Cooper is currently on the music faculty at Eastern Oregon University, where he teaches piano and jazz studies. He has toured with Woody Herman's Young Thundering Herd, and in 1988 he won both the Thelonius Monk International Piano Competition and the Great American Jazz Piano Competition. Cooper has performed with such luminaries as Eddie Harris, Clark Terry, Nancy King, Roger Williams and the Nelson Riddle Orchestra. He received his undergraduate degree from the UO School of Music and his graduate degrees from the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. The concert is co-sponsored by the EMU Cultural Forum.
Admission is free.
Among the pieces on the program are works for marimba and orchestra, female vocal quartet, cello and trombone, voice and piano, and various chamber ensembles. Student composers represented on the program are Lay Kar Kho, Lily Barmor, Paul Dondero, Daniel Heila, Jared Burrows and Robb Mills. The Oregon Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Associate Professor Robert Ponto, will perform at 8 p.m. in Beall Concert Hall. Ponto will be assisted on the program by graduate conducting students Christopher Mudd and Timothy Reynolds. Admission is free, and the public is welcome.