The Mission: #LoveMusic – Dr. Stephen L. Gage Legacy Project will celebrate the beloved Youngstown State University professor’s passion for music during a special concert next month.
The #LoveMusic: Stephen L. Gage Legacy Concert will take place 3 p.m., Sunday, May 18 at Stambaugh Auditorium in Youngstown.
Organizers say 88 musicians are set to perform, including former students, colleagues, students and friends. Guest composer and YSU alumnus Jerry Ascione will debut a new composition dedicated to Gage.
In addition, the concert will feature music that was meaningful to Gage, including “Lincolnshire Posy” and selections from “Star Wars.”
The performance follows a successful inaugural event held in May 2023. The Mission: #LoveMusic committee has indicated that future concerts will not be memorials, but a continuation of the work and ideals Gage championed.
“The response to the memorial concert in 2023 was overwhelming and I am thrilled that we can carry on Steve’s legacy by bringing outstanding musicians, conductors, literature, and audiences together. It is what Steve loved to do, and it is wonderful to see others carry that forward,” said wife Stephanie Gage.
The concert will feature “We Are, for Upon Their Shoulders We Stand,” a new work by composer and Dana School of Music alumnus Jerry Ascione. It will be dedicated to the memory of Gage, and the past and present Dana School of Music faculty.
A retired Navy Band pianist and composer, Ascione credits his success to the technical and philosophical education received at the Dana School of Music. Ascione has an active post-retirement career as a composer and arranger for multiple ensembles including the W.D. Packard Band in Warren, where he met Gage.
Ascione earned his degree in 1975 and studied French horn while also performing piano with the YSU Jazz Ensembles. Following graduation, Ascione had a distinguished 31-year career in the U.S. Navy, where he served as a French horn player with the U.S. Naval Academy Band and later became the pianist and leader of the Navy’s premier jazz ensemble, the Commodores.
The concert will be led by conductors Dr. Timothy Shade and Reed Chamberlin. Shade is the Director of the School of Music, Director of Bands, and coordinator of the Graduate Wind Conducting Program at Wichita State University. Chamberlin serves as Director of Bands, Director of the School of Music and associate professor of music at the University of Nevada. He holds a doctorate in conducting from the Eastman School of Music and a master’s in conducting from Youngstown State University.
Tickets are $16, plus a $4 processing fee. The concert is free for students with a valid I.D. Tickets are available at www.stambaughauditorium.com…
Mission: #LoveMusic uses the hashtag #LoveMusic and the phrases “Be the Music” and “Dare to be Great,” as reminders of Gage’s approach to teaching and music. More information can be found at www.missionlovemusic.org…. “Mission: LoveMusic – Dr. Stephen L. Gage Legacy Project” also maintains a Facebook page.
Stambaugh Auditorium
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