Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023 • 7:30 p.m.
Weigel Auditorium
Columbus, OH
WIND SYMPHONY
CONDUCTOR
Russel C. Mikkelson
DMA STUDENT CONDUCTORS
Sarah Baker
Shawn Davern
FACULTY GUEST ARTIST
Elisabeth Shafer
PROGRAM
Bright Shadow Fanfare
Nicole Piunno (b. 1985)
Shawn Davern, conductor
The intense contrast in Bright Shadow Fanfare refers to two possible meanings. It could mean bringing our darkness into the light in order to integrate it with our true self. It could also mean revealing our positive traits and gifts that we may not allow ourselves to show or give to others.
— Program note by the composer
Colonial Song
Percy Grainger (1882–1961)
ed. Mark Rogers
Grainger wrote (in his customary strapping, blue-eyed English rhetoric) of Colonial Song: “...I have wished to express feelings aroused by my thoughts of the scenery and people of my native land (Australia), and also to voice a certain kind of emotion that seems to me not untypical of native-born Colonials in general. Perhaps it is not unnatural that people living more or less lonelily in vast virgin countries and struggling against natural and climatic hardships (rather than against the more actively and dramatically exciting counter wills of the fellow men, as in more thickly populated lands) should run largely to that patiently yearning, inactive sentimental wistfulness that we find so touchingly expressed in much American art; for instance in Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, and in Stephen C. Foster’s adorable songs 'My Old Kentucky Home,' 'Old Folks at Home,' etc.”
Colonial Song was intended by the composer to be the first composition in a series of works labeled “Sentimentals.” Ultimately, Grainger abandoned the idea of such a series, but clearly Colonial Song remained intimately dear; the dedication inscribed on the score in the composer’s hand reads, “This military band dish-up as Loving Yule-Gift to Mumsie, Yule, 1918.”
Colors
Bert Appermont (b. 1973)
1. Yellow
2. Red
3. Blue
4. Green
Elisabeth Shafer, trombone
This work was written especially for the Belgian trombonist Ben Haemhouts and was created on Dec. 29, 1998 in Ravels. The starting point of Colors is bipartite. On the one hand I wanted to create a solo piece based upon the colors yellow, blue, red and green. I wanted to express the characteristics, associations and emotions related to these colors in a subtle manner. This way, every movement was named after a color:
1) Yellow: inspiring and stimulating (also: wisdom and light); 2) Red: dynamic, passionate developing into dramatic, furious and fighting (also: courage and will-power); 3) Blue: melancholic, dreamy and introvert (also: truth and peace); 4) Green: hopeful and full of expectation (also: balanced power and harmony).
A second important source of inspiration was the death of an uncle who was a trombone player in his free time. The heavy struggle that this man went through at the end of his life might be symbolized in the second movement of the concerto, which sounds like a battle at the end of this movement. The unity in the piece is reached by the use of a three-tone motif (c–d–g) which constantly returns in various ways throughout the composition and which is the basis of every important theme. Finally, I tried to use the coloristic pallet of the trombone in the best possible way, making use of the complete range of the instrument and the different timbres of the instrument.
— Program note by the composer
— INTERMISSION —
Coming Home
Jillian L. Whitaker (b. 1992)
Sarah Baker, conductor
The composer writes:
“Coming Home was commissioned in 2016 as a tribute to the University of Northern Iowa Wind Symphony and Dr. Ronald Johnson, who recently passed away. As a former member of the ensemble, I wanted Coming Home to be a sort of offering of myself to the Wind Symphony as a thank you for the experiences it gave me. As I began writing the piece, I settled pretty quickly on a 'Copland-esque' main theme ... something that is very 'me' in many ways, and that contains some of my most joyful, confident qualities ... sort of a celebration of my memories with the ensemble. Towards the middle section of the piece, you hear my minimalist and cinematic influences — the sounds that always seem to come out of me most organically.”
“Coming Home isn't programmatic; there was no story or specific imagery in mind as I wrote it. It's simply a small bit of my soul, however selfishly or unselfishly, as a gift to an ensemble and a conductor that played a large role in shaping me as a person and musician.”
NOTE: The revised 2023 edition of this work was spurred by discussion between Sarah Baker (conductor) and Jillian Whitaker (composer) who both played saxophone in the UNI Wind Symphony under Dr. Johnson during their undergraduate studies. The Ohio State Wind Symphony will provide the premiere performance of this edition and fifth overall in the United States.
Symphony in Blue and Gold
Erika Svanoe (b. 1976)
Consortium premiere
1. Blues and Fugues
2. In Gold
3. Waltz
4. Finale
Symphony in Blue and Gold was commissioned to celebrate the 100th anniversary of bands at my alma mater, the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire.
As a starting point, I researched and studied two significant pieces in wind band literature that were composed around the time the band was first formed on campus. These were La création du monde (1923) by Darius Milhaud and Rhapsody in Blue (1924) by George Gershwin, specifically the original dance band version orchestrated by Ferde Grofé. Both pieces use a combination of classical and jazz influences, and this felt very reflective of my own experience as a music student at UWEC.
Overall, the piece uses a modified four-movement symphony plan. The first movement, "Blues and Fugues," alternates a standard 12-bar blues with two four-voice fugues. The opening tenor saxophone solo presents the UWEC melodic material that appears throughout all four movements. The second movement, "in Gold," focuses on timbres played by metallic instruments and introduces the other main melodic material, which musically spells out BLUGLD. The third movement is a waltz and the final movement, "Finale," expands and combines material from the previous three movements.
I am so honored to have the opportunity to write Symphony in Blue and Gold for a place where I had so much musical and personal growth. I truly took this opportunity to heart, and tried to grow my own compositional voice and craft while writing this piece as a tribute to a place that was so important in my educational journey.
— Program note by the composer
ROSTER
WIND SYMPHONY
Russel C. Mikkelson, conductor
Piccolo
Katie Sharp
Braden Stewart
Flute
Katie Sharp *
Jonathan Mitchell
Braden Stewart
Sofia Geelhood
Allie Gerckens
Shreeya Yampati
Lauren Simon
Kristin Thompson
Oboe
Briele Vollmuth *
Laura Pitner
English Horn
Abby Yeakle Held
Bassoon
Brandon Golpe *
Isaiah Heyman
Bobby Schwartz
Contrabassoon
Bobby Schwartz
Eb Clarinet
Kaleigh McGee
Destiny Malave
Clarinet
Kaleigh McGee *
Destiny Malave
Louis Maligaya
Eli Johnson
Rohit Kolluri
Samuel Langer
Lily Tropple
Joseph DeCillis
Peter Breckenridge
Bass Clarinet
Katie Lowry
Mason Williams
Alto Saxophone
Frankie Wantuch *
Lucinda Dunne
Tenor Saxophone
Cooper Greenlees
Baritone Saxophone
Sean Bauman
Zach Langbein
Horn
Annie Moon *
William Holderby
Cheng Peng
Theresa Deevers
John McLaughlin
Trumpet
Luke Bingham *
Julia Moxley
Ben Guegold
Matt Pileski
Nick Schnitzspahn
Connor McMullen
Zach Heffner
Trombone
Tristan Miller *
Charlotte Stefani
Alex Myers
Owen Kovach
Bass Trombone
Eric Oxsalida
Zach Irwin
Euphonium
Sean O’Brien *
Davis Aho
Andrew Eynon
Tuba
Jake Blevins *
Patrick Woo
Zane Tekaucic
Percussion
Sam Sherer *
Ben Kerger
Kalie Dawson
Kye Pyeatt
Tres Perkins
Haydn Veith
Erin Rybinski
Double Bass
Drew Postel +
Piano
Kaiwei Guo
Harp
Nathan Hay +
* principal
+ assisting musician
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