Sunday, Nov. 21, 2021

5 p.m. 

The Ohio State University School of Music
Mershon Auditorium
 

Scott A. Jones, conductor
Dustin Ferguson, DMA guest conductor

FACULTY GUEST ARTIST
James Akins, Native American flute

"SONGS"

Welcome to this second performance of autumn semester by the musicians of the Ohio State Symphonic Band. We delight in being able to gather in this beautiful auditorium to share in the exchange of energies and ideas through the art of music.

“Songs” have been an essential component of human culture from earliest civilizations to present day. Songs are central to moments in which we encounter great joy and profound sadness. Songs have galvanized important social movements and have been a great source of inspiration, remembrance, hope and healing. In that regard, songs aid us in being more fully human…and it is to that end that we gather this afternoon.

On behalf of the performers, thank you for sharing your late afternoon with us. You have our deep gratitude for your gift of time, and our best wishes for continued good health and wholeness.

— Scott A. Jones, conductor
 

PROGRAM

Native American Flute Solo
James Akins, flute

The Ohio State University occupies the ancestral and contemporary lands of the Shawnee, Potawatomi, Delaware, Miami, Peoria, Seneca, Wyandotte, Ojibwe and Cherokee peoples. The university resides on land ceded in the 1795 Treaty of Greeneville and the forced removal of tribal nations through the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The musicians of The Ohio State University Symphonic Band honor the resiliency of these tribal nations and recognize the historical contexts that have and continue to affect the Indigenous peoples of this land.

Bushdance (1991)
Ralph Hultgren (b. 1953)

Dustin Ferguson, conductor

Bushdance was composed for and premiered at the 1987 Queensland Department of Education’s “Musically Outstanding Students” scholarship camp in Brisbane, Australia. The work was written to feature the songs of the "bushdance" (akin to the American "barn dance") and to portray the excitement of the trip to and participation in the evening’s entertainment. Songs included in the composition (in order of appearance) are “The Darvy Knick Knack,” “The Waves of Tory,” "Big Fairy Mountain and Little Fairy Mountain,” and “Soldier’s Joy.”

Ralph Hultgren is a freelance teacher, composer and conductor who began his professional music career as a trumpet player with the Central Band of the Royal Australian Air Force. His most recent academic position was as head of Open Conservatorium, Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, where he lectured in conducting and instrumental music education at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, as well as conducting the Queensland Conservatorium Wind Orchestra. Hultgren received the significant national honor of being admitted as a “Member of the General Division of the Order of Australia (AM)” on Australia Day 2016, for significant service to the arts, particularly music education, as an academic, composer and publisher, and to professional organizations.

Song for Lyndsay (2005)
Andrew Boysen, Jr. (b. 1968)

In the words of the composer, “'Song for Lyndsay' is a very personal work, with a great deal of meaning to me…The musical materials of the work are mostly derived from a short piano piece that I wrote for my wife, Lyndsay. Although the structure of the work is much more complex than its forerunner, 'Song for Lyndsay' is still more than anything else a simple love song dedicated to Lyndsay…”

Andrew Boysen, Jr. is professor of music and director of bands at the University of New Hampshire. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in wind conducting from the Eastman School of Music, a Master of Music degree in wind conducting from Northwestern University, and a Bachelor of Music degree in music education and music composition from the University of Iowa. In 2016, the Ohio State Symphonic Band released its first commercially available recording which contained exclusively the music of Andrew Boysen, Jr. entitled At Home.

Epinicion (1975/2002)
John Paulson (b. 1948)

An epinicion is an ancient Greek song of victory, typically sung after a battle when walking through the field sorting the wounded from the dead. This particular epinicion was composed in 1975 by then-high school band director John Paulson. The piece was composed to aid his students as the Vietnam War continued to take its toll on the young people of his community. The composition opens with a depiction of the battlefield, moments after a desperate struggle has ended. The epinicion, which is presented numerous times throughout the composition, is first stated by trumpet during the early moments of the composition. The work calls on the musicians to improvise through aleatoric notation and thereby “personalize” their gestures as the arc of the composition evolves.

John W. Paulson, an accomplished and well-known composer, educator, innovator and entrepreneur, received a bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of Minnesota and a master’s degree in music education from the Eastman School of Music. He is considered to be a pioneer in high school education, creating courses in the early 1980s in electronic music, class piano and Twentieth Century music. Paulson founded Coda Music Technology (now MakeMusic, Inc.) in 1990 and remained chief executive officer until his retirement in 2008. As CEO of MakeMusic, he acquired Finale music notation software and developed it into the gold standard for music notation worldwide.

Grace Before Sleep (2011/2013)
Susan LaBarr (b. 1981) / Wilson

Musicians of the Women’s Glee Club
Jordan Saul, conductor

Susan LaBarr is an American composer and choral editor who lives and works in Springfield, Missouri. LaBarr served as the Missouri Composer Laureate for 2012 and 2013 and has completed commissions for choirs worldwide. She attended Missouri State University–Springfield, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in music and a Master of Music in music theory.

Poet Sara Teasdale (1884–1933) was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and received wide acclaim during her short life. She won the Columbia University Poetry Society Prize (which became the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry) and the Poetry Society of America Prize for her 1917 collection of poetry entitled “Love Songs.” As such, many consider her the first recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. “Grace Before Sleep” was penned on Thanksgiving evening and appeared in her final collection of poetry entitled “Strange Victory” in 1933.

Grace Before Sleep

How can our minds and bodies be
Grateful enough that we have spent
Here in this generous room, we three,
This evening of content?
Each one of us has walked through storm
And fled the wolves along the road;
But here the hearth is wide and warm,
And for this shelter and this light
Accept, O Lord, our thanks tonight.

With Heart and Voice (2000)
David R. Gillingham (b. 1947)

Composer David R. Gillingham has enjoyed a long and distinguished career as a composer and faculty member in higher education. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in Instrumental Music Education from the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh and a PhD in Music Theory/Composition from Michigan State University. Since retiring from a storied tenure on the faculty at the Central Michigan University, he has relocated to Cincinnati, OH.

Gillingham writes:

“Since beginning my career as a composer, it has been my philosophy to create music with an underlying purpose and that emanates a sense of heart. Each of my works is a reflection of who I am, from the very surface to the deepest depths of my soul. I envision myself as a servant of humanity expressing a myriad of emotions, thoughts and feelings that cannot be expressed through words. And, perhaps, this musical expression will validate our purpose here on earth.

'With Heart and Voice' was commissioned by Apple Valley (MN) High School Bands, to commemorate the 25th year of existence of the school. Apple Valley High School's strong commitment to the arts was a major factor in my decision to take on this commission. Thematically, the work is based on the Apple Valley High School alma mater, an old Spanish hymn. It is perhaps fate that this hymn, a particular favorite of mine, happens to be the tune used for the alma mater. Henry Bateman wrote the words for the hymn in 1843, and the first verse contains the line, 'Let all, with heart and voice, before the throne rejoice'. Hence the title, 'With Heart and Voice.' What better way to celebrate 25 years of this great high school than with our 'hearts' and 'voices'? The 'voice' in this case is the music, and the 'heart' is the emotion that the music renders in celebration."

 

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ROSTERS

The Ohio State University Symphonic Band

Musicians are listed alphabetically by section.

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