The Slesvigske Muikkorps (SMUK) (colloquially BEAUTIFUL), one of Denmark's Armed Forces three full-time professional music corps, will perform at Bradley University on Thursday, December 17. The free concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Dingeldine Music Center, located at 1417 W. Barker Avenue.
SMUK consists of 16 musicians (brass and percussion). They are traveling to the United States to perform in Washington D.C. with the United States Marine Band, to Chicago for the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic and to Peoria.
Peter Ettrup Larsen, conductor of SMUK, served as Guest Scholar in Residence in 2002 at Bradley, a place he still considers his home away from home. As associate professor of conducting at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland, Larsen has been in charge of the wind band conducting program since 2011. He studied conducting with renowned professor Jorma Panula (and his then assistant Atso Almila) at the Sibelius Academy. For 14 years Larsen was a board member of the Danish Conductor’s Association and from 2004-2010 served as the only European on the board of the US-based “The Conductors Guild.”
Last May David Vroman, Director of Bands at Bradley, traveled to Denmark to present two John Philip Sousa style performances with SMUK. He notes, “the abilities of the band are simply top-flight. They are professional in every sense and have a repertoire that encompasses a wide range of styles. A performance by this group is entertaining and a joy to hear.”
For more information contact Dr. Vroman at 309-677-2605 or dvroman@bradley.edu.
