DeKalb — The NIU Steelband presents its fall 2018 concert, Sunday, Nov. 11 at 3 p.m. at the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall in the Music Building.

The event will be dedicated to the memories of steelband legends, Dr. Ellie Mannette and Ken “Professor” Philmore, both of whom recently passed away.

The program will also feature the All-University Steelband and Community School for the Arts (CSA) Steelband, as well the NIU Steelpan Studio.

The NIU Steelband will host Professor of Harp, Faye Seeman, as its guest artist.

Seeman is principal harpist of the renowned Chicago Sinfonietta Orchestra and adjunct professor of harp studies at Wheaton College and Northern Illinois University. She has distinguished herself as one of the most versatile harpists in the Midwest, and, along with several colleagues from the Chicago jazz community, has established the “ZigZag” Jazz Harp Quartet (harp, piano, bass and drums).  Seeman and Head of Steelband Studies at NIU, Professor Liam Teague, have also formed the harp and steelpan duo Pangelic, a collaborative effort dedicated to breaking down musical boundaries.

Tickets are $5 for Adults, $3 for students.  They are available online or at the door.

The NIU Steelband is directed by Liam Teague (Head of Steel Pan Studies/Professor of Music) and Yuko Asada (Musical Instrument Technician). Created in 1973 by G. Allan O’Connor, it was the first active steelband formed in an American university and has performed throughout the United States and around the world. NIU is one of the few institutions in the world at which students may pursue music degrees (undergraduate and graduate) with the steel pan as the major instrument of choice.