The DePaul University Wind Ensemble will present "Celebrating America’s Diversity," an evening of music written by African-American, Asian-American, Latino and women composers, at 8 p.m. Jan. 30 in the DePaul Concert Hall, 800 W. Belden Ave. The free public concert celebrates a century of diversity in wind music composition and the centennial of DePaul University, an institution with a 100-year tradition of welcoming students from diverse backgrounds.

The concert will feature works by ragtime composer Scott Joplin; "Soundings" by Cindy McTee; "Music for Winds and Percussion" by Colombian composer Blas Atehortua; and "Yu Ko" by Chinese American composer Chou Wen-Chung. Colombian violinist Francisco Iragorri, a DePaul School of Music graduate student, also will perform a set of popular South American music at the concert.

Donald DeRoche, director of the wind ensemble and chairman of the performance studies department at DePaul’s School of Music, said wind music is an appropriate medium for celebrating American diversity during the last century. "Wind music is basically 20^th century music because composers didn’t start writing concert music specifically for wind groups until this century," he said. "Composers from a wide variety of cultures have influenced this music, and the concert highlights their contributions."

DeRoche, a Skokie resident, is celebrating a milestone of his own in 1999—his 20th year as director of the wind ensemble. "In my 20 years at DePaul I have watched with amazement and pleasure as the number and quality of our student population has grown," DeRoche said. "Today we have a large number of outstanding students. The number of women seeking professional degrees has increased dramatically and the character of our student body has become more diverse. In many ways this concert is also a celebration of those changes."

Former School of Music Dean Frederick Miller recruited DeRoche in 1979 to lead the ensemble, which had been formed the year before. Before joining the music faculty, DeRoche was a clarinetist with the U.S. Army Band in Washington, D.C. and the Victoria (Canada) Symphony Orchestra. He also spent six years as director of bands at Willowbrook High

School in Villa Park.

Performing with eight to 40 players, The DePaul Wind Ensemble presents seven free public concerts at the DePaul Concert Hall and three or four at other venues each year. DeRoche also has led the group on three musical tours abroad. The group traveled and performed in Ireland last year, in Russia, Poland and Estonia in 1988, and in Hungary and Austria in 1985. They also perform regularly at music educator and band conferences.

The wind ensemble can be heard on two commercial recordings: AFrench Plus 2" on the Toshiba/EMI label, and AEbony Concerto@ on Reference Recordings, with Chicago Symphony clarinetist and DePaul faculty member John Bruce Yeh.

The wind ensemble’s concert is one of dozens musical, cultural, academic and celebratory events sponsored by DePaul during the 1998-99 school year to commemorate the university’s centennial. For more information about the concert or other DePaul School of Music events, call 773/325-7260.