The Heisey Wind Ensemble brings their 41st Anniversary Season to a close on Saturday, May 16, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. with a concert by the HWE Big Band. The concert will be held at the John W. Alford Performing Arts Hall in the John Gilbert Reese Center on the campus of The Ohio State University at Newark and Central Ohio Technical College.
The HWE Big Band is a smaller group from within the Heisey Wind Ensemble. The HWE Big Band presented their first concert in 2011, and the upcoming concert will be the big bands thirty-first concert for the Licking County community. The group plays music from the Great American Song Book, classics from the past and current arrangements written for the modern jazz ensemble.
For the May 16th HWEBB concert we welcome back our HWE Music Director, Dr. Russel Mikkelson to lead the band. He has programmed great big band classics, including a piece in tribute to Chuck Mangione who died last summer and a piece by Gordon Goodwin who died in December. Both men advanced the jazz idiom during their lifetimes.
Joining the HWE Big Band on May 16th will be vocalist Michael Shirtz. Michael Shirtz is a jazz singer, pianist, and composer whose performances reach out to audiences of all generations. His vocal style captures the warmth and lyricism of a Mel Tormé on smooth ballads, and up tunes with energy, drive, and a hint of blues. As a pianist, Shirtz has remained deeply influenced by the innovation of Brubeck’s keyboard styles, which are infused into Michael’s shows. Among Shirtz’s greatest attributes are his diverse, instrumental-like scat singing and his cool ease and conversation with his audiences. Shirtz currently serves as a lecturer of voice at Ohio State, where he teaches applied voice and studio classes. He has served on the faculties of Capital University, Heidelberg University, and Terra State Community College where he held the positions of lead faculty and dean.
The HWE, formed in 1985, is recognized as one of Ohio’s finest adult concert bands. Membership is by audition only and includes outstanding musicians from Licking, Franklin, Fairfield, Guernsey, Delaware, Coshocton, and Muskingum counties. The band has been selected to perform at conventions of the Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA) and the American School Band Directors Association (ASBDA). The first rehearsal for the HWE was on February 1, 1985, and the first concert was on June 10, 1985. The group has performed 167 concerts to date.
Tickets for HWE concerts are available only at the door. Adults are $15, seniors (60+) are $10 and students are $5. Additional information can be found at the band’s web site at www.heiseywindensemble.org