featuring

• Guest conductor Jerker Johansson (left) from Sweden -- an arranger, composer, conductor and entertainer. He has conducted and arranged for most of the major orchestras in Sweden and many leading singers and entertainers.

• Local accomplished pianist Nancy Rude performing Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor

• Flugelhorn virtuoso Noel Weidkamp

Jerker Johansson achieved prominence at a young age in promoting and renewing the wind band and music hall tradition and repertoire. He has conducted and arranged for most of the major orchestras in Sweden and many leading singers and entertainers. Many of his recordings for Naxos have been at the top of billboard lists and have received acclaim from critics and prominent musicians such as Sammy Nestico and John Williams.

After studies at University of Göteborg School of Music, Johansson was appointed musical director of GöteborgsMusiken in 1992 and also served with the Swedish Air Force Band, a position he held until 2004. He has premiered several hundred new and old original works for band, including more than 30 of his own compositions and 120 of his own arrangements, and has appeared frequently as a virtuous soloist on mallet instruments or mechanical devices in the true Leroy Anderson tradition.

Besides his work in festivals, for recording studios, and with renowned orchestras, he is a popular guest for seminars and provides inspiration to amateur bands and orchestras. In 1996 he was awarded the William Lind prize and in 2005 the City of Göteborg badge of merit.

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Nancy Rude has been a private piano teacher for 44 years and recently retired from teaching at St. Mary’s College in Moraga and Diablo Valley Community College in Pleasant Hill. She has been involved in chamber music and ensemble work throughout her life, currently performing as a duo-pianist and soloist with wind chamber groups and string chamber groups, and as an accompanist.

She has performed internationally in Austria, Brazil, France, Germany, Hungary, Scotland, and Switzerland. She is the  keyboardist for the Diablo Symphony Orchestra and the Contra Costa Wind Symphony. Ms. Rude is professionally certified with the MTNA, is a member of Sigma Alpha Iota and Phi Kappa Phi, and belongs to many other music organizations in her area. She and her husband, Myron Rude, have 7 children and 13 grandchildren.

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Noel Weidkamp has been playing trumpets since he was 9 years old, inspired by his bandleader father. He played in his brother's dance band at the age of 12 and has been playing both classical and popular music ever since. A 'recovering' member of the Stanford Marching Band, he has played with many local big bands and small combos while pursuing a career as a real estate developer. He has retired from this endeavor and is now a "part" full time musician, working with such area ensembles as Brazzissimo, Bay Area Repertory Big Band, California Pops Orchestra, Devil Mountain Jazz Band, as well as guest soloist for several bay area ensembles.

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