BOSTON, July 31, 2000 – Internationally-acclaimed jazz trombonist and Berklee Professor Phil Wilson will conduct the Berklee Rainbow Band in a concert entitled "Bones, Big Bands, and Rev. Bob Thompson" on Thursday, August 10, at 8:15 p.m. in the wheelchair accessible Berklee Performance Center, 136 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston. Tickets are $4.00 -- $1.00 for seniors -- and are available at the box office, (617) 747-2261. For more concert information, see the Berklee Performance Center web site at www.berkleebpc.com.

A renowned gospel singer, the Rev. Bob Thompson of Phillips-Exeter Academy will lend his voice to two selections with the band -- Jerome Kern's "Ol' Man River" and the premiere of a new work by Phil Wilson entitled "The Forest," based on a poem by Wendell Berry. The concert will feature compositions and arrangements by Wilson and will also include an arrangement of "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most" by student Jason Camelio of Attleboro, MA.

The Berklee Rainbow Band, which includes some of the college's top instrumentalists from around the world, is one of Berklee's premier ensembles and has been featured at numerous festivals, including the Juan-les-Pins Jazz Festival in the south of France. Director Phil Wilson is currently working on a gospel CD project for the band that features Rev. Bob Thompson, with arrangements of traditional gospel songs by Assistant Professor Dennis Montgomery III, director of the Berklee Reverence Gospel Ensemble.

Founded in 1945, Berklee College of Music has been advancing careers in contemporary music for more than 50 years. The world's largest independent college of music, Berklee has a multi-cultural enrollment of more than 3,000 students, 40 percent of whom are international. The college's alumni include some of the most respected figures in contemporary music, including many multi-Grammy award winners.

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For editorial information, please contact:

Toni Ballard
Office of Public Information
(617) 747-2247
Fax: (617) 247-8788
tballard@berklee.edu