The Wallace State Concert Band and Jazz Band will host a Veterans Day celebration on Thursday, November 10 at the Burrow Center for Fine and Performing Arts. The concert will take place at 7 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.
This performance will be the film debut of Dr. Derek J. Molacek, Wallace State’s newest faculty member in the Fine and Performing Arts program.
Molacek is a trombonist, euphoniumist, composer and arranger. He was previously a member of the USAF Band of the Golden West, where, among other performances, he performed in a joint concert with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under Michael Tilson Thomas as well as at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 2011 and 2012. A native of Omaha, Neb., he was an active composer and performer in the Omaha-Lincoln-Southwest Iowa area. He also played trombone with the Omaha Symphony and former The Voice contestant Josh Hoyer. Molacek previously served on the faculty at Iowa Western Community College
Molacek received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Denver and his master’s degree from the University of North Texas. While in Denver, he studied jazz trombone with Darren Kramer, classical trombone with Dr. Joseph Martin, and jazz theory and composition with Malcolm Lynn Baker, Dave Hanson, and Eric Gunnison. He also had the opportunity to perform with Terrell Stafford in 2004.
He completed his doctorate at the Glenn Korff School of Music at the University of Nebraska in the spring of 2017 in Music Composition, Jazz Accent. During his freshman year he studied jazz composition and arranging with Dr. Eric Richards and completed his studies with Thomas Larson.
Other upcoming events offered by the Wallace State Fine and Performing Arts program include the Wallace State Theater production of “Almost, Maine!” Nov. 4-5 at 7 p.m. and Nov. 6 at 2 p.m.; The Nutcracker – Clara’s Dream by Allegro Dance Theater and Ballet South, November 18 and 19 at 7 p.m. and November 20 at 2 p.m.; and the program’s annual Christmas Spectacular on December 8 at 7 p.m.
For more information, visit wallacestate.edu to view the calendar of events or contact Melissa Lawler at 256-352-8277 or melissa.lawler@wallacestate.edu.
