Visual & Performing Arts

Be Like the Bird

Be like the bird that, pausing in her flight a while on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her and sings, and sings, and sings knowing she hath wings.

 

Solstice Carole

A fire is burning
The long night draws near
All who need comfort
Are welcome by here

We’ll dance ‘neath the stars
And toast the past year
For the spirit of solstice
Is still living here

We’ll count all our blessings
While the Mother lays down
With snow as her blanket
Covering the ground

Thanks to the Mother
For the life that she brings
She’ll waken to warm us
Again in the spring

The poor and the hungry
The sick and the lost
These are our children
No matter the cost

Come by the fire
The harvest to share
For the spirit of solstice
Is still living here

 

Winter Cantata

So Deep

“So, deep, so, so, so deep the heavy snow since yesterday, it drifts remain sweep, sweep as you may. So, deep”

 

Gentlest Fall of Snow

“Ah! The first, the gentlest fall of snow, fall of snow, gentlest fall of snow: quick.
Enough to make the jonquil leaves bend low.
Ah! The first, the gentlest fall of show, fall of snow, gentlest fall of snow.”

 

Fallen Leaves

The winters fistful gusts, as they expire, bring enough fallen, fallen leaves…
The winter’s fitful gusts, as they expire, bring enough leaves, fallen leaves, enough leaves, bring enough leaves, fallen leaves, enough leaves to build a fire.”

 

Northern Lights

Thou art beautiful, O my love,
sweet and comely as Jerusalem,
terrible as an army set in array.
Turn away thy eyes from me,
for they have made me flee away.

 

My Favorite Things

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens,
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens,
Brown paper packages tied up with strings, these are a few of my favorite things.

Cream colored ponies and crip apple strudels,
Doorbells and sleighbells and schnitzel with noodles,
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings,
These are a few of my favorite things.

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes,
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes,
Silver white winters that melt into springs,
These are a few of my favorite things.

When the dog bits, when the bee stings, when I’m feeling sad,
I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don’t feel so bad.

The Unexpected Early Hour, by Reena Esmail

Praise be.
The dim, the dun,
The dark withdraws,
Our recluse mornings found.
The river’s alive,
The clearing provides,
Lie down, night sky, lie down.

I feel the cold wind leaving, gone,
I feel the frost’s relief.
My tracks in the snow can still be erased,
In us, the sun believes.

Winter is, winter ends,
So, the true bird calls.
The rocks cry out,
My bones cry out,
All the trees applaud.
Every hard thing lauds.

Lie down, night sky, lie down.
I know the seedling season comes,
I know the ground will spring.
My fate is not night,
I don’t need to try
Behold! The dawn, within.

Horizon lights across my thoughts,
Horizon lines redraw.
Inside of my throat arise of the gold,
Inside my chest I thaw.

Winter is, winter ends,
Nothing stays the same.
The moon strikes high,
The sun strikes high,
And now I hear your name.

Earth’s untired change,
Praise be!
The unexpected early hour
Grows the good light long.

Our darkness ends,
O mercy sun,
Trust can warm us all.

Begin again, again, again.
Begin again, again.
May our day begin,
O may our day begin!

 

Alleluia, by Elaine Hagenberg

Alleluia,
All shall be Amen,
And Alleluia.
All shall be Amen.

We shall rest and we shall see,
We shall see and we shall know.
We shall know and we shall love,
Behold our end which is no end,
Our end which is no end.

Alleluia,
All shall be Amen.

 

O Come, O Come Emmanuel, by Alice Parker and Robert Shaw

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee,
O Israel.

O come, thou Day Spring,
Come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee,
O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David,
Come, and open wide our heav’nly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee,
O Israel.

 

My Lord Has Come, by Will Todd

Shepherds, called by angels,
Called by love and angels;
No place for them but a stable.
My Lord has come.

Sages, searching for stars,
Searching for love in heaven;
No place for them but a stable.
My Lord has come.

His love will hold me,
His love will cherish me,
Love will cradle me.

Lead me, lead me to see him,
Sages and shepherds and angels;
No place for me but a stable.
My Lord has come.

 

The Lamb, by John Tavener

Little lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Gave thee life, and bid thee feed,
By the stream and o’er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, woolly bright.
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice?

Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Little Lamb, I’ll tell thee,
Little Lamb, I’ll tell thee;
He is call’d by thy name,
For he calls himself a Lamb.

He is meek, and he is mild,
He became a little child.
I, a child, and thou, a lamb,
We are call’d by his name.
Little lamb, God bless thee!
Little lamb, God bless thee!

 

On This Silent Night, by Sarah Quartel

Frosty fields are laid to rest.
In the air, an arctic breath brings snow.
Blowing snow is drifting deep.
Frozen trees, protectors,
See me safe in sleep,
Wrapped in dreams
While the cold winds blow.

Cloaked in slumber with firelight dancing,
And all is calm on this silent night.
Frosty fields,
Frozen trees,
Sleep in heavenly peace.

Cloaked in slumber with firelight dancing,
Yet all is calm
While the storm blows on.
Cloaked in slumber with firelight dancing,
Wrapped in sleep with dreams enchanting,
Yet all is calm
While the storm blows on,
On this silent night.

 

O magnum mysterium, by Tomás Luis de Victoria

O magnum mystérium, et admirable sacaméntum (Oh great mystery, and wonderful sacrament)
Ut animalia vidérent Dóminum natum (That the animals should see the newborn Lord)
Vidérent Dóminum natum.
Jacéntem in præsépio (Laying in a manger).

O beáta Virgo, cujus víscera (Oh blessed virgin, whose womb)
Meruérunt portáre Dóminum (was worthy to bear the Lord)
Jesum Christum (Jesus Christ)

Allelúia.

 

Through Love to Light, by Elaine Hagenberg

Through love,
Through love to light.
Oh, wonderful the way
Through love that leads from darkness
To the perfect day.

From darkness and from sorrow of the night.
To morning that comes singing o’er the sea.
From darkness of the night,
To morning that comes singing o’er the sea.

Through love,
Through love to light.
O God to thee, to thee.
Who art the love,
The love of love,
The eternal light.
The light of light!

Through love to light,
To light!

This Christmastide (Jessye’s Carol), by Donald Fraser

Green and silver, red and gold,
And a story born of old.
Truth and love and hope abide,
This Christmastide.

Holly, ivy, mistletoe
And the gently falling snow.
Truth and love and hope abide,
This Christmastide.

From a simple ox’s stall
Came the greatest gift of all.
Truth and love, hope abide,
Christmastide.
This Christmastide.

Children sing of peace and joy
At the birth of one small boy.
Truth and love and hope abide,
This Christmastide.

Let the bells ring loud and clear,
Ring out now for all to hear.
Truth and love and hope abide.
This Christmastide.

Trumpets sound and voices raise
In an endless stream of praise.
Truth and love and hope abide,
This Christmastide.

Green and silver, red and gold,
And a story born of old:
Peace and love and hope abide,
This Christmastide.

Dear friends, family, and fans of the UWL Wind Ensemble,

Welcome to our final concert of the semester!

“Above the Fold” is a nod to newsworthy items so important that they must be featured at the top of the front page. In the band world, one can imagine that the 200^th anniversary of a piece by a legendary composer would fit this bill. Our opening selection today is this very piece. Felix Mendelssohn’s Overture, originally titled Nocturno, was first written for a collection of eleven winds, but later scored for an ensemble orchestrated much like the modern Wind Ensemble. This is what band music sounded like in 1824!

Our next work, by the legendary bandmaster John Philip Sousa, was composed 125 years ago this year. Known as his second most popular march, Washington Post was composed in 1889 while he was the conductor of the U.S. Marine Band. It was written for an awards ceremony sponsored by the newspaper honoring the school children who won an essay contest.

The following, companion-work was composed twenty-five years ago (1999) by Ira Hearshen and was directly inspired by the life and works of Sousa. After Washington Post is the first movement of Hearshen’s Symphony on Themes of John Philip Sousa and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize (that’s pretty newsworthy!). Throughout this work, you will hear the familiar themes of the Washington Post disassembled and developed by the full forces of our Wind Ensemble.

Omar Thomas’ 2015 work, Of Our New Day Begun, brings our program to a close. It is newsworthy for a different, though all too familiar reason: the piece was composed to honor the lives lost in the 2015 Charleston, South Carolina, shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. The work features the song Lift Every Voice and demonstrates styles evocative of African American church services, particularly in the South.

It has been our honor to prepare this music for you today. We invite you to attend our next concert on March 9th which will be an exploration of band music from Spain. It will feature guitars and flamenco drumming alongside this fantastic ensemble. We hope to see you there!

In the meantime, have a wonderful holiday season!

Sincerely,

Dr. Martin I. Gaines, Conductor
UWL Wind Ensemble

Dear friends, family, and fans of the UWL Wind Ensemble,

Welcome to our final concert of the semester, Reveries!

A reverie can be thought of as a pleasant daydream or being blissfully lost in one’s thoughts. I believe each selection today has the potential to transport you to a state of reverie in six, unique ways. We encourage you to let your mind wander and let the music inspire you!

Our first three works were composed by living American composers: Katahj Copley, Eric Whitacre, and Viet Cuong. Copley composed our bright opening piece that plays on the symbolism of the word, Equinox: the balance between life and death, old and new. His soulful and seemingly familiar melodies may inspire thoughts of first love and eternity. Whitacre’s Lux Aurumque features simple, beautiful harmonies melting from one chord to the next, creating a slowly evolving wash of aural color. Cuong’s Next Week’s Trees is a modern take on timbral writing for strings. It’s hypnotic groove and echoes of the Baroque are a reverie all its own.

Our final selections feature a twentieth-century work composed in the style of Baroque composer, Girolamo Frescobaldi, a Puerto Rican dance, and a nod to the coming holidays with a concert suite of themes from The Polar Express.

 We hope to see you on March 9^th for our first concert of the Spring semester which will feature the winners of the UWL Solo Artist Competition.  

In the meantime, have a wonderful holiday season!

Sincerely,

Dr. Martin I. Gaines, Conductor
UWL Symphony Orchestra

Equinox by Katahj Copley

Kahtaj Copley

The equinox is the time when the plane of Earth's equator passes through the geometric center of the Sun's disk. This occurs twice each year, around 20 March and 23 September. However, while writing this piece at the end of 2021, I became engaged by the symbolism of the word itself. In some cultures, the equinox represents the balance of life and death-old and new. With this concept I wanted that piece to embark on a journey of excitement, of trouble, and of wonder. The piece begins with this huge sixteenth note motif that is felt throughout the work- a sense of adventure, risk, and at some moments danger. Then the main theme becomes a guide throughout this journey. From mystery to danger, the work moves to a lyrical texture that gives off the feeling of excitement and happiness of not knowing where life will take you.

Katahj Copley is an American saxophonist, composer, and educator who holds a bachelor’s degree in music education and composition from the University of West Georgia and a master's degree in music composition at the University of Texas at Austin. He is currently pursuing his DMA in composition at Michigan State University. Aside from composing, Copley is an educator who teaches young musicians the joy of discovering music and why music is a phenomenal language.

-Katahj Copley

 

Lux Aurumque by Eric Whitacre

Eric Whitacre

Eric Whitacre is an American composer, conductor and lecturer. Mr. Whitacre's first musical experience was singing in his college choir. Though he was unable to read music at the time, Whitacre began his full musical education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, eventually taking a bachelor's degree in music composition. He wrote his first concert work, Go, Lovely, Rose, at the age of 21. Eric went on to the Juilliard School, earning his Master of Music degree and studying with John Corigliano and David Diamond. At the age of 23, he completed his first piece for wind orchestra, Ghost Train, and his popular wind piece Godzilla Eats Las Vegas stems from this period. He graduated in 1997 and moved to Los Angeles to become a full-time professional composer.

About Lux Aurumque: After deciding upon the poem by Edward Esch (I was immediately struck by its genuine, elegant simplicity), I had it translated into the Latin by the celebrated American poet Charles Anthony Silvestri. A simple approach is essential to the success of the work, and if the tight harmonies are carefully tuned and balanced, they will shimmer and glow.

Lux Aurumque (translated)

Light,
warm and heavy as pure gold
and the angels sing softly
to the new-born baby.

Lux,
calida gravisque pura velut aurum
et canunt angeli molliter
modo natum.

Lux Aurumque was originally composed and commissioned by the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay and is dedicated with love to my great friend Dr. Jo-Michael Scheibe.

-Eric Whitacre

 

Next Week’s Trees by Viet Cuong

Viet Cuong

Viet Cuong is an American composer. He holds the Curtis Institute of Music’s Daniel W. Dietrich II Composition Fellowship as an Artist Diploma student of David Ludwig and Jennifer Higdon. Cuong received his MFA from Princeton University as a Naumburg and Roger Sessions Fellow, and he finished his Ph.D. there in 2021.

Viet Cuong's music has been performed on six continents by musicians and ensembles such as Sō Percussion, Eighth Blackbird, Alarm Will Sound, Sandbox Percussion, the PRISM Quartet, JACK Quartet, Gregory Oakes, Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, Albany Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, and Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, among many others. Viet’s music has been featured in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, Aspen Music Festival, New Music Gathering, Boston GuitarFest, International Double Reed Society Conference, US Navy Band International Saxophone Symposium, and on American Public Radio’s Performance Today. He also enjoys composing for the wind ensemble medium, and his works for winds have amassed over one hundred performances by conservatory and university ensembles worldwide, including at Midwest, WASBE, and CBDNA conferences.

Next Week’s Trees was commissioned by the California Symphony Orchestra. The music was inspired by Mary Oliver’s “Walking to Oak-Head Pond,” and “Thinking of the Ponds I Will Visit in the Next Days and Weeks.” I was deeply inspired by Oliver’s words—words that are a gentle reminder of the uncertainty of the future, the confident hope of the present, and the propulsive force of life that drives us through any doubt that a new day will arrive.”

-Viet Cuong

 

Toccata by Gaspar Cassadó

Gaspar Cassadó

Toccata was erroneously labeled for many years as having been composed by Girolamo Frescobaldi, a Baroque composer who lived from 1583-1643. This work first appeared as Frescobaldi’s Toccata in a collection of six pieces for cello and piano by Gaspar Cassadó. Cassadó had composed several new works in the style of famous composers of previous eras, and in the case of Toccata, he was so convincing that most attributed it to Frescobaldi for most of the twentieth century.

Gaspar Cassadó was born in Barcelona in 1897 to a musical family. Joaquín, his father, was a composer and an organist. Cassadó was nine years old when he gave his first public performance and the great cellist, Pablo Casals, was in attendance. Quite taken by the youngster’s talent, Casals offered to take Gaspar as a student, although at the time he had only three students. Gaspar worked with Casals and studied composition with French Impressionist Maurice Ravel, and fellow Spaniard, Manuel de Falla.

The two brothers, Agustin and Gaspar, and their father Joaquín, concertized widely as a trio until the outbreak of World War I. They were forced to return to Barcelona, but Cassadó’s cello career flourished back home. He performed at the Palau de la Música Catalana with eminent artist Arthur Rubinstein and by 1921, he was recognized as one of Spain’s leading musicians. Cassadó performed in concerts with the Barcelona Symphony showcasing music of leading Spanish composers.

After the war Cassadó toured France and Italy, and his visibility as a composer increased. In 1928, Cassadó’s composition Rapsodia Catalana was premiered by the New York Philharmonic under the baton of William Mengelberg. Casals began to conduct several of Cassadó’s orchestral works, such as the Variaciones Concertantes for piano and orchestra with his newly formed Orquesta Pau Casals. Cassadó appeared often as guest soloist performing most of the standard repertoire, Beethoven Triple Concerto, Strauss Don Quixote, and his own concerto, Concerto in D Minor, a work he dedicated to Casals.

-Nikk Pilatto

 

Virgilia by Juan Morel-Campos

Juan Morel-Campos

Juan Morel Campos is one of the most significant exponents of Puerto Rican Danza in the island’s history. Campos was born in Ponce on May 16, 1857 to Manuel Araujo from the Dominican Republic and Juana de Dios Campos Collazo, from Venezuela. He began his studies at eight, under the watchful eye of Professor Antonio Egipciaco, and was the protegé of “The Father of the Danza,” Manuel Gregorio Tavarez. Morel Campos played the cello, flute, bombardino (bass trombone), the euphonium (a 3 or 4 valve tenor-voice brass instrument resembling a tuba), and the organ.

In 1877 Morel Campos was the principal baritone player in the San Juan Battalion in Madrid, Spain. When he returned to Ponce in 1882, he organized the Fireman’s Band, which he conducted until his death. Also, he was a conductor of dance music and the founder of the municipal orchestra, La Lira Ponceña. In addition, he arranged operas and zarzuelas and toured South America as the director and conductor of the Compañía de Zarzuela Española Bernard y Arabella. In total, he composed approximately 500 works. Of those, about 300 were Danzas. Some of his best-known compositions include Felices Días (Happy Days), No Me Toques (Do Not Touch Me), Idilio (Idyll), and Maldito Amor (Damned Love).

 Many of the themes revolve around unrequited love. In the play Torbellino: A Story of Unrequited Love, written and directed by Adriana Pantoja, the melodramatic montage flows between stories and legends about Juan Morel Campos and his alleged forbidden love. The script recreates how the teacher Juan Morel met his disciple Mercedes Arias, how he falls madly in love with her, and how influential he was in her compositions. Similarly, the actors dramatize how Mercedes’ father opposes their union, how the couple conspires to meet secretly, and how love prevails. According to his granddaughter, Morel Campos’s sadness stemmed from his inability to study abroad. “Although he was from a very poor family,” she emphasizes, “he ended up being more renowned than many who studied abroad.”

It’s worth noting Campos made history when he passed the baton to Ana (Anita) Otero, who holds the distinction of being the first woman to direct an orchestra in Puerto Rico. According to her grandnephew Robur Otero, “Juan Morel Campos gave her the baton in Ponce and Julio Andino handed her the baton in San Juan. She also conducted insular bands in San Germán and Mayagüez.”

On April 26, 1896, while conducting a concert in Ponce, Juan Morel Campos suffered a massive stroke. He died on May 12, 1896, just short of his 39th birthday. He was survived by his wife, Secundina Beltrán Collazo and five children, Olimpia, Eugenia, Belén, Plácido, and Manuel.

Although his life and career ended abruptly, his legacy survives through his extensive body of work. In large part, due to the fact, Morel Campos transcribed many of his compositions and made them available to the public.

-Gustavo Batista

 

The Polar Express by Alan Silvestri (and Glen Ballard)

Alan Silvestri

The Polar Express is a 2004 American computer-animated adventure film based on the 1985 children's book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg. Co-written, co-produced and directed by Robert Zemeckis, the film features human characters animated using live-action motion capture animation.

The film tells the story of a young boy who, on Christmas Eve, sees a mysterious train bound for the North Pole stop outside his window and is invited aboard by its conductor. The boy joins several other children as they embark on a journey to visit Santa Claus preparing for Christmas. The film stars Tom Hanks, Daryl Sabara, Nona Gaye, Jimmy Bennett, and Eddie Deezen.

Dear Friends, Family, and Fans of the UWL Concert Band,  

Welcome to our Fall Concert! We are happy to present a diverse slate of music for you today that features the talents of our students and some of our student conductors. Our theme is “Wanderings,” and this represents the journey taken not only between the different styles of music but also for the musical journey the students have made this semester. 

Our opening selection is from a young American composer, Katahj Copley.  AYO (pronounced exactly how you think should be) is bright rhapsody on the interpersonal greeting “A-yo” that can signal acceptance, when something is wrong, when something is right, or even when something is quite funny. It is a celebration of life, and Gavin Dillie will lead this work. 

Trail of Tears is our second work and portrays the removal of Native Americans from the Southeastern United States that began in 1838. You will hear many sounds and melodies representing the people affected as well as some Cherokee language spoken by the ensemble.  

McKenna Sherrod comes to the podium next to lead A Longford Legend. This piece tells an old Irish tale of a drunken sailor who doesn’t quite know his craft on the best of days. It is both jolly and ominous at times. Next, we feature Cait Nishimura’s Boreal Pines which was composed to not only remember the 2016 wildfires in Alberta but to celebrate life and regrowth in our forests. You will hear many open and aleatoric soundscapes throughout the piece. 

Our next two pieces celebrate dance music. Gary Brandenburg will lead Nicolo Piunno’s Dance the Joy Alive in which the composer desired to portray joy through movement. Next, Colin Miller takes the podium to conduct a Russian dance suite by Dmitri Kabalevsky. These happy little dances are in minor keys, and we discovered that minor keys in other cultures do not always depict sadness. 

The next work is a bright galop of a march simply titled GO! While the composer is listed as “Will Huff,” this was a pseudonym for the venerable American composer, Henry Fillmore. Jacob Spredemann comes to the podium next to conduct Ralph Ford’s Romanza. This lyrical work is simply beautiful music that we hope you enjoy. 

Our closing work today is from Michele Fernández, a long-time educator and composer based in Miami, Florida. Her composition provides an empathetic look at immigrants seeking a new land for their family. You will hear a few different Afro-Latin styles performed throughout the work, but I mostly hope you enjoy the fun had by the students in their performance. 

Thank you for attending the concert today. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with these students, and I hope the Concert Band has enriched their UWL experience! I hope to see you at another concert in the near future.  

Have a wonderful holiday season! 

Sincerely 
Dr. Martin I. Gaines, Conductor 
UWL Concert Band 

Katahj Copley

AYO by Katahj Copley

Salutations. Greetings. Hello. Hi. Hey. Yo. Ayo. These terms along with countless others have been used to greet people throughout history. However, the term "AYO" is different. Rooted from hip hop and jazz cultures, AYO is built in the black language. It's used to tell when something is right, when something is wrong, when something is awesome, and when something is too sweet for words. Its use is seen with your closest people, your family, or people who know you best. It's personal. In short, "AYO" is a personal embrace that can represent life.

With this piece I wanted build the kind of embrace you would get from this one word while also honoring its beginnings – using hip hop rhythms and colorful harmonies. By the end of the piece, we the listeners go from uncertainty to home; and with the uniqueness of the piece, we in turn celebrate not only a word like AYO but also celebrate life.

Katahj Copley is an American saxophonist, composer, and educator who holds a bachelor’s degree in music education and composition from the University of West Georgia and a master's degree in music composition at the University of Texas at Austin. He is currently pursuing his DMA in composition at Michigan State University. Aside from composing, Copley is an educator who teaches young musicians the joy of discovering music and why music is a phenomenal language.

-Katahj Copley

 

Barnes

Trail of Tears by James Barnes

Composed in the summer of 1989, Trail of Tears is a tone poem for wind band that describes the 150th anniversary of one of the most cruel, unjust and embarrassing official actions in the history of the United States government. In 1838-39, federal troops rounded up many members of the "Five Civilized Indian Tribes" who were living in the Southeastern U.S.: the Cherokees, Choctaws, Creeks, Chickasaws and the Seminoles. Despite a landmark decision rendered by the legendary Supreme Court Justice John Marshall stating that the members of these tribes could not be moved off their sovereign lands because of a prior treaty granting them this territory, troops were ordered to move all of these Native Americans by forced march in the dead of winter over 1500 arduous miles to what was then known as "Indian Territory", now the eastern portion of the state of Oklahoma.

On this tragic journey more than 4,000 Native Americans perished from starvation, exhaustion and exposure to the elements. It is an event that will be forever ingrained in the memory of our Native Americans; a tragic sequence of events inflamed by political pressure, the greed of white settlers for more land, and irrational fear of Indians, and downright racial bigotry.

The music opens with solo flute, intended to recall the bucolic non-aggressive nature of these "Five Civilized Tribes", who simply wished to be let alone and allowed to live in peace on their ancestral hunting grounds. The faster section portrays the strife between the Indians and the encroaching settlers, and builds to the ultimate tragic battle scene of 1838, when the U.S. Army used the cavalry to defeat the Indians. The dramatic last scene depicts the agony of the march itself and includes the recitation of a mournful poem in the Cherokee language by members of the ensemble:

Dedeeshkawnk juniyohoosa, (Let us mourn those who have died)
Dedeeshkawnk ahyoheest, (Let us mourn those who are dying)
Dedeeshkawnk daynahnohtee. (Let us mourn those who must endure)

The work concludes with a final statement of triumph for these Native Americans who survived the Trail of Tears and have managed to live and prosper in spite of all odds, and who today stand with pride and great honor as an important and integral part of our nation and its severely flawed history in the area of Native American affairs.

I wrote this piece because I believe it is imperative that we remain constantly aware that we are just as capable as any other nation of committing crimes against people who are weaker or different from us, regardless of our form of government and no matter what aspirations we might espouse every year on the Fourth of July. One needs only to recall the internment in concentration camps of all Japanese-Americans on the West Coast and Hawaii during those first dark months of World War II to realize that events such as the Trail of Tears are still within the realm of possibility in this "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave". We must continue to acknowledge these highly distasteful episodes in our history in order to insure that drastic over-reactions such as these do not recur in the future of our nation.

-James Barnes

 

Robert Sheldon

A Longford Legend by Robert Sheldon

A Longford Legend, op. 58, was commissioned by the Normal Community West High School Band, Normal, Illinois, Lisa Preston, director. The piece was written in 1996 and premiered in April of that year with the composer conducting. It is based on the composer's impressions of three poems found in a collection of 18-century Irish ballades and is written as a tribute to the wonderful music of Grainger, Holst, and Vaughan Williams.

Sheldon is an American composer, arranger, conductor and educator. Sheldon has taught instrumental music in the Florida and Illinois public schools and has served on the faculty at Florida State University where he taught conducting and instrumental music education classes and directed the university bands. As Concert Band Editor for the Alfred Publishing Company, he maintains an active composition and conducting schedule and regularly accepts commissions for new works. Sheldon received the Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of Miami and the Master of Fine Arts in Instrumental Conducting from the University of Florida.

 

Cait Nishimura

Boreal Pines by Cait Nishimura

Boreal Pines was commissioned by Ashley Brockway and the Ecole McTavish HS band to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the 2016 wildfire in Fort McMurray, Alberta. This forest fire devastated over 7000 square kilometers of forest, and the entire town was evacuated. As one can imagine, this was a highly traumatic event that has had lasting impacts on all who call Fort McMurray home.

Fort McMurray is situated within the boreal forest, which is a bioregion that supports an extensive network of plants, animals, and fungi. The coniferous forests of this region are resilient and, in many cases, have adapted to depend on fire for regeneration. Some species have pinecones which only release seeds under extreme heat; a forest fire can set this cycle of the forest into motion. The pines of the boreal forest are known for their ability to bounce back after hardship, and so are the people of Fort McMurray. This piece consists of nature-inspired imagery and reflects the mixed emotions of the community as they rebuild: aleatoric passages represent uncertainty, while hopeful melodies encourage finding and creating light within the darkness.

Known for writing nature-inspired, programmatic music, Nishimura has quickly established herself as a prominent voice in the concert band community. Her music has been presented at The Midwest Clinic, MusicFest Canada, and numerous other conferences and festivals across North America. Her work has become increasingly popular among educational music programs and within the professional new music scene, with new works being regularly commissioned and performed by ensembles and individuals around the world.

Cait is committed to creating contemporary music that is approachable, relevant, and enjoyable for all; before transitioning to a full-time career as a composer, she taught instrumental music and continues to prioritize and advocate for the value of music education. She actively seeks opportunities to connect personally with the communities for whom she writes, and she is passionate about setting a positive example for future generations of musicians -- especially those from historically underrepresented groups -- through her creative work, her social media presence, and her dedication to mental health awareness. As a lifelong environmentalist, she not only draws inspiration from the natural world but also uses her platform to advocate for conservation awareness and action. 

Cait was the winner of the Canadian Band Association’s composition prize in 2017.

-Cait Nishimura

 

Nicole Piunno

Dance the Joy Alive by Nicole Piunno

Joy does not always come easily, and I think we sometimes need to act before we feel. In this piece I am using dance as a metaphor, as to say we can act our way to feeling joyful. In other words, we can dance the joy alive. Dance the Joy Alive won the composition contest for the Arizona State University Concert Band which was held by the Beta Omicron Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi.

Dr. Piunno views music as a vehicle for seeing and experiencing the realities of life. Her music often reflects the paradoxes in life and how these seemingly opposites are connected as they weave together. Her harmonic language and use of counterpoint mirrors the complexity of our world by acknowledging lightness and darkness, past and present, beauty and brokenness, confinement and freedom, spiritual and physical, life and death.

Her music has recently been performed by the Principal Brass Quintet of the New York Philharmonic, Athena Brass Band, University of Akron Faculty Brass Quintet, and the Michigan State University Symphony Band.

 

Dmitri Kabalebsky

Suite in Minor Mode by Dmitri Kabalevsky

Kabalevsky was a Russian composer. Although not as well-known as Shostakovich and Prokofiev, Dmitri Kabalevsky was one of Russia's highly gifted composers. His style is in the Tchaikovsky idiom with appropriate modern trimmings -- which is another way of saying that his music has great and immediate appeal for the average listener. Kabalevsky was 14 when he and his family moved from St. Petersburg to Moscow, where he attended the Scriabin School of Music from 1919 to 1925. In 1925 he entered the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied composition with Miaskovsky, who apparently had the greatest influence on Kabaelvsky's early works. He later developed his own style, marked by clear tonality and energetic rhythms. He was composer and professor of composition at the Moscow Conservatory.

Originally written for piano, Suite in Minor Mode is a marvelous collection of settings for band in contrasting styles. Dance is written in a moderate tempo and features a trumpet melody and active percussion writing. A Little Song is in a slower cantabile style, with haunting harmonies and lovely melodic lines. Finally, The Horseman is up-tempo and rhythmic, with a definite Russian flavor.

 

Will Huff

GO by Will Huff

Will Huff was a psuedonym used by renowned American composer, Henry Fillmore. Fillmore gained fame as the Father of the Trombone Smear, writing a series of fifteen novelty tunes featuring trombone smears called "The Trombone Family", including Miss Trombone, Sally Trombone, Lassue Trombone,l and Shoutin' Liza Trombone. A number of these have a strong ragtime influence.

Fillmore wrote over 250 tunes and arranged hundreds more. Fillmore also published a great number of tunes under various pseudonyms such as Harold Bennett, Will Huff, Ray Hall, Harry Hartley, Al Hayes, and Henrietta Hall. While best known for march music and screamers, Fillmore also wrote waltzes, foxtrots, hymns, novelty numbers, overtures and waltzes.

 

Ralph Ford

Romanza by Ralph Ford

Romanza premiered in January of 1991 at the Alabama Music Educators Conference, performed by the Luverne High School Symphonic Band (Luverne, Alabama) for solo flute and band. Commissioned by their conductor, Mr. Earl Franks, the piece was composed to feature his wife, Carol Franks, as the soloist. Mrs. Franks has served as professor of flute at Troy University (Troy, Alabama) for twenty-five years.

One member of the Luverne Band during that time, a clarinetist named Heather Alsbrooks, attended Troy University (then Troy State University) after her graduation from high school. Heather grew to provide great leadership to her collegiate band program. She was only a few months away from completing her degree in music education when her life tragically ended in a morning automobile accident on the way to school. In her memory, the original melodic material has been re-scored into a lyrical piece for the young concert band that I hope you, your students and your audiences will enjoy.

Ralph Ford is best known as a professional arranger having begun at age fifteen in Panama City, Florida. While attending Troy State University, he was appointed as director of Jazz Ensemble I during his sophomore undergraduate year, a position he held for fifteen years. During his senior undergraduate year, he began his tenure as the staff arranger for the university band program. Upon completing his undergraduate degree in 1986, he was appointed to the music faculty as staff arranger and assistant director by his collegiate director and mentor, Dr. John Long, where he also taught courses in orchestration, arranging, theory, technology, jazz studies, and applied brass for the next fifteen years. He earned his Master of Science degree in 1988 from Troy while serving on the faculty as full-time instructor. In 1999, he began his career as an exclusive composer/arranger from Warner Brothers Publications, a relationship that he proudly continues today with Alfred Publications. Ralph retired from Troy University in June 2011 following a ten-year appointment as the Director of Bands, Coordinator of Winds and Percussion, and Professor of Music.

In addition to his twenty-nine years of university teaching experience, Ralph has enjoyed a wide variety of professional experiences in the music, media, and broadcast industries. He is an exclusive composer and arranger for the Belwin division of Alfred Publishing Company, with over 250 titles available worldwide for orchestra, concert band, jazz ensemble, and marching band. A frequently commissioned composer, his music has been premiered and performed by university, military, professional, community, and school ensembles around the world. He has received international and regional advertising awards for his jingles and 3‐D animation. His work in media includes live radio broadcasts, host, voice‐over for television, commercials, and video productions, conducting live musical productions, recording sessions, produced recordings for release on traditional discs and other types of new media, compose and record news music packages for national network affiliates, and producing programs for television, radio, and the internet.

-Ralph Ford

 

Michelle Fernández

Of Endless Miles and Empty Rafts by Michele Fernández

Michele Fernández is a clinician/conductor, adjudicator, instrumental music composer and oboist. Her compositions have been premiered at Midwest, IAJE and Regional Honor/All-State venues. Fernández frequently serves as a guest clinician/conductor for regional and all-state groups and honors Jazz/symphonic groups. She has appeared as a Midwest Clinic lecturer on rehearsal techniques (’07 & ’16), JEN '22 (two separate clinic topics) FMEA Conference lecturer, clinician for Clark College Annual Festival (WA), and frequent clinician for FSU summer camps.

Fernández serves on the Education Committee for JEN (Jazz Education Network), is a sponsored clinician for Hal Leonard Publishing, HAPCO Foundation and in the past has also served as (freelance) guest clinician/conductor/guest lecturer for various universities, including UNCo, UNT, UM Frost, UF and others. She is also a co-founder of “Your Jazz Education Connection” consulting, along with J. Richard Dunscomb, providing both in-person and virtual guidance for educators and their students on various topics.

Fernández recently retired from teaching after 30 years, where her Miami Senior High ensembles earned top honors and gained international acclaim. Her groups have been selected for appearances at the Midwest Clinic (Chicago ’93 & ’98), IAJE (Boston ’94 & NYC ’97), Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland ’96), FMEA Conference (Tampa ’94 & ’97) and national publications. Michele has been the subject of a documentary spot on CBS Sunday Morning, cover story in Band Director’s Guide and featured as an outstanding educator in Downbeat Magazine. She is also an active oboist and percussionist in Miami and spent several years as a rhythm section member of a busy local Latin ensemble.