Richard Hayman, Susan Slaughter, Doc Severinsen, Henry Charles Smith.
The Stonebacks have been Conn-Selmer Inc. clinicians since 1996 and promote music education as pivotal part of life. The Stoneback Sisters will offer educational clinics at Gering Junior High School and Bluffs Middle School on April 5, sponsored by WNCC's instrumental music program.
In 2000, the Stoneback Sisters graduated with honors from the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy for the Arts at Interlochen, Michigan where they studied with Dr. Stanley Friedman. The ladies each graduated Summa Cum Laude with a bachelor of arts degree in music and trumpet performance from Arizona State University.
Currently, the sisters are pursuing diverse careers alongside performing together as Stoneback Sisters and Stoneback Brass (a trumpet quartet & brass quintet). Sarah is pursuing her doctorate in trumpet performance and pedagogy at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Kristin is a supply technician and trumpeter in the 101st Army Band (Colorado National Guard) and guitarist in the Open Range Army Country Band, stationed in Aurora, Colorado. And Mary is a faith and youth Formation Director at Ascension Lutheran in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Yes Ma'am is a vocal trio that hails from Bayard, Nebraska -home of Chimney Rock, the most recognized landmark on the Oregon Trail. Formed in 2006, the group performs musical selections from decades gone by. Their most notable tunes are reminiscent of the USO shows from the World War II era and feature the sounds of the Andrew Sisters, McGuire Sisters, Big Band groups and more. They honor veterans and their families by reliving the music of their time and thank those currently serving remembering the USO motto of "Until Every One Comes Home."
For more information, please contact Dr. Nathaniel Johnson, WNCC director of bands, at 308.635.6046 or johnsonn@wncc.edu.