DENTON (UNT), Texas ¾  University of North Texas alumnus Jeremy Wilson, who landed a prestigious position with the acclaimed Vienna Philharmonic while still a first-year master’s student, will return to his alma mater Feb. 7 to perform alumnus James Kazik’s Concerto for Trombone with the UNT Symphonic Band.

The concert at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 7 (Tuesday) also will feature pianist Grace Kim, winner of the UNT Concerto Competition, performing Felix Mendelssohn’s Concerto for Piano No. 2. Dennis W. Fisher conducts. Tickets are $8 to $10 and are available by calling 940-369-7802 or visiting www.theMPAC.com.

The Symphonic Band program also includes Alberto Ginastera’s Danza Final with guest conductor Seth Wollam; W. Francis McBeth’s They Hung Their Harps in the Willows, and Gioachino Rossini’s Italian in Algiers.

Wilson was selected for the Vienna State Opera/Vienna Philharmonic, considered one of the finest orchestras in the world, in 2007 after his first-ever professional orchestral audition.  His UNT trombone professor at the time, Vern Kagarice, called the rare accomplishment “a Cinderella story beyond anyone’s wildest imagination.” In December 2011, Wilson finished his UNT master’s degree while still serving as second trombonist for the Vienna Philharmonic.

“It feels great to have completed what I began in 2006,” Wilson said. “I have spent the past few years singing the praises of UNT and expressing to those around me the enormous and pivotal role that my experiences at UNT played in winning the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra job, so I had a desire to earn my degree and be an alumnus rather than an attendee of the school that has meant so much to me. I feel proud to have completed that journey, and to finally call myself an alumnus of UNT.”

Wilson first performed Kazik’s piece with the UNT Graduate Brass Ensemble in 2009 and will now play the wind ensemble version.

“I'm very excited to share this music with everyone and to celebrate my graduation with such a great ensemble and conductor,” Wilson said.

Now in his fifth season in Vienna, Wilson has performed more than 250 Philharmonic concerts in 27 countries under some of the world's greatest conductors, including Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Gustavo Dudamel, Valery Gergiev, Mariss Jansons, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Simon Rattle and Franz Welser-Möst. In the Vienna State Opera, Wilson has played more than 520 performances of 80 different operas and ballets. 

Kazik, who earned a master of music degree in trombone performance from UNT in 2000, has been a staff arranger at one of the premiere Washington, D.C., service bands since 2001. He said his return to UNT to hear his concerto performed at the Feb. 7 concert will be “a great experience — kind of like a homecoming.”

“Between the wind symphony, the orchestra, and the lab bands, I had the opportunity to be exposed to a great variety of music,” Kazik said of his time as a UNT student. “I also had the privilege of working with many talented musicians, both in the faculty and in the student body.”

As an arranger and orchestrator, Kazik’s arrangements have been performed not only by all of the various elements of “Pershing's Own,” but also by various groups including the National Symphony Orchestra. He is also a staff writer for Hal Leonard Corp.  As a composer, his works, particularly those for trombone, continue to win acclaim both in the U.S. and abroad. He is composer-in-residence for the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic in Washington, D.C.

Kazik has written several concerti and solo works, as well as various works for orchestra, brass ensemble and wind ensemble, performed by such groups as the UNT Wind Symphony and the wind ensembles of the University of Minnesota and Oklahoma State University. Most recently, his wind band orchestration of his Concerto for Trombone and new composition Eviler Elves were featured by the OSU Wind Ensemble at the 2009 CBDNA National Conference in Austin. 

About Grace Kim

A Korean-Canadian pianist who began studying piano at age 4, Kim has been actively engaged in a variety of musical roles as a soloist, chamber musician and ensemble pianist, as well as a concert organizer. She has performed in venues across the United States and Canada, France, Germany and South Korea. Her recent activities include a performance at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall as first prize winner of the American Protégé Competition. She is pursuing her doctoral degree at UNT, where she studies with Pamela Mia Paul. Kim also serves as keyboardist for the Lone Star Wind Orchestra.