Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band Concert

Enjoy UCF Music’s premier band ensembles in a beautiful concert setting.

SYMPHONIC BAND PROGRAM
Jason Cumberledge, conductor

Hometown Miniatures (2002) – Drew Fennell (b. 1972)

Carnaval in São Paulo (2003) – James Barnes (b. 1949)

Agnus Dei (1888) from “Requiem” – Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) transcribed by Jason Cumberledge

Puszta  (1987) – Jan Van der Roost (b.1956)

1. Andante Moderato
2. Tranquillo
3. Allegro Molto
4. Marcato

Intermission

WIND ENSEMBLE PROGRAM
Scott C. Tobias, conductor

Danse Bacchanale from “Samson & Delilah” – Saint-Saens / trans. Singleton
Robert Krahn, Conductor

Hillandale Waltzes – Victor Babin / arr. Nygren
Andrew Martin, Clarinet

Serenade – Derek Bourgeois
Robert Krahn, Conductor

The Frozen Cathedral – John Mackey

Conga Del Fuego Nuevo – Arturo Márquez / trans. by Oliver Nickel

 

PROGRAM NOTES – SYMPHONIC BAND

Hometown Miniatures
Hometown Miniatures depicts a typical life in a small American town, specifically, Ford City, Pennsylvania. The composer, Drew Fennell, provides the following program notes:

Hometown Miniatures was begun in the morning of Sunday, March 3, 2002. I “penned” the first notes into my computer at 9am before leaving for church. I must admit, my mind was far from church that morning. During the following ten days, I worked ten to fifteen-hour days, finishing the piece. I completed it on the evening of my thirtieth birthday, March 13, 2002. The piece talks about my experiences and memories of my hometown, many stemming from the summer of 1987, during the Centennial Celebration of my little town. I was fifteen, and the events surrounding our Centennial seemed almost “Norman Rockwell-ian” to me then (and even more so now).

Carnaval in São Paulo

Carnaval in São Paulo is part of a series of light pieces that James Barnes, professor emeritus at the University of Kansas, has written. With a length of about three minutes, Barnes has used pieces such as this during his Japanese tours. Carnaval features a clever samba tune, interesting modulations, and effective Latin percussion. The piece is dedicated to all the students in the Senzoku Gakuen Symphonic Wind Orchestra.

Agnus Dei
Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem is a seven-movement work, first performed in 1888. The performance was done with an unusual chamber ensemble instrumentation containing low string instruments with horns, trumpets, trombones, timpani, harp, and organ. Fauré’s publisher was anxious for Requiem to be publicly circulated and pressed the composer to complete a reorchestrated version for the standard symphony orchestra. Finally, in 1901, the composer agreed, and to his astonishment, Requiem was given several full performances, each receiving highly successful reviews.

Fauré’s Requiem is a peaceful mass, meant to comfort for the living and serve as a warm remembrance for those that have passed. Agnus Dei, the fifth movement, asks God to shine light upon the souls of the deceased and grant them eternal rest.

Puszta
Puszta, a suite of gypsy dances, was composed in 1987. While having the definite sound of authentic folk dances, the themes and melodies are all original. The dances alternate from bright and colorful to tranquil and melancholic: the moods typical of gypsy music. Lying to the south and east of the Danube, the Puszta is the great Hungarian plain or prairie country that was once home to nomadic gypsies and fierce horsemen. The Puszta covers a total area of over 20,000 square miles. The characteristic landscape is comprised of treeless plains, saline steppes and salt lakes, and includes scattered sand dunes, low, wet forests and freshwater marshes along the floodplains of ancient rivers.

SYMPHONIC BAND MUSICIANS

Flute
Sara Nazarian
Ana-Garcia Maunez
Jolene Crossman

Oboe
Mackenzie Crossman
Ellen Morgan

Bassoon
Brandon Norman

Clarinet
Raymond Woodruff
Mark Lewis
Joshua Rosenthal
Ashley Hallum
Michaela Mendoza
Jake Mellor
Priscilla Blanco

Bass Clarinet
Brielle Johnson

Alto Saxophone
Nicole Nowotny
Eduardo MacMaster
Kayla Smith
Najee Lee

Tenor Saxophone
Ramon Bautista
Rebecca Briggs

Baritone Saxophone
Timothy Hunt

Trumpet
Eric Rohwedder
Collin O’Rourke
Adam Rich
Wyatt Rucker
Kira Touchton
Kyle Brewer

Horn
Nick Burner
Ryan Beck
Margaret Lamothe
Michelle McGurn
Richard Stein

Trombone
Juwan Murphy
Joseph Rainone
Julio Rivera
Bryan Shull
Rachel Lee

Bass Trombone
Zack Pipkin

Euphonium
Aaron Gavin
Kody Trombley
Jarleene Almenas

Tuba
Matthew McGarvey
Clinton Delaney II
Thomas Robertson

String Bass
Luther Burke

Percussion
Chris Marsh
Matt Albano
Carson Griego
Deborah Parsons
Madison Schafer

 

PROGRAM NOTES – WIND ENSEMBLE

Danse Bacchanale from ‘Samson & Dalila’
Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921) trans. Kenneth Singleton
Although Saint-Saens composed twelve operas, only Samson & Dalila met with success, and is still performed today. The Bacchanale appears as a ballet at the beginning of the opera’s final scene.  It is set in the Temple of Dagon, where the Philistines are prematurely celebrating their victory over the Israelites.  According to the dictionary, a bacchanalia is the “Roman festival of Bacchus,” and a “drunken revelry.”  Saint-Saens masterfully capture the exoticism of the scene, using Middle-Eastern tunes (characterized by melodic intervals of an augmented second), and a full array of colors and effects.  Plus, the Bacchanale concludes with one of the most exciting codas in the orchestral repertoire.  (Notes by the publisher)

Hillandale Waltzes
Victor Babin (1908-1972) arr. Dennis Nygren
Hillandale Waltzes for clarinet and piano was composed towards the end of World War II.  The composition was dedicated to Standard Oil heiress Ann Archbold, who kindly housed the Babins in her Hillandale mansion in Washington, DC near Georgetown University.  The work was subtitled Eight Waltz Movements Composed on a Theme by Johann N. Hummel.  Hummel used this melody twice in both a piano duet and a work for oboe and orchestra.  The Babins were very familiar with the former piece, having frequently performed it. (Notes by the publisher)

Serenade
Derek Bourgeois (b. 1941)
Derek Bourgeois wrote this Serenade for his own wedding, to be played by the organist as the guests left the ceremony.  Not wishing to allow them the luxury of proceeding in an orderly 2/4, the composer wrote the work in 11/8, and in case anyone felt too comfortable, he changed it to 13/8 in the middle!  The work has now been released in a number of different orchestrations of the original version for organ. (Notes by the publisher)

The Frozen Cathedral
John Mackey (b. 1973)
The Koyukon call it Denali, meaning “the great one,” and it is great.  It stands at more than twenty thousand feet above sea level, a towering mass over the Alaskan wilderness.  Measured from its base to its peak, it is the tallest mountain on land in the world, a full two thousand feet taller than Mount Everest.  It is Mount McKinley, and it is an awesome spectacle.  And it is the inspiration behind John Mackey’s The Frozen Cathedral.

The piece was born of the collaboration between Mackey and John Locke, Director of Bands at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.  Locke asked Mackey if he would dedicate the piece to the memory of his late son, J.P., who has a particular fascination with Alaska and the scenery of Denali National Park.  Mackey agreed, and immediately found himself grappling with a problem: he had never been to Alaska.

“How could I tie the piece to Alaska, a place I’d never seen in person?  I kept thinking about it in literal terms, and I just wasn’t getting anywhere.  My wife, who titles all of my pieces, said I should focus on what it is that draws people to these places.  People go to the mountains – these monumental, remote, ethereal and awesome parts of the world – as a kind of pilgrimage.  It’s a search for the sublime, for transcendence.  A great mountain is like a church.  ‘Call it The Frozen Cathedral,’ she said.  I clearly married up.” (Notes by Jake Wallace)

First Suite for Band
Alfred Reed (1921-2005)
First Suite was commissioned by R. Lee Holmes and the Edmonton (Canada) Public School Symphonic Band, which premiered the work, the composer conducting, at the Canadian Music Educators Association convention in that city on April 3, 1975.  The four-movement suite begins with March, a tense dissonant tinged section which features a hard-driving treatment of a dramatic marching theme that keeps its momentum to the very end.  Melody unfolds a long, lyrical line that subsequently develops to a broad climax and then diminishes to a quiet coda.  Rag is a light scherzo, set in ragtime rhythms and motifs.  Gallop, the finale, is an authentically styled American circus gallop which, according to the composer, moves “as fast as possible but no faster.” (Notes from Program Notes for Band)

 WIND ENSEMBLE MUSICIANS

Flute
Alondra Bahls-Mariles
Colin Jackson
Rachel Madden*
Jessica Needham
Salvatore Parillo

Oboe
John Becker
Stephanie Hargrave*

Bassoon
Angela Moretti
Brandon Norman

Clarinet
Mackenzie Crossman
Savannah Eldridge
Katerina Force*
Allison Mignardi
Dalton Rooks
Josh Rosenthal
Juan Soto*
Austin Suarez
Raymond Woodruff

Bass Clarinet
Mark Lewis

Alto Saxophone
Jade Deatherage
Ciara Hill
Deborah Wendt*

Tenor Saxophone
Amanda Green

Baritone Saxophone
Adam Costello

Trumpet
Courtland Beyer
Taylor McClelland
Andrew McPhail
Matthew Pieper*
Ari Rodriguez
Carlos Sandoval

Horn
Aidan Amato
John Apostolides*
Nicholas Burner
Caroline Ramos

Trombone
Judson Cressey
Ryan Flint*
Felipe Torres

Bass Trombone
Brian Ildefonso

Euphonium
Jesse Hariton
Richard Rice*

Tuba
Michael Guinaugh
Colin Laird*

Percussion
Chris Baird
Nick Chase
Steven Estes*
Griffin Harvey
Joe Jones
Matt Malhiot
Deborah Parsons
Madison Schafer
Austin Warren

Harp
Deborah Wendt

* Indicates principal