Buffalo State College musicians and faculty members Ricky Fleming and Crystal Reinoso have been invited to visit the School of Music at the University of Szeged in Hungary. University of Szeged conductor Jozsef Csikota extended the invitation.

Fleming, assistant professor of music in the Performing Arts Department, conducts Buffalo State's wind and jazz ensembles. In Hungary, Fleming will be a guest conductor of the University of Szeged Wind Ensemble.

Fleming is taking wind ensemble music composed by Americans including Walter Hartley, Frank Tichelli, and Charles Young. “Tichelli and Young are some of America's new composers,” said Fleming, “and I want to introduce our contemporary music to them. And Hartley provides some historical context, because he wrote for the first wind ensemble in the United States, the Eastman Wind Ensemble in Rochester.” The wind ensemble, as developed by Dr. Frederick Fennell, incorporates one person per part except for clarinets, so the ensemble is considerably smaller than the traditional symphonic bands made popular by Midwestern universities.

Fleming explained that a wind ensemble creates a different sound than a band. “An ensemble provides a cleaner sound,” said Fleming, “a sound with more clarity.”

Reinoso, associate professor and coordinator of Buffalo State's music program, will perform and teach master classes to University of Szeged students.

Fleming and Reinoso will perform in Hungary on March 24.