BROWNWOOD – April 12, 2018 – Howard Payne University’s Stephen Goacher, professor of music, will appear as guest artist at the fifth annual Eastland Jazz Festival on Saturday, April 14. The festival’s performances, scheduled to run from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., will be held at the Majestic Theatre in downtown Eastland along with open-air performances in the Town Square.
The festival will feature jazz bands from Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene-area high schools and other schools from west-central Texas. Goacher will be a soloist with several of the bands and serve as a clinician to the various bands’ performances.
A noted performer on all the woodwind instruments, Goacher performed in concert with the San Angelo Symphony in February. In March, he joined Christopher Adkins, Dallas Symphony Orchestra principal cellist, and Dr. Elizabeth Wallace, chair of HPU’s Department of Music and professor of music, in recital performing Brahms’ “Clarinet Trio, Opus 114.” Also in March, he performed at the Temple College Jazz Festival with Grammy-winner John Clayton of Los Angeles. In early April, Goacher performed with All Hands on Deck, the Broadway musical touring Texas and billed as “America’s #1 patriotic show.”
In addition to appearing at the Eastland Jazz Festival, he will also present a faculty recital with Dr. Wallace in HPU’s Grace Chapel on April 23 at 7:30 p.m. Following that performance, he will return as principal saxophonist with the San Angelo Symphony in the “Dance to the Movies” Concert. In May he will join the National Touring Company of the Broadway Show Chicago as lead woodwind for the tour of west Texas.
Applications are still being accepted for the fall 2018 semester at Howard Payne University (www.hputx.edu/apply). HPU offers a variety of financial aid options, including scholarships for students from Brown County and surrounding counties. For more information about HPU, contact HPU’s Office of Admission at 325-649-8020 or by e-mail at enroll@hputx.edu.
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Cutline: HPU’s Stephen Goacher, professor of music, will perform at the fifth annual Eastland Jazz Festival on Saturday, April 14.