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Lee University’s Wind Ensemble will perform its first concert of the season on Wednesday, Oct. 4. It will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Conn Center on Lee’s campus. 

The concert will be directed by the ensemble’s new conductor, Joel Denton, instructor of music education at Lee. 

According to Denton, the concert is a salute to older traditional music presented in a new contemporary way. 

The program will highlight a range of band music compositions, from a Vietnam War march to traditional hymns such as “Amazing Grace” and “Be Thou My Vision.” Featured composers will include Dawson, Hosay, Kahelin, and Persichetti, among others. 

Prior to joining Lee’s School of Music, Denton served as director of bands at Ooltewah High School for 37 years. In 2015, he was awarded the John Phillip Sousa Foundation Legion of Honor for his contributions to the band, and the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts has honored him on three separate occasions. He is also an elected member of the East Tennessee Band and Orchestra Association (ETSBOA) Hall of Fame and the Tennessee Bandmasters Hall of Fame. 

Denton currently serves as the Tennessee state chair for the National Band Association and is a former president of the ETSBOA and the Tennessee Bandmasters Association. 

The Lee University Wind Ensemble is committed to the highest level of performance of instrumental ensemble literature for winds and percussion and performs for special concerts on the Lee campus throughout the year. 

The concert is free, non-ticketed, and open to the public. It will also be available via livestream at leeu.live. 

For more information, contact Lee’s School of Music at (423) 614-8240 or email [email protected].