FOLEY, Ala. — The Waldorf Wind Symphony will perform at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church May 8 at 6 p.m. The group will tour five states, under the director of Dr. Brent Dodson, director of instrumental activities at Waldorf.

The concerts will feature Waldorf piano professor Dr. Kristín Jónína Taylor performing George Gershwin's “Rhapsody in Blue.” The concerts are free and open to the public.

The performance tour, titled, “Festive Overtures” will feature music from composers such as John Philip Sousa, Frank Ticheli, Percy Grainger, Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin.

The Waldorf Wind Symphony, founded in 1935, reflects the instrumental music tradition represented in American higher education, and more specifically, in the Lutheran Church.

One of the premier wind ensembles in northern Iowa, they strive to perform a harmonious blend of classic and modern wind literature. The Wind Symphony is chosen from the college’s 550 students, with members representing a wide variety of academic programs. The ensemble tours annually, domestically and internationally.

Located in Forest City, Iowa, Waldorf is a four-year, liberal arts college that delivers engaging experiences through innovative classroom instruction.

The college offers residential and hybrid online bachelor’s degree programs including business, communication, music, psychology, theatre, education, fire science administration, criminal justice administration and more.

Dodson, conductor and trumpeter, has been exploring music since he began studies with his father. He continued his musical education at The Juilliard School where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in trumpet performance.

He then spent the next several years performing and teaching in New York City and throughout the world.

Dodson has performed with groups such as the Metropolitan Opera, Charleston Symphony, and the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, with whom he was a soloist in Carnegie Hall. He was chosen to be a featured musician on “The Juilliard Music Adventure,” where he was recorded for the children’s educational video game.

Dodson has also been heard on PBS’s “Reading Rainbow,” where he performed the role of “Trumpet” on the episode for “Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin.”

After years of successful work as a freelance teacher and performer, Dodson went on to pursue doctoral studies at the University of Southern California. He graduated in 2009 with honors, earning a degree in performance with emphasis in trumpet, instrumental conducting, jazz studies and music education.

Dodson is currently the director of instrumental activities and assistant professor of music at Waldorf College. His responsibilities include directing the Waldorf Wind Symphony and teaching high brass instruments, instrumental conducting, brass skills and artistic expression.

He lives in Forest City, Iowa with his wife, Kindra, and their sons, Kai and Dakota.

Taylor is an Icelandic-American pianist who has been enthusiastically received for her performances of Nordic piano works, including the North American premiere of Jón Nordal’s “Piano Concerto” in 2003 and programs by invitation in Washington D.C. for the ambassador of Iceland and President Vigdís Finnbogadóttir.

She has performed widely in the U.S. as well as in Iceland, France, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Sweden and Austria. Taylor’s piano mentors include Halldór Haraldsson, Joanne Baker, Richard Cass and Eugene and Elizabeth Pridonoff.

Taylor was the grand prize winner of the Naftzger Young Artist Competition and a national finalist in the Music Teacher’s National Association Young Chang Collegiate Competition.

Solo performances with orchestras include the Independence Symphony, the Jefferson City Symphony, UMKC Symphony Orchestra and the University of Cincinnati College — Conservatory Philharmonia.

Taylor gave a performance of an all-Schumann program at the internationally prestigious Reykjavík Arts Festival in May of 2006.

She was the recipient of a Fulbright grant to Iceland in 2004-2005 to conduct research for her doctoral thesis on Jón Nordal’s “Piano Concerto.”

She received another Fulbright Scholar grant award to Iceland for the fall of 2010 to research the music of porkell Sigurbjörnsson.

In addition, her CD recording “The Well-Tempered Pianist” (porkell Sigurbjörnsson’s complete solo piano works) will be released by the Iceland Music Information Centre in the spring of 2010.

For more information, visit www.waldorf.edu or www.columbiasouthern.edu/Events/1005WWS.