SUMMER SONGS: AN OUTDOOR CONCERT

JUNE 18, 2026

7:00 PM

DAHLEM CENTER

FREE ADMISSION

Join the Jackson Symphony Orchestra and Dahlem for a FREE outdoor concert performance! Bring your own lawn chair or blanket and sit under the trees or out in the grass and listen to a selection of summer songs performed by the Jackson Symphony Orchestra brass quintet. The performance will be held outdoors at the Dahlem Environmental Education Center pavilion, 7117 South Jackson Road, at 7pm. Please feel free to arrive early and enjoy a walk on the trails, play at the nature playscape, or stop by the exhibit room and gift shop.

*Due to the concert being outdoors, please follow JSO and Dahlem on social media for performance updates if there is inclement weather.

Bill Baxtresser
Trumpet

Bio coming soon.

Mike McGowan
Trumpet

Michael McGowan is a sought-after trumpet player in the Metro Detroit area. Mike has appeared on numerous occasions with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Brass Quintet and Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings. Commercially, Mike has performed touring Broadway shows at the Fisher Theater, Masonic Temple and Detroit Opera House.

He has played with various musical legends such as Michael Feinstein, Neil Sedaka, Burt Bacharach and Dionne Warwick. He is Principal Trumpet of the Dearborn Symphony. Mike has been a frequent guest principal trumpet with many orchestras including the Ann Arbor, Flint, Saginaw Symphonies. He is currently on the faculty of Wayne State University and Vice President of the Detroit Federation of Musicians.

Dinah Bianchi
Horn

Award-winning Michigan composer, Dinah Bianchi, seeks to create vibrantly exciting music; music that is sublime, beautiful and with the communicative power that drives the creative spirit of all artists. She is well versed in a variety of musical genres with a portfolio that includes music for orchestra, concert band, string ensemble, chamber ensemble, solo works, as well as electronic music.

Well received both nationally and internationally, Bianchi’s music has been performed in concert halls located in Europe, Asia, Canada, and the United States. Recently, she completed a recording session for “Chasse Noir” with the Janáček Philharmonic Orstrava in the Czech Republic. The recording was released in August of 2022 and is anticipating an album release with PARMA in the Spring of 2024.

Bianchi’s compositions have received numerous recognitions. In 2023, she received a Global Music Award for her wildly colorful and powerful orchestral work, “Pandora.” In 2022, she was awarded the Composition Award at the 2022 Society of Composers Region II Conference, where Symphoria, led by Maestro Lawrence Loh, featured her highly-acclaimed orchestral work, “Chasse Noir.” In addition, her orchestral work, “Into the Sky,” received a 2022 Global Music Award. Following in the same light, Bianchi’s band work, “Snowflakes in April,” received Honorable Mention in the Professional Division from the American Prize. In 2021, Bianchi was recommended for the 2022 American Academy of Arts and Letters Composition Award, well-known for fostering and sustaining an interest in literature, music, and the fine arts through the the exhibiting of art, the promotion of manuscripts, and the funding of new music works. In addition, she received a 2021 Global Music Award for, “Chasse Noir,” as well as for her electronic work,”…Please repeat that.” She was the winner of the 2021 Craig’s Keyboards/University of Toledo’s Composer’s Contest for her work, “Pelaga: When Sea Encounters Sky,” and was also the recipient of the 2020 SMP Press Composition Competition in the Contemporary Music Solo Division for ”…Please repeat that.” That same year, she received a Global Music Award for “Vitula,” a dramatic work for solo violin and orchestra. Other awards include a Global Music Award in 2019 for her orchestral work, “Anaphora,” a composition which was also selected as a 2020 Finalist for the American Prize. Previously, she as awarded 2nd Place in The American Prize for her composition, “The Jackal’s Palace,” a boisterous romp for wind ensemble, which also received a 2015 Global Music Award.

Chris Sayles
Trombone

Christopher Sayles is a freelance musician playing in many groups in lower Michigan. He has over 20 years with the Jackson Symphony, and has played with many other orchestras including Adrian, Southwest Michigan, Warren, Oakland, Orchestra Sono, and the International Symphony, as well as several tours with the Hollywood Festival Orchestra in Japan, and tours with the New York Gilbert and Sulivan players.

He has won and placed in several solo competitions and enjoyed playing in some high-level brass bands. He has played in many groups that include big bands, quintets, quartets, churches, and other small ensembles. He is also known in the Jackson area as the owner of Prominent Design & Build doing contracting work and notably the remodel of Weatherwax Hall for the JSO.

John Miller
Tuba

Currently Co-Principal tuba of the Jackson Symphony Orchestra, John Miller is a tubist and low brass instructor based in the greater Cincinnati area. He currently performs regularly as a substitute for the Cincinnati Symphony, a member of the Cincinnati Brass Band, teaching intern at the Cincinnati Brass Institute, and keeps an active studio of tuba/euphonium students.

As a native of Florida, John has had a wide and varied career in music before coming to Cincinnati. During his time in Florida, he was a guest tuba for the Venice Symphony, Lakeland Symphony, Ocala Symphony, Florida Wind Band, and Tampa Brass Brand.

John received a B.M. from the University of South Florida, M.M. from Miami University (OH), and will begin a DMA at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) in fall of 2024. His primary teachers include Chris Olka, Joseph Alvarez, Tim Northcut, John Ash.

SUMMER SONGS: AN OUTDOOR CONCERT

JUNE 18, 2026

7:00 PM

DAHLEM CENTER

SPONSORED BY