Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022
8 p.m.
The Ohio State University School of Music
Weigel Auditorium
UNIVERSITY BAND
Alex Mondragon, conductor
Joshua Reynolds, conductor
COLLEGIATE WINDS
Phillip Day, conductor
Sarah Baker, guest conductor
Dustin Ferguson, guest conductor
PROGRAM
University Band
Shimmering Joy (2018)
Tyler S. Grant (b. 1995)
The composer writes:
“In this short three-minute fanfare, I had one simple and concise aim — to write an expression of pure joy. In a day and age when we are surrounded by sadness and tragedy, this work seeks to shine light on the good we may often forget. Bold and declarative statements juxtaposed with sweeping lyrical passages are sprinkled with muted brass entrances that add a sense of charm and wit to the work. While the tempo stays the same throughout, the rhythmic ideas continually compound upon each other to project a relentless ambition which drives all the way through.”
Tyler S. Grant (b. 1995) is an Atlanta-based composer who writes for concert bands, marching bands and chamber ensembles. While having never formally studied composition, Grant credits his mentors Brian Balmages and Randall Coleman as being pivotal to his success as a composer and conductor. Grant holds a degree in instrumental music education from the University of Alabama. He is currently on the middle and high school faculty of Holy Innocents’ Episcopal in Atlanta, Georgia.
Reminiscence (2018)
Kathryn Salfelder (b. 1987)
Reminiscence is one of three pieces commissioned to honor Frank L. Battisti’s 85th birthday, June 27, 2016. A five-note motive — composed by Frank himself — saturates every measure of the piece. Reminiscence evokes nostalgia, yearning and growth. Some moments are peaceful, while others are full of angst.
Kathryn Salfelder (b. 1987) engages late-Medieval and Renaissance polyphony in conversations with 21st-century techniques; she borrows both literally from chansons, motets and Masses, as well as more liberally from Renaissance-era forms and structures. Commissions have included new works for the Albany (NY) Symphony, Boston Musica Viva, United States Air Force Band (Washington, DC), American Bandmasters Association, Chelsea Music Festival, New England Conservatory, Western Michigan University and Temple University. Salfelder teaches harmony and composition at New England Conservatory’s School of Continuing Education. Previously, she served on the faculty of NEC’s College division and as lecturer in music theory at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
The Cave You Fear (2014)
Michael Markowski (b. 1986)
Take a suspenseful musical journey into the unknown with this intriguing piece's mysterious and tantalizing sounds. Serving as a thrilling call-to-adventure, the moving music urges the listener to venture out of their comfort zone and take chances while seizing the opportunity to aspire to and achieve greatness.
Michael Markowski (b. 1986) graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Film from Arizona State University. While not having formally studied music in college, Markowski studied privately with Jon Gomez and Karl Schindler. In 2006, his work for concert band, Shadow Rituals, was honored with first prize in the first Frank Ticheli Composition Contest, and later published by Manhattan Beach Music. Notable performances include The Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, the U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West, the U.S. Air Force Band of Mid-America, Arizona State University, California State University-Fullerton, Rutgers University, San Jose State University and The University of North Texas.
Elements ("Petite Symphony") (2010)
Brian Balmages (b. 1975)
I. Air
II. Water
III. Earth
IV. Fire
This short four-movement work is written in the same form as a traditional symphony, hence the subtitle “Petite Symphony.” Each movement depicts one of four elements: air, water, earth and fire. The first movement, “Air,” features a four-note motif that continues uninterruptedly throughout the movement. The voices and textures surrounding the motif evolve and change as the work progresses, but the original four notes remain the same. The second movement, “Water,” represents a quiet body of water. The dips and crests in the music represent droplets of water interrupting the smoothness of the surface, creating small ripples across the otherwise peaceful water. “Earth,” the third movement of the work, depicts the rapid spinning of the earth itself. The movement draws musical inspiration from "Mercury, the Winged Messenger" from Holst’s The Planets (“Rather ironically…”, the composer writes, “…because earth was the only planet excluded from his work”). The movement is constructed in ABA form, wherein the A section returns almost in its entirety, which “symbolizes the earth’s recurrent spinning on its axis.” The fourth and final movement, “Fire,” depicts raging intensity of fire. This movement is the most aggressive and harmonically complex. As the work progresses, the four-note motif from “Air” returns, symbolizing Greek philosopher Empedocles’ idea that both fire and air are “outwardly reaching” elements.
Brian Balmages (b. 1975) is known worldwide as a composer and conductor. His works equally span the media of orchestra, band and chamber ensembles. Balmages' music has been performed by groups ranging from professional symphony orchestras to elementary schools in venues across the globe. Balmages is a recipient of the A. Austin Harding Award from the American School Band Directors Association, the winner of the 2020 NBA William D. Revelli Composition Contest, and also was the recipient of the inaugural James Madison University Distinguished Alumni Award from the School of Visual and Performing Arts.
Collegiate Winds
The Star-Spangled Banner (1986/2001)
arr. Jack Stamp (b. 1954)
Currently serving as “International Composer in Association” to the world-renowned Grimethorpe Colliery Brass Band, Jack Stamp recently served as visiting professor of music at Luther College (autumn 2018), where he was acting director of bands and taught conducting. He spent the prior three years as adjunct faculty at the University of Wisconsin–River Falls. He recently retired from full-time employment as professor of music and director of band studies at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), where he conducted the Wind Ensemble and taught courses in graduate conducting. Stamp received his Bachelor of Science in music education from IUP, a Master of Music in percussion performance from East Carolina University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in conducting from Michigan State University where he studied with Eugene Corporon. He writes:
In 1986, while a graduate student at Michigan State, I did an arrangement of "The Star-Spangled Banner" for wind ensemble to be performed at the WASBE (World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles) Conference in Boston. The arrangement treats the work as a hymn/ballad with lots of suspensions and some substitute chords (but not in a pop style) rather than the “drinking song” style of the tune’s origins.
On Friday, September 14, 2001 (three days after the brutal attack on the World Trade Center), Ken Ayoob of Humbolt State, and a former classmate of mine, called to see if I still had that arrangement. I found it, though it was in manuscript form, and some of the parts were missing. That weekend I put the arrangement on the computer and “tweaked” it (since I knew a little more about composition fifteen years later).
George Naff, former marching band director at East Carolina University, said that a national anthem should be a citizen’s “love song to their country.” It is in this spirit that I revised my arrangement as my part to support those brave souls, living and dead, who continue to support freedom in our country.
— Jack Stamp
Silver Light! (2019)
Benjamin Yeo (b. 1985)
Sarah Baker (DMA), guest conductor
Benjamin Yeo is a Singaporean composer/conductor who is internationally notable for his original wind band works. Being very active in the local band scene, he has guest performed for many tertiary/professional groups on the trumpet and E-flat horn, as well as having guest conducted various ensembles in Singapore. His experience in band directing has enabled him to work with students across a wide spectrum of educational institutions from primary to tertiary levels. As an active and well-sought-after published composer, Yeo writes largely commissioned works and is a member of the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (COMPASS).
Silver Light! Is dedicated to Dick Mayne, long-time professor of music education and associate director of bands at the University of Northern Colorado, for his illustrious life as a conductor and educator. This work opens with an energetic fanfare featuring a lyrical trombone solo, representing Dick’s influence, before flowing into the theme from "Where the Columbines Grow," one of the two official state songs of Colorado. The word "silver" was specially chosen to celebrate Mayne’s retirement, and "light" was inspired by Matthew 5:14, "You are the light of the world…"
— Benjamin Yeo
Ash (2018)
Jennifer Jolley (b. 1981)
Jennifer Jolley is a composer, blogger and professor person. She is also a cat lover and part-time creative opera producer.
Jolley’s work draws toward subjects that are political and even provocative. Her collaboration with librettist Kendall A, Prisoner of Conscience, has been described as “the ideal soundtrack and perhaps balm for our current ‘toxic…times’” by Frank J. Oteri of NewMusicBox. Her piece, Blue Glacier Decoy, written as a musical response to the Olympic National Park, depicts the Pacific Northwest’s melting glaciers. Her partnership with writer Scott Woods, You Are Not Alone, evokes the fallout of the #MeToo movement.
Jolley’s works have been performed by ensembles worldwide. She has received commissions from the National Endowment for the Arts, the MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music, the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble and the Quince Ensemble among many others.
About Ash, the composer writes:
I never saw snowfall as a child growing up in Southern California; it was more a phenomenon that I saw in cartoons or read in children’s books.
I did, however, witness my first ash-fall when I was in elementary school. I looked up into the clouded sky and saw specks of ash falling from it. Excited but puzzled, I looked to my elementary school teacher during recess and held out my hand. “Oh, that’s ash from the wildfires,” she said. At that time, I couldn’t comprehend how an enormous forest fire could create a small flurry of ash-flakes.
Now I have the ominous understanding that something so magical and beautiful comes from something so powerful and destructive.
— Jennifer Jolley
Rikudim: Four Israeli Folkdances for Band (1986)
Jan Van der Roost (b. 1956)
Jan Van der Roost was born in Duffel, Belgium in 1956. At a very young age he was introduced to the prominent names in the concert band, fanfare band and brass band repertoire, which inspired him to put something on paper himself. He studied trombone, music history and musical education at the Lemmensinstituut in Leuven (Louvain). He continued his studies at the Royal Conservatoires of Ghent and Antwerp, where he qualified as a conductor and a composer.
Jan Van der Roost currently teaches at the Lemmensinstituut in Leuven (Belgium), is special visiting professor at the Shobi Institute of Music (Tokyo), guest professor at the Nagoya University of Art, and guest professor at Senzoku Gakuen (Kawasaki, Japan). Besides being a prolific composer, he is also very much in demand as an adjudicator, lecturer, clinician and guest conductor. His musical activities have taken place in more than 45 countries across four continents, and his compositions have been performed and recorded around the world.
“Rikud” means “dance” in Hebrew. The plural ending “-im” tells us that the title means “Dances.” Thus, Rikudim is a suite in four movements based on Jewish dances, bearing in mind that these are not arrangements of existing folk music, but originally-composed dances “in the style of” folk music. Through the use of oriental style tonal intervals, irregular tempi, and a typical wind and percussion instrumentation, the composer succeeds in adding both a touch of melancholy and a characteristically Jewish flavor to the music. The clearly marked themes and the sometimes surprising (but, on the other hand, very natural) harmonies make these “stylized folk dances” into music with a direct and gripping appeal.
— Jan Van der Roost
Tritsch-Tratsch Polka, Op. 214 (1858/1998)
Johann Strauss, Jr. (1825–1899)
arr. Alfred Reed (1921–2005)
Dustin Ferguson (DMA), guest conductor
The Strauss dynasty (there really is no other word for it) has now lasted over 150 years, in Vienna and throughout the world. It is their dance music more than anything else that has made Strauss a household name, and almost synonymous with music itself. Of these, none were more illustrious, successful, beloved and adored by the public than Johann Strauss, Jr., the "Waltz King" as he came to be known. But it was not only in his waltzes that his inimitable style created such masterpieces of lilting, danceable music, it was in other forms, such as polkas, quadrilles, promenades etc. that his melodic genius and instinctive sense of the style and grace common to his own time created such delightful gems as the Tritsch-Tratsch Polka.
“Tritsch-tratsch” means chit-chat, or gossip in the Viennese popular dialect, and the effect of this little musical two-part form with trio is that of a busy, nittering, nattering little group of people exchanging the latest bit of news and gossip in a never-ending rush of words and exclamations that simply pours out in one gush of excitement from beginning to end.
— Alfred Reed
ROSTERS
University Band
Musicians are listed alphabetically by section.
PICCOLO
Jerry Zou
FLUTE
Marley Bielek-Walsh
Katie Freytag
Addi Ganschow
Julia Jenkins
Chloe Kirsch
Lauren Nemec
Saanil Rao
Emma Smith
Jea Yun
Jerry Zou
OBOE
Witty Kwok
Emma Robinson
Lauren Yoder
CLARINET
Ruth Bonnice
Maura Coiner
Kaitlyn Collinsworth
Robert Gangwer
Savanna Gasper
Tamya Halison
Ollie Kandakatla
Brian Lo
Ericka Niehaus
Riley Zelazny
BASS CLARINET
Jacob Claggett
Danielle Marshal
Tori Steinbrecher
ALTO SAXOPHONE
Jack Burkhart
Hunter DeWitt
Elizabeth Howes
Alex Kandakatla
Michael Zhu
TENOR SAXOPHONE
Ian Claggett
Susie Horton
BARITONE SAXOPHONE
Kaitlyn Daum
TRUMPET
Derek Dougherty
Evan Freeland
Alex Hartsough
Sam Jadaan
Aidan Johnson
Jonathan Levene
Vishank Raghavan
Joshua Silver
Stephen Strouse
Jess Vanek
HORN
Lexi Adair
Clark Hou
Autumn McComb
Allison Simon
Charlie Wallace
Emma Winkleman
TROMBONE
Nick Carter
Teagan Davies
Grace Dreier
Jacob Gnau
Satvik Gupta
Meghana Kanathur
Isaac Shah
Ben Syme
Noor Yunis
EUPHONIUM
Dominic Barnes
I. Burgos
Antonio Mora
TUBA
Michael Bacasa
June LoGalbo
PERCUSSION
Gavin Brown
Claudia Church
Bri Cochill
Carter Fry
Muhammad Khairie bin Iswandy
Travis Jahna
Varun Kathiravan
Dylan Kerniskey
Andrew Lineweaver
Morgan Riddiford
Chris Smallwood
Vivek Soni
Collegiate Winds
Musicians are listed alphabetically by section.
PICCOLO
Cooper Greenlees
Devin Zdanowicz
FLUTE
Jhon Fajardo *
Adrianna Fay
Cooper Greenlees
Jillian Kumfer
Julia Norris
Natalie O’Brien
Corrina Pohlman
Devin Zdanowicz
OBOE
Samir Haurani
Sarah Wagner
Maddie Wittman *
BASSOON
Cora Anderson *
CLARINET
Phillip Ainsworth
Audrey Beckman
Ethan Dale
Hannah Eggenschwiler
Leena Jafri
Sophie Lockwood
Sydney Thompson *
BASS CLARINET
Swaraj Patnaik
ALTO SAXOPHONE
Alecia Carpenter
Shogo Nakayama
Brandon Pisell *
TENOR SAXOPHONE
Conner Ozatalar
BARITONE SAXOPHONE
Willow Mauldin
TRUMPET
Duke Biscotti
Luke Buzard
Rebecca Dunn
Ryan Durbin
Joel Kellar
Gregg Mendel
Joung Min Oh
Jacob Schwartz
Alex Tuma
Abbey Zunic *
HORN
Katherine Indyk *
Annalise Johnson
Ray Johnson
Olivia Sexton
Aidan Walsh
TROMBONE
Brendan Akins
Lucia Cherok
Reese Hiller Freund
Aaron Inkinen
Safa Jeelani *
Lily Kent
Andric McNabb
Nathan Palmer
Jordan Updegrove
EUPHONIUM
Zach Ferko
Sayaka Iimura *
Clayton Messinger
TUBA
John Chamberlain *
Michael Flowers
Sydney Reeves
Lucas Snouffer
PERCUSSION
Andrew Bourget
Donna Brown *
Nicholas Dye
Logan Gardiner
Mary Paydock
Adam Quinn
Joey Speidel
Marie Zantopulos
* denotes principal
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