Valentine's Day Wind Ensemble concert

The UGA Wind Ensemble under director of bands John Lynch is one of the premiere large ensembles in the Southeast. You can purchase their recordings here and here, and a video we made during the 2011 recording session is here. Needless to say, it's a treat when they play on campus, and so thier Valentine's Day concert will be a treat within a treat:

The University of Georgia Hugh Hodgson School of Music's 2nd Thursday Scholarship Concert Series continues with "On the Road," a performance by the UGA Wind Ensemble, on Feb. 14 at 8 p.m. in the Hodgson Concert Hall.

The concert is a sneak preview of the ensemble's upcoming performance at the American Bandmasters Association 2013 Convention in Tampa, Fla., as well as its upcoming tour to Paris and Switzerland.

"It's quite fitting that our Valentine's Day concert features many of the same compositions that we'll be performing in Paris, one of the most romantic cities on the planet," said John P. Lynch, a professor in the music school and director of the 60-person UGA Wind Ensemble. "Joining the UGA Wind Ensemble for a 2nd Thursday performance is the perfect way to spend this romantic evening."

In addition to classics by seminal old-world composers J.S. Bach and Antonín Dvořák, "On the Road" also will feature works by more contemporary American composers. Visiting professor John Whitwell will conduct Aaron Copland's "Emblems," while George Gershwin's "An American In Paris" and a world-premiere of Jess Turner's "Black Bolt!," commissioned especially for the UGA Wind Ensemble, round out the program.

Wow. A Paris preview, on Valentine's Day. Leave the chocolates, take the Gershwin.