New:  Tonight’s soloist, Torrance Buntyn, Jr. will give a pre-concert lecture in the auditorium at 7:20pm.  Come early and hear him talk about the concerto and his association with the Alliance of Black Orchestral Percussionists.  Please share the concert flyer with friends and family!

The Pasadena Community Orchestra’s 41st season continues on March 15, 8:00pm at the beautiful First Church of the Nazarene of Pasadena. Our concerts are always free admission, and there is plenty of free parking. If you’d like to challenge your love of classical music, come and enjoy something new—a percussion concerto by Allen Gordon Bell.  Music by Mahler, Amy Beach, and Haydn completes this lively concert.

Mahler             Adagietto from Symphony No. 5
Allen Gordon Bell  Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra
                   with Torrance Buntyn, Jr., percussion solo
Amy Beach          Bal Masqué
Haydn              Symphony No. 103 in E♭ major “The Drumroll”

Featured on this program is a percussion concerto by Allen Gordon Bell.  We are delighted to bring you this amazing concerto as part of our partnership with the Alliance of Black Orchestral Percussionists (ABOP).

About our soloist:  A native of Jackson, Tennessee, Torrance Buntyn Jr. began his percussion studies at age ten and won many awards through numerous Tennessee Honor Bands. In 2018, he received outstanding recognition for performing in the Tennessee Bandmasters Association’s Honor Recital in Nashville. He also performed with the Jackson Symphony Youth Orchestra as principal timpanist.

Torrance is an alumnus of an HBCU (Historically Black College/University), Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN. He studied under Dr. Derrick Greene and Dr. Sean Daniels and received a Bachelor of Science in Music Education in 2022. While there, he performed in the two-time Grammy winning Aristocrat of Bands and toured with the TSU Wind Ensemble as principal percussionist. He has participated and performed in numerous seminars and festivals across the country.

Torrance is a May 2024 candidate for a Masters of Music degree in Percussion Performance at Southern Methodist University-Meadows School of the Arts, University Park, TX, where he studies with George Nickson (principal percussionist, Dallas Symphony Orchestra) and Brian Jones (Principal Timpanist, Dallas Symphony Orchestra). In Dallas, Torrance serves as freelance percussionist, percussion teacher, and extra percussionist for the New Philharmonic of Irving.

Torrance is currently a Protégé in the Mentorship Program of the Alliance of Black Orchestral Percussionists (ABOP) https://www.abop.us/. The Program provides training and support to Black percussionists seeking a career in symphonic percussion.  He is mentored by Douglas Cardwell (Former Timpanist of New Mexico Philharmonic) and Raynor Carroll (Retired Principal Percussionist of Los Angeles Philharmonic, and CEO and Founder of ABOP).  Pasadena Community Orchestra is thrilled to be in a community parternership with ABOP (since 2022), providing young Black percussionists, like Torrance, the opportunity to perform and grow as artists and musicians on our concert stage.

About the concerto’s composer:  Allan Gordon Bell, CM is a Canadian contemporary classical composer. Born in Calgary, Alberta, Bell received a Master of Music degree from the University of Alberta where he studied with Violet Archer, Malcolm Forsyth, and Manus Sasonkin, after completing undergraduate studies in philosophy. He also did advanced studies in composition at the Banff Centre for the Arts where his teachers were Jean Coulthard, Bruce Mather, and Oskar Morawetz. He has created works for solo instruments, chamber ensembles, orchestra, band, and electroacoustic media. Bell is an Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre, for which he served as President of the National Board from 1984 to 1988. He is a professor of composition and music theory at the University of Calgary, where he helped to create the Department of Music’s doctoral programme.