EIU Wind Symphony's 'Call to Duty' to Honor Veterans Past and Present

October 27, 2009

In honor of Veterans Day, the Eastern Illinois University Wind Symphony will salute veterans past and present with "The Call to Duty" at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10.

All active-duty military members and veterans wearing all or part of their uniforms or VFW regalia will be admitted free to the concert, which will be held in the Doudna Fine Arts Center's Dvorak Concert Hall.

All Central Illinois veterans who have been killed in action, or who served but have since passed, will be acknowledged during the concert. To avoid omissions, community members are asked to provide the veterans' names and hometowns, as well as the name of the wars in which they served, by Nov. 6, via e-mail (mdallen@eiu.edu) or phone message (217-581-2799).

A "To Honor, Thank and Remember" display will be set up in the Doudna's Concourse, where community members may display pictures, letters and other items either from their own service or in honor of another who has served. Items may be placed before the concert and retrieved either after the concert or at the end of the week. The display will be available for public viewing through Nov. 13.

The EIU Wind Symphony, led by conductor Milton Allen, will perform several musical selections:

• Those who have served will be asked to stand during the "Armed Forces Salute."
• French composer Darius Milhaud's "Suite Francaise," dedicated to the Americans who fought with the Allies and the French Underground for the liberation of France during World War II, will be illustrated by images provided by Dan Crews.
• David Gillingham's "Heroes, Lost and Fallen" is the first piece to memorialize those lost in the Vietnam conflict -- and to pay tribute to those who survived.
• Jerker Johansson's "The Missing Man" and Samuel Hazo's "Each Time You Tell Their Story" will provide the back drop as those who were lost are honored.

Tickets -- $5 for regular admission and $3 for EIU students -- may be purchased in the Doudna Fine Arts Center box office (217-581-3110) from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, or one hour before each performance. Tickets may also be reserved via e-mail at doudnatix@eiu.edu.

The Doudna Fine Arts Center, a division of EIU's College of Arts and Humanities, is located one block west of Ninth Street at Garfield Avenue in Charleston. For more information, visit the Web site at http://www.eiu.edu/doudna.