05/22/19
HAYS, Kan. – Jazz saxophonist Dave Pietro, a gifted performer, composer and teacher, will headline the 2019 High Plains Music Camp the 73rd in the series founded in 1947.

Pietro has performed at jazz clubs, jazz festivals and concert halls in more than 30 countries around the world. He is a member of the Grammy Award-winning Maria Schneider Orchestra and the Grammy nominated groups the Gil Evans Project and Darcy James Argue's Secret Society.

The fee is $450 for full campers, who will stay in Fort Hays State residence halls. The full-camper fee includes the camp fee, lodging and meals, beginning with lunch on Sunday, July 14, and running through breakfast on Saturday, July 20.

The fee for day campers is $250. Meal plans for lunch and dinner are available for purchase.

To register, go to www.fhsu.edu/musiccamp. To avoid late fees, a $100 deposit must be paid by the end of day June 15.

“The High Plains Music Camp has been a part of the FHSU campus for the past 72 years,” said Dr. Ivalah Allen, camp director and associate professor of music at FHSU.

“For an entire week – Sunday through Saturday – student musicians receive training from expert musicians in every musical discipline,” she said. “They have the opportunity to hear professional musicians perform in the evenings, and at the end of the week they will either play or sing in their band, orchestra, or choir on the Beach/Schmidt or Felten-Start stages.”

Guest artist Pietro has toured with the bands of Woody Herman, Lionel Hampton, Maynard Ferguson, The Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, John Fedchock and others. He has also performed with many other well-known musicians such as Paul Anka, Louis Bellson, Blood Sweat & Tears, David Bowie, Bobby Caldwell, Ray Charles, Rosemary Clooney, Harry Connick Jr., Michael Feinstein, Chaka Khan, Liza Minnelli, James Naughton and John Pizzarelli.

He received a bachelor’s degree in music education from North Texas State University, where he toured and recorded four albums with the school's One O’Clock Lab Band. He has a Master of Arts in jazz composition from New York University, where he an assistant professor of music in jazz studies.

In addition to his performances in clubs, festivals and concert halls, Pietro has presented hundreds of workshops and concerts at schools around the world. He is sponsored by D'Addario Woodwinds, the Conn-Selmer Instrument Company and R.S. Berkeley Musical Instruments.

Since its founding, thousands of students have attended the camp. It offers students the opportunity to study with outstanding musicians from across the country and live a week of stimulating, concentrated study with nationally recognized musicians, teachers, and conductors. Performances, concerts, as well as recreational and social camp life make the week an event worth repeating year after year.

The camp is for students who will be entering sixth grade through the freshman year of college in the fall. Instruction and opportunities to perform are available for students in band and orchestra.

Choir and vocal studies are for older students who will be entering ninth grade or their freshman year in college in the fall.