Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025  •  7:30 p.m.

Weigel Auditorium
Columbus, OH
 

Program

University Band

Paul Bissler and Brooke Woods, conductors
 

Kirkpatrick Fanfare

Andrew Boysen Jr. (b. 1968)

Brooke Woods, conductor

Kirkpatrick Fanfare was commissioned by Central Missouri State University for the dedication of the James C. Kirkpatrick Library in March 1999. This work has a definite Irish flavor, including a strain of "Danny Boy." 

The "fanfare" features driving rhythms and exciting brass figures, making this dramatic work sure to please both performers and audiences alike.

— Note by the composer 

Drawing Mars

Michael Markowski (b. 1986)

Brooke Woods, conductor

The composer writes:

In 6th grade, my entire class participated in a “wax museum” history project — a “night at the museum” at Crismon Elementary School in Mesa, Arizona. We all stood along the perimeter in the library, in front of bookcases, with a small construction paper circle on the floor in front of us. This was the “button” that, when stepped on, activated the speeches we had memorized, narrated in the voices of the historic figures we had chosen to embody. One of us dressed as Sacajawea, another as Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., etc. My costume was a simple turtleneck sweater. Long before Steve Jobs made turtlenecks trendy, there was Carl Sagan, and for one night, I became him.

Before I discovered my love for music, I loved space. In my bedroom, in the many craters of my popcorn ceiling, I stuck what must have been hundreds of tiny glow-in-dark stars. On hot, summer nights, a swirling galaxy would appear as I also peppered these stickers on the blades of my ceiling fan. On my desk next was a large plastic globe of the moon and, for a short-lived time in our living room, I had even constructed a homemade planetarium taped together from triangular pieces of heavy, black garbage bags and inflated by a table fan. Inside, equipped with a flashlight and a laser pointer, I talked to an imaginary audience about my favorite constellations and the planets of our solar system as they, too, glowed on the inside ceiling of this giant, dark plastic bubble. In the evenings, I spent hours looking at the surface of the moon, at Mars, at the rings of Saturn, at the moons orbiting Jupiter, at the Andromeda galaxy, at that fuzzy little nebula near Orion’s belt, all through an 8-inch diameter telescope in my backyard. I even remember trying to read a couple of Carl Sagan’s books, although in retrospect I was probably too young to really understand them. But after finding a few episodes of his show Cosmos, a TV program that made the wonders of the universe easily digestible, I was hooked. For a 7th grade English project, I even made a short film called Their First Encounter — my first attempt at writing and directing science fiction, complete with fog, strobe lights, and tin foil costumes.

As my obsession grew, I eventually asked my mom to drive me two hours north to Flagstaff, Arizona where Lowell Observatory has stood at the top of Mars Hill Road for the last 100 years. Percival Lowell was born into a rich family in the mid-1800s, studied math at Harvard, and travelled the world, but soon realized that the universe was calling to him. Out of his own pocket, he funded his own observatory.

Lowell was obsessed with the planet Mars. His colleague in Italy, a guy by the name of Giovanni Schiaparelli, had discovered strange lines all across the planet — lines that, in Italian, he called "canali" (not to be confused with cannoli). In Italian, canali roughly translates to "channel-like landscapes" — like a riverbed — something naturally made — no big deal. But when Lowell translated the word, he called them "canals," which have a very different connotation. When we think of canals, as Lowell did, we probably think of something man-made, something that has been constructed with purpose and intention.

Lowell wanted to study these canals for himself, so night after night, he would look through his telescope up at Mars, then down at a piece of paper and draw the surface of the planet as he saw it. He did this for months and eventually developed a theory: he believed that Mars was a dying planet — that it was drying up — and in order to save their civilization, some kind of intelligent beings had constructed this incredible system of canals — some 30 miles wide — in an attempt to siphon melting water from the polar ice caps and funnel them down to the major metropolitan areas, the darker areas on the planet which he called oases.

The crazy thing about all this is that people believed him! Actually, there was really no reason to doubt him. He was well educated, he had the best technology available for the times and one of the biggest telescopes in the world. He wrote three really convincing books arguing this theory, and in 1905, even The New York Times ran a full page article under the headline “THERE IS LIFE ON THE PLANET MARS: Prof. Percival Lowell, recognized as the greatest authority on the subject, declares there can be no doubt that living beings inhabit our neighbor world.” In fact, it would take another 50 years for scientists to get close enough to Mars to see in better detail that oh… there aren’t actually any Martian-made canals after all. Although we now know that the canals that Lowell saw were largely psychological tricks, his observations captured the imagination of the world and even inspired early 20th-century science fiction like H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds and Edgar Rice Bourroughs’ many Mars-inspired books.

I don’t think the music in Drawing Mars tells a story about aliens invading Earth or of “first contact” or anything like that, but I do think it tries to get inside Lowell’s head as he looks through his telescope, night after night, in the dark, all alone, as his mind maybe starts to wander… and wonder… woah, what if I’m right? What if there is life on Mars?

Of course, we now know that Lowell’s imagination maybe got the best of him, but as Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.”

— Note by Michael Markowski

With Quiet Courage

Larry Daehn (b. 1939)

Paul Bissler, conductor

The composer prefaces this composition in honor of his mother with these words:

Her life was heroic, but without fanfare.
She worked and hoped and inspired.
She loved and was loved.

Her life was a noble song of quiet courage.

— Note by the composer
 

One Giant Leap

Erik Morales (b. 1966)

Paul Bissler, conductor

Perhaps no challenge has been greater in American history that the triumph of Apollo 11. A dream sparked from a decree by President John F. Kennedy (from a speech at Rice University in Houston, Texas on September 12, 1962) that would become a reality on July 16, 1969. At that historic speech, JFK declared “We choose to go the moon!” Almost seven years later, Commander Neil A. Armstrong would say the words, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” as he made the first steps of any human on the surface of the moon. This piece is a tribute to that achievement. Each section of the work represents the timeline of events associated with mankind’s quest for the moon. Actual historical audio clips are used to enhance the experience.

— Note by the composer 
 

Prestissimo March

Karl King (1891–1971)
arr. James Swearingen

Brooke Woods, conductor
 

UNIVERSITY BAND PERSONNEL
 

Collegiate Winds

Phillip Day, conductor
Paul Bissler, guest conductor 

Fanfare for a Golden Sky (2003)

Scott Boerma (b. 1964)

Scott Boerma is the director of Bands and professor of Music at Western Michigan University, where he conducts the University Wind Symphony and Western Winds. Prior to this appointment, he was the associate director of Bands, director of the Michigan Marching Band, and the Donald R. Shepherd Associate Professor of Conducting at the University of Michigan. Before those positions, Boerma was the director of Bands at Eastern Michigan University, and he began his career teaching music in the Michigan public schools at Novi and Lamphere High Schools.

An active composer, Boerma’s concert band works have been performed by many outstanding ensembles, including “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band; the U.S. Navy Band; the Dallas Wind Symphony; the University of North Texas Wind Symphony; the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra; the University of Illinois Wind Symphony; the University of Michigan Symphony, Concert, and University Bands; the Michigan State University Wind Symphony and Symphony Band; the Interlochen Arts Camp High School Bands; and the Music For All Honor Band of America, to name just a few. His music has been heard in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Hill Auditorium, the Myerson Symphony Center, the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, and at the Chicago Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic. Boerma’s works have been featured in the popular GIA series, “Teaching Music Through Performance in Band.” He is commissioned each year by high school, university and community bands to write new works for the repertoire.

Also a prolific arranger, Boerma receives yearly commissions to write music for many university and high school marching bands and drum and bugle corps. For twenty-four years from 1989–present he has been the music arranger for the acclaimed Madison Scouts Drum & Bugle Corps. From 2008–2014, he arranged for the Spirit of Atlanta Drum & Bugle Corps. Additionally, Boerma has arranged for drum and bugle corps and bands from Japan, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, and Thailand. Other credits include marching band arrangements for the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, the University of Texas (both Austin and Arlington), the University of Illinois, Purdue University, Towson University, Texas Tech University, Baylor University, Jacksonville State University, and Western Michigan University, to name just a few. Most of the Big Ten university marching bands have performed Boerma’s arrangements. Boerma has also written arrangements for Broadway’s “Blast,” the Boston Pops, and the Detroit Chamber Winds Brass.

Boerma is an elected member of the prestigious American Bandmasters Association. He was also inducted into the Drum Corps International Hall of Fame. He has served as the president of the Mid-American Conference Band Directors Association, and he is the Michigan state chair for the College Band Directors National Association, for which he is also a member of its Constitution Task Force. He is a member of ABA, CBDNA, WASBE, the National Band Association, the American School Band Directors Association, ASCAP, Phi Mu Alpha Professional Music Fraternity, Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society, and an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma Band Fraternities.

Commissioned by conductor James Keene for the University of Illinois Wind Symphony, in conjunction with the Mark H. Hindsley Memorial Commissioning Project, Fanfare for a Golden Sky was written as an intense, powerful concert opener. The title is derived from a five-note recurring motive, which was borrowed from the inspirational Rodgers and Hammerstein song You’ll Never Walk Alone, a tune with great personal meaning to the composer. The motive is taken from the second half of the phrase, “At the end of the storm, there’s a golden sky”; Although often dark and menacing, the fanfare maintains an optimistic hopefulness throughout. 

My Heart is Filled with Longing (c. 1710/1986)

J. S. Bach (1685–1750)
arr. Alfred Reed (1921–2005)

Johann Sebastian Bach was reared in the Protestant faith, of which a basic musical concept was the chorale, a simple, four-line musical form used in the early days of the Protestant Reformation for congregational singing. The chorales were taught to the congregation, who were for the most part illiterate and could not read music, through a didactic process known as "lining out." In this process the chorale would be sung by a precentor, or song-leader, one line at a time, with the congregation repeating each line as it was sung for them. This process was repeated with each chorale melody until the congregation had learned it and could sing it from memory.

The chorale concept became a basic part of the entire musical fabric of the Protestant worship service in Bach's Germany. In addition to the congregational singing of the chorales, the organist (a position Bach held for the majority of his adult creative life) was expected to improvise on the chorale melody as a prelude to the worship service. These chorale preludes, as they came to be called, constitute a large part of Bach's organ output.

The chorale on which this present wind ensemble arrangement is based is entitled Herzlich tut mich Verlangen (My Heart is Filled with Longing). This Bach chorale is listed in the collected works of Bach as BWV 727... The Bach index lists this chorale as an organ chorale-prelude for two manuals and pedals, and notes that it was probably written while Bach was in the employ of the Duke of Weimar, between the years 1708 and 1717. The Duke took great pleasure in listening to Bach's organ music, and it was in Weimar that the majority of Bach's organ works were composed.

The melody of this chorale is probably better-known to Bach aficionados by another name, O Haupt voll Blut verwunden (O Sacred Head Now Wounded), which is the dominant chorale of Bach's great choral masterpiece, the oratorio known as the St. Matthew Passion, written in Leipzig in 1729.

— Note by Raymond A. Barr

Prelude, Siciliano, and Rondo (1963/1979)

Sir Malcolm Arnold (1921–2006)
trans. John Paynter (1928–1996)

Paul Bissler, guest conductor

British composer and trumpeter, Sir Malcolm Arnold was born in Northampton to a family of shoemakers. As a rebellious teenager, he was attracted to the creative freedom of jazz. After seeing Louis Armstrong play in Bournemouth, he took up the trumpet at age 12, and 5 years later he won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music (RCM). At the RCM he studied composition with Gordon Jacob and the trumpet with Ernest Hall. In 1941, he joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra as second trumpet and became principal trumpet in 1943.

In 1944, he volunteered for military service, but after he found out the army wanted to put him in a military band, he shot himself in the foot to get back to civilian life. After a season as principal trumpet with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, he returned to the London Philharmonic in 1946 where he remained until 1948 to become a full-time composer. He was bracketed with Britten and Walton as the most sought-after composers in Britain. His natural melodic gift earned him a reputation as a composer of light music in works such as his sets of Welsh, English, Scottish, Irish and Cornish Dances, and his scores to the St. Trinian's films and Hobson's Choice. Arnold was a relatively conservative composer of tonal works, but a prolific and popular one. He acknowledged Hector Berlioz as an influence, and several commentators have drawn a comparison with Jean Sibelius.

He was knighted in 1993 for his service to music. He received honorary doctorates from the University of Exeter (1969), University of Durham (1982), University of Leicester (1984), Miami University of Ohio (1989), University of Winchester (1983), and the University of Northampton (2006).

Prelude, Siciliano, and Rondo was first written in 1963 for brass band under the title Little Suite for Brass. John Paynter's arrangement for wind band includes woodwinds and additional percussion but retains the breezy effervescence of the original work. All three movements are written in short, clear, five-part song forms. The A-B-A-C-A structure is instantly apparent to the listener, while giving the composer's imaginative melodies a natural, almost folklike, setting. The Prelude begins bombastically in a fanfare style, but reaches a middle climax and winds down to a quiet return of the opening measures, which fade to silence. The liltingly expressive Siciliano is both slower and more expressive than the other movements, thus allowing solo instruments and smaller choirs of sound to be heard. It also ends quietly. The rollicking five-part Rondo provides a romping finale in which the technical facility of the modern wind band is set forth in boastful brilliance. 

Liturgical Dances (1984)

David Holsinger (b. 1945)

David Holsinger, twice the recipient of the prestigious Ostwald Composition Prize of the American Bandmasters Association, was educated at Central Methodist College, Fayette, Missouri, Central Missouri State University, Warrensburg, and the University of Kansas, Lawrence. His primary composition study has been with Donald Bohlen at Central Missouri State and Charles Hoag at the University of Kansas.

In 1999, following 15 years of service as music minister, worship leader, and composer in residence to Shady Grove Church in Grand Prairie, Texas, composer/conductor Holsinger joined the School of Music faculty at Lee University, Cleveland, Tennessee, as conductor of the Lee University Wind Ensemble. Holsinger’s duties include teaching advanced instrumental conducting and composition. He retired in 2023.

Holsinger's compositions have received kudos in several national competitions. He won the National Federation of Music Clubs Band Composition Contest in 1970. In 1971, The War Trilogy was awarded first place in the Kent State University Band Composition Contest. In 1982, the ABA-Ostwald prize was awarded to Holsinger's The Armies of Omnipresent Otserf. In 1986, Holsinger's The Deathtree was a finalist in both the NBA-DeMoulin and the Sudler International Competition. His composition, In the Spring at the Time When Kings Go off to War won the 1986 ABA-Ostwald Prize.

In April 2023, prior to Holsinger's retirement, Lee University celebrated him in a two-day gala which featured a concert of his music and several receptions for nearly 1,300 alumni and community friends, both the night of the concert and the following day with alumni of the wind ensemble.

Liturgical Dances was commissioned by the Beta Mu chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia to celebrate 75 years at Central Methodist College. It was premiered by Keith House and the CMC Symphonic Band in 1982.

Both the form and content of Liturgical Dances were influenced by Holsinger's own memories of his years at CMC in Beta Mu. His first image (reflection on the emotional and spiritual bonds that united the students) is described by a collage of gentle percussion sounds and a haunting melody by the horns. The second memory (exuberant praise for life and "a glorious Lord who created music") is described in seven short sections, each of which typically begins quietly and builds to a full-band climax. Subtitled Benedicamus socii Domine (let us all, as companions, praise the Lord), the work was first runner-up in the 1981 NBA-DeMoulin and ABA-Ostwald competitions.  
 

COLLEGIATE WINDS PERSONNEL
 

Personnel

University Band

Musicians are listed alphabetically within each section.

Flute
Macy Adams
Alyssa Back
Ananya Chadha
Addi Ganschow
Ivan Graber-Nofziger
Max Henderson
Natalie Huot
Ella Johnson
Alyssa Jones
Gwen Knotts
Cecillia Le
Isabelle McCullogh
Esther Siony
Elijah Tofte
Emma Woodruff

Oboe
Layla Lubic

Bassoon
Robert Mullen

Clarinet
Emily Baker
Haley Cramer
Kaity Fields
Aaron Geise
Lauren Haley
Matthew Hebert
Leahandria Hood
Anna Irwin
Addison Johnson
Madison Johnson
Makenna Mortemore
Katarina Payamgis
Rebecca Plympton
Ryder Robins

Bass Clarinet
Ryan Chan
Isen Zhang

Alto Saxophone
Matthew Chandran
Stephen Connair
Markus Dixon
Samantha Goldsmith
Jacob Oberdier
Michael Ponesse
Jacky Zhang

Tenor Saxophone
Ayden Olic

Baritone Saxophone
Alastair Cherry
Liana Sargsyan

Trumpet
Paolo Atriano
Adrian Cardenas
Brian Cheng
Grace Everett
Bo Famularcano
Luke Flavell
Colin Fogerty
Noah Huot
Meredith Hurley
Anthony Kahle
Anneliese Liedtke
Toby Martini
James Meier
Olivia Morgan
Finnian Paul
Logan Pitzer
Isabelle Plummer
Levi Rickenbach
Spencer Talarzyk
Jess Vanek

Horn
Braydon Crockett
Jonathan Kessler

Trombone
Jake Fanning
Mackenzi Jones
Cameron Mills
Abigail Rutherford
Delaney Speidell
Mathew Wheeler

Euphonium
Oliver Alban
Grayson Croysdale
Evelyn Ferguson
Jonathan Goshima

Tuba
Marco Cagliuso
Danny Pham
Zhida Zhu

Percussion
Nolan Call
Claudia Church
Nikolas Henderson
Calvin Johnson
Devin Kingsboro
Brianna Rush
Noah Sims
Avery Wilt

Collegiate Winds

Musicians are listed alphabetically within each section.

Piccolo
Kehlin Morgan

Flute
Abby Birr
Josh Griffiths *
Wonu Kim
Kehlin Morgan
Conner Ozatalar
Allegra Tannoury
Hana Winchester

Oboe
Tyler Ulbert
River Wells *

Clarinet
Sam Baccei
Dominic Barnes
Jarom Christensen
Leena Futoryansky
Connor Gibson
Nicole Gountanis *
Sophia Lipowski
Holly Rasanow
Montana Runser
Max Webster
Elise Zavaglia

Bass Clarinet
Tori Steinbrecher

Alto Saxophone
Gwennan Armstrong
Holly Barger
Samuel Feldstein
Blake Steele *
Andrew Vannorsdall

Tenor Saxophone
Charlie Peterson

Baritone Saxophone
Gabe Gasper

Trumpet    
Luke Duane-Tessier
Ryan Flad
Devon Grant *
Joseph Gregg
Alli Jones
Marlee Lawson
Ryan Matthews
Allison Morris
Brianna Nemec
Colin Parker
Katie Williams

Horn
Aria Christensen
Brett Lemmon
Lauren Palecek
Eden Piotrowski
Alycia Stier *
Aravind Upadrasta
Randall Wiles

Trombone
Papa Aye-Addo
Fernando Flores IV *
Jackson Hammond
Andrew Kropas
Raven Luman
Noah Schrader
Kenta Thompson 
Nicholas Thompson
Autumn Write

Euphonium
Christine Baird
Tori Klinger
Louis Polien
Daniel Schiel II *

Tuba
Jackson Bell *

Percussion 
Olivia Beadle ^
Garrett Campbell *
Ben Hollis
Alex Klein
Sam Lord-Fry
Dawson Still
Grayson Trinca

Piano
Kenta Thompson

* principal player
^ assisting musician
 

31st Annual Music Celebration Concert

Friday, Dec. 5 at 7:30 p.m.

Mershon Auditorium, 1871 N. High St.

Join us for our annual community celebration featuring student bands, choirs, jazz bands, orchestra and more. 

Purchase tickets

Name a seat in the recital hall

Celebrate 100 years of music at Ohio State by naming a seat in the new Recital Hall. With a gift of $2,500, honor someone special and secure your place in our history, helping ensure the next century of extraordinary music. give.osu.edu/SOM100

Join us…

Visit Events for upcoming performances, lectures and more. Most are free. Many are livestreamed for later viewing. 

Receive news and upcoming events. Subscribe to our weekly e-newsletter, OVATION. 

Visit Outreach for opportunities for middle/high school musicians and educators.

Our Community Music School offers opportunities for all ages and ability levels.