About the District 90 Symphonic Winds

 Carrie Hruby
Superintendent
John Wagnon
School Board President
Joi Wills
Principal
Edward A. Fulton Junior High School
Ellen Hays
Principal
Amelia Carriel Junior High School
Program
TOCCATA FOR BAND .................................................................... Frank Erickson
A LITTLE TANGO MUSIC .................................................................... Adam Gorb
COLONIAL SONG ...................................... Percy Aldridge Grainger, arr. Wagner
LUCID DREAMS ..................................................................... David R. Gillingham
PRESTISSIMO .............................................................. Karl King, arr. Swearingen
Program Notes
Toccata for Band, Frank Erickson
Toccata for Band is a staple of the concert band literature and is extremely popular
among high school and college bands. The melodic material presented throughout the
piece shares many common threads, and you will be able to hear how Erickson recycles
his material throughout the work. The piece opens with a flourishing woodwind
melody that is quickly followed by a dark yet flowing clarinet chorale. Other notable
features of the piece are the numerous time signature changes, which at times gives the
piece a sharp and angular feel. The formal elements of this piece are easy to follow,
with fast and slow sections flowing comfortably into each other.
Frank Erickson was born in Spokane, Washington in 1923. He began playing the piano
at the age of eight and trumpet at ten, and wrote his first concert piece while still in high
school. Erickson studied at the University of Washington until he joined the U.S.
Army Corps, where he served as a weather forecaster. During World War II, he
arranged for Army bands, and following the war, he worked as a dance band arranger while studying composition.
He entered the University of Southern California in 1948, studied composition, and arranged for the USC Band
while working toward his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees. He later taught at UCLA and San Jose State College;
served as musical editor for Bourne, Belwin, and G. Schirmer Publications; and in 1970, organized the firm of
Summit Publications.
A Little Tango Music, Adam Gorb
A Little Tango Music, like many of Adam
Gorb’s works for band, is centered on dance
music. The piece is a short sequence of
melodies inspired by the emotive dance from
Argentina that is the tango. The tango is an
urban dance genre that is believed to have
begun during the late 19th Century in poor
neighborhoods surrounding Buenos Aires. It is
a rather dramatic form – a dance which features
a couple in a tight embrace, lyrics (when
applicable) that are emotional and sentimental,
and music which is frequently in the minor
mode, highlighted with abrupt accents and
dynamic contrasts. Gorb describes the tango as
“curvaceous, melancholic, and dangerous".
Completed in 2007, A Little Tango Music
captures the essence of this wonderful folk
genre.
British composer Adam Gorb started his musical career at an early age. By ten, he had completed his first
composition; five years later, his works were being broadcast on national radio. Gorb went on to complete his
formal training at Cambridge University and the Royal Academy of Music. He later joined the faculty of the
London College of Music and Media, as well as the Junior Academy of the Royal Academy of Music. Since 2000,
Gorb has been on faculty at the Royal Northern College of Music (Manchester, England), where he is the Head of
the School of Composition and Contemporary Music. He is an unabashed advocate for embracing progress in
musical styles, and many of his compositions combine the energy and style of so called “light” music with the
classical and concert band genre.
Colonial Song, Percy Aldridge Grainger, arr. by Wagner
Unlike many of Grainger's other compositions, the melodies of Colonial
Song are not based on folk songs, but are original melodies. He wrote that,
in composing this piece, he had “...wished to express feelings aroused by
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 nativeborn 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 their 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. I have also noticed curious, almost Italian-like, musical
tendencies in brass band performances and ways of singing in Australia
(such as a preference for richness and intensity of tone and soulful breadth
of phrasing over more subtly and sensitively varied delicacies of
expression), which are also reflected here." Grainger initially wrote this piece for piano in 1911 as a gift to his
mother, Rose, inscribing in the re-scoring for band, “This military band dish-up as Loving Yule-Gift to Mumsie,
Yule, 1918.”
Percy Grainger was born in Brighton, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. Grainger was an eccentric man and an
innovative musician who anticipated many forms of twentieth century music well before they became established
by other composers. He was a composer, arranger and concert pianist in great demand in Europe. His chief fame
rests as a composer of unconventional and original music that was characterized by its shift from the standard
convention. He employed meters, which were irregular and unusual.
An eccentric to the core, Grainger’s private life was as celebrated and scrutinized as his works. While touring
throughout America as a composer and conductor, he would walk from city to city, and was arrested several times
for sleeping in public parks. He also refused to fly in an airplane, citing that he didn’t trust that it couldn’t travel
backwards like a car, boat, or train.
Born in Australia to an architect father and a domineering mother, his travels and studies took him to many
countries, which included his long stay in Germany and England. He eventually settled in the United States of
America. Grainger moved to the United States at the outbreak of World War I in 1914, and enlisted in a US Army
band, playing the oboe and soprano saxophone. In 1932 he became Dean of Music at New York University, and
underscored his reputation as an experimenter by putting jazz on the syllabus and inviting Duke Ellington as a
guest lecturer. During his stay in Germany, Grainger developed a deep interest in Nordic music, something that he
carried throughout his life, taking measures to spread it across the globe. Grainger eagerly collected folk music
tunes, forms, and instruments from around the world and incorporated them into his own works.
Lucid Dreams, David R. Gillingham
Lucid Dreams begins in a controlled, self-aware dream state. As the dream progresses, it begins to darken and
gives way to a nightmare comprised of multiple dreams of various levels of fright. The seemingly endless chain of
events finally succumbs to lucidity and ends calmly with a hint of mysteriousness.
Coined by the Dutch psychiatrist and writer,
Frederik van Eeden, the term “lucid dream” is a
dream in which the person is aware that they are
dreaming and the level of vividness of the dream
depends on the person's level of self-awareness.
Special lucidity exercises have been known to treat
people who suffer from nightmares.
David R. Gillingham is a contemporary composer.
Gillingham 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. Dr. Gillingham has an international
reputation for the works he has written for band
and percussion. Many of these works are now
considered standards in the repertoire.
Prestissimo, Karl King, arr. by Swearingen
Audiences around the world love to hear the marches of Karl L. King,
and Prestissimo contains all the musical excitement that we've come to
expect from this march giant. Prestissimo can be played as a classic
march or as an up-speed circus gallop. The melody was inspired by the
sounds of the spectacle in the three rings. King played with various
circus bands, even serving as Barnum and Bailey's Bandmaster for two
years. Working at night by the light of a kerosene lamp, he wrote music
to match the rhythm of the circus acts and had 150 works in print two
years later. This march has the power to conjure up the whole
magnificent scene of the old tent circus - all the aromas, all the sounds,
all the sights, and, of course, the circus band.
Karl Lawrence King was born February 21, 1891 in Paintersville, Ohio.
After receiving some instruction on the cornet, King switched to
baritone. His first band experience was with the Thayer Military Band
of Canton, while in his teens. In 1909 King spent some time as a
member of bands in Columbus and also Danville, Illinois. While a
member of their bands, King began to compose marches and other
works. Beginning in 1910, King began a decade-long career as a circus
musician, spending one season each as a baritone player in the bands of Robinson's Famous Circus, Yankee
Robinson Circus, Sells Floto Circus, and the Barnum and Bailey “Greatest Show on Earth.” He continued to write
music while a member of those bands, and in 1913 wrote what would become his masterpiece, Barnum and
Bailey’s Favorite.
In 1914, King accepted the position as bandleader on the Sells Floto/Buffalo Bill Combined Shows, a position he
would hold for three seasons. In 1917 and 1918 he returned to the Barnum and Bailey Circus Band, this time as its
leader and conductor. Recently married and intent upon settling down, King ended his circus “trouping days” and
returned to Canton, Ohio in 1919, where he led the Grand Army Band. In 1920 King relocated to Fort Dodge,
Iowa, where he assumed leadership of the municipal band and operated his own publishing company, the K.L.
King Music House. As a composer, King was one of the most prolific and popular in the history of band music.
He composed at least 291 works, including 185 marches, 22 overtures, 12 gallops, 29 waltzes, and works in many
other styles. Not only did he compose some of the most brilliant and famous marches for experienced bands at the
professional and university levels, he also displayed a remarkable ability to compose first-rate music for younger,
less experienced musicians and bands. His music continues to be performed worldwide by bands of all experience
levels. Among many honors bestowed upon King was membership in the prestigious American Bandmasters
Association. He served as ASA President in 1938 and was later named an Honorary Life President.
About the District 90 Symphonic Winds:
The District 90 Symphonic Winds is a collaboration of students from two junior high schools
in O’Fallon; Amelia V. Carriel Junior High and Edward A. Fulton Junior High, named after
the late O’Fallon Band Director Edward A. Fulton. The ensemble is comprised of 6th through
8th Graders, who audition each fall. The ensemble meets in the evenings twice a week, and
performs numerous concerts and events throughout the school year. Almost all of the students
in the ensemble are enrolled in private lessons, most of which are taught by high school
students from O’Fallon Township High School. Over the past year, they’ve worked with
several clinicians, including Dr. Melissa Gustafson-Hinds (O’Fallon Township High School
Director of Bands), Sean Harris (Assistant Band Director at O’Fallon Township High School),
Dr. Stephen Steele (Retired Director of Bands at Illinois State University), Jim Childers
(Director of Bands at Marion Junior High School), and Katrina Fitzpatrick (Director of Bands
at Morton Junior High School).
The majority of the students in the Symphonic Winds audition for the ILMEA District 6 Junior
High Band. Eighteen were selected to participate this school year.
Piccolo
Hannah Wagnon
Flute
Madisyn Crouse
Mikayla Hagerman
Brianna Lindsey
Maggie Reed
Kynnedy Roller
Makayla Sharpe
Oboe
Emma Kurtz
Walter Thomas-Patterson
Bassoon
Carmela Sales
Clarinet
Chloe Baron
Sam Becker
Emily Bigham
Nick Cokenour
Alto Saxophone
Sidney Brown
Austin Dichsen
Bryan Flowers
Chloe Dobecki
Rhiana Farlin
Alec Jenkins
Chris Kopp
Ruth Lambries
Brenna Mitchell
Hayden Naumann
Krissy Sharpe
Caleb Horton
Tatiana Wright
Tenor Saxophone
Beverly Ajao
Devin Wilson
Bass Clarinet
Ben Doan
Noah Kellerman
Baritone Saxophone
Joe Novy
Alex Pazdernik
Trumpet
Hayden Glover
Jonah Hayes
Maisy King
Jack Lloyd
Horn
Mackenzie Brown
Kerry Fox
Adeline Harper
Carleigh McFarlane
Samantha McNary
Dylan Osborne
Abby Perrier
Clay Harris
Gwen Musenbrock
Al Scrivner
Jackson Slaby
McKenna Stamper
Jenny Zhao
Trombone
Jake Baron
Knyah Mattison
Alanna Petrovic
Evan Smith
Brandon Snyder
Baritone
Gabriel Guttierez
Nick Novy
Nick Varin
Tuba
Matthew Carter
Alex Eads
Nate Hancock
Percussion
Julian Cabrera
Sam Giedeman
Mikayla Jassem
Joel Lambries
Sean Mahan
Ryan Sarten
Madalyn Wilson
Fulton & Carriel Band Director: Mark Donahue
Mark Donahue is currently in his third year teaching in
O’Fallon, and second year as Director of Bands in O’Fallon
Community Consolidated School District 90. In District 90,
Mr. Donahue teaches the 6th, 7th, and 8th Grade bands and an
extracurricular jazz band at both Amelia V. Carriel Junior High
School and Edward A. Fulton Junior High School. He also
runs and instructs the 5th Grade beginning band program for
the five elementary schools in O’Fallon District 90. Over the
last two years, the band program has doubled in enrollment to
over 400 students.
Mr. Donahue started the Symphonic Winds last school year, in
the Fall of 2014. The Symphonic Winds are an auditioned
ensemble of 6th through 8th Grade band students that meet for
two-hour rehearsals twice per week. The group submitted an
application to perform at the Illinois Music Education
Conference after their inaugural concert and were honored to
be selected as one of only two middle school bands performing
this weekend.
Mark Donahue grew up in various places inside and outside the United States, but ended up in Morton, Illinois
by junior high and remained there through high school. He was very active in his junior high and high school
bands, as well as ILMEA District and State Ensembles, owing much of his success to Morton’s great teachers:
Katrina Fitzpatrick, Craig Fitzpatrick, Jeff Neavor, and Sherill Diepenbrock. Mark attended Illinois State
University, graduating Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Music Education in 2013. He completed his
student teaching at O’Fallon Township High School with Dr. Melissa Gustafson-Hinds in the Spring of 2013,
and began the Fall of 2013 as an Assistant Director of Bands with O’Fallon. Mark is nearing completion on
his Master’s of Arts in Education from McKendree University. He was a member of the Blue Stars Drum and
Bugle Corps from 2008-2012, serving as Drum Major for his final three seasons. Starting this season, Mark is
a member of the Colts Drum and Bugle Corps Visual Staff. Mark is a member of National Association for
Music Education (NAfME) and Illinois Music Education Association (ILMEA) and serves as ILMEA District
6 Junior High Band Co-Chair. In the time he has outside of band, Mark lives in Shiloh, Illinois with his wife,
Lauren Whitaker.
Fulton & Carriel Assistant Band Director: Brian O’Donnell
Brian O’Donnell currently teaches percussion at O’Fallon Township High
School and O’Fallon District 90 middle schools in O’Fallon, IL. His duties
at the high school include directing the jazz bands as well as the front
ensemble of the Marching Panthers Percussion. At District 90, he acts as
Director of Percussion for the 5th-8th Grade bands, Director of the
percussion ensemble, and Assistant Director of the concert and jazz bands.
He also maintains a private studio of 20-25 students. Brian earned both a
Bachelor’s and Master’s of Music Degree in Performance from McKendree
University and Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, respectively,
under the combined tutelage of Peter Hussey and Daniel Smithiger. Brian
is a member in the SIUE Steel Band, and will be traveling to Trinidad and
Tobago with them for the third time in January 2016 to perform with the
Hatters Steel Band in Panorama.
Guest Conductor: Dr. Melissa Gustafson-Hinds
Melissa Gustafson-Hinds is in her eighth year as Director of Bands at
O’Fallon Township High School in O’Fallon, Illinois. She directs
three high school concert bands, the marching band, and the jazz
bands, in addition to teaching a Music Theory class. Previously, Dr.
Gustafson-Hinds held the position of Director of Bands at Collinsville
High School, instructing a variety of music ensembles. Before arriving
in Collinsville, Dr. Gustafson-Hinds taught at Centralia High School in
Centralia, Illinois and Belleville Township High School-West in
Belleville, Illinois. She also taught at Unit 5 Schools in Normal,
Illinois, where she instructed all levels of instrumental music.
Dr. Gustafson-Hinds is originally from Monmouth, Illinois. She
attended Illinois State University, earning a Bachelor's in Music
Education and graduating with University Honors. While at ISU, she
played oboe and English horn in the Wind Symphony, Symphonic
Band, Symphonic Orchestra, and Chamber Winds. In addition, she
was a Drum Major for the "Big Red Marching Machine" for five
consecutive years. Dr. Gustafson-Hinds earned her Master’s Degree in Music Education from the University
of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2000 and her Doctoral Degree in Teaching and Learning, with an emphasis
in Music, from the University of Missouri-St. Louis in 2010. While teaching at Centralia, she earned her Type
75-General Administrative Endorsement from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. Dr. GustafsonHinds is a member of ILMEA, National Association for Music Education, American School Band Directors
Association, and National Band Association. She currently lives in Fairview Heights, Illinois with her
husband Evan, who is the percussion director at OTHS, and their 8-month old daughter Evelyn.
About Lifelong Music in O’Fallon Schools:
In late 2012, Dr. Todd Koehl, then the O’Fallon K-8
School District 90 Superintendent, reported that the
District was in financial difficulty due in large
part to decreased State funding. The
proposed solution to this shortfall
was a tax referendum. Most
electives,
including
Band, would be cut if
the referendum did not
pass.
When
these
announcements were made, a
small group of community members
formed Lifelong Music in O’Fallon
Schools (LMOS), a non-profit organization, to
promote and advocate for the music programs in
O’Fallon’s school districts. This organization became
hugely important to the town’s music students and teachers when the referendum didn’t pass and music
programs were cut for school year 2013-2014. Dr. Gustafson-Hinds (OTHS Director of Bands), Mark
Donahue (then an OTHS Assistant Director of Bands), and other dedicated music staff recognized that District
90 students should be afforded the opportunity for music education. These educators stepped up to create a
non-profit music school, O’Fallon United Community Music School, offering extracurricular band and choir,
as a temporary measure until music would again be offered in the District 90 curriculum. In partnership with
O’Fallon’s Department of Parks and Recreation, this fee-based option gave students the opportunity to bridge
the music education gap until the programs were reinstated to the District 90 curriculum. LMOS began
fundraising and was able to minimize band and choir fees by awarding over $4000 in grants for instrument
repairs, transportation to the IGSMA contest, and specialized instruction. LMOS Board members attended
District 90 School Board meetings, keeping music education as a topic of conversation and an issue needing
resolution. LMOS sponsored community concerts featuring locally- based bands including the USAF Bands
of Mid-America and local, community bands to promote music in the O’Fallon community.
During the 2013-2014 school year, our community’s desire and need for curricular music education became
evident to the District 90 Superintendent and School Board. In the summer of 2014, the District 90 School
Board found a way to again fund electives and bring music education back into the curriculum. LMOS
continues its support of music education in O’Fallon District 90 schools and is helping the programs grow and
thrive. Through various fundraisers, LMOS was able to grant over $8000 during the 2014-2015 school year.
These funds helped repair and replace damaged instruments, provided for a piano accompanist, and supported
additional specialized instruction. Fundraisers have been organized for the 2015-2016 school year and will
help repair and replace degrading risers, upgrade band equipment, and continue to provide for a piano
accompanist. LMOS continues to promote these fine arts in O’Fallon, foster appreciation of music, and bring
our community closer together. Although the 2013-2014 cuts hurt the music program, it has come back, is
more robust and continues to grow. All District 90 students are again able to benefit through quality music
education, musical learning and performing.
Thank you former members of the 2015 District 90 Symphonic Winds:
Morgan Barnum
Riley Bigham
Jess Camp
Trey Crouse
Caitlyn Drolet
JP Estrada
Travis Halverson
Jacob Hayes
Kalum Klausner
Sam Lyles
RyAnne Mikos
Ashlyn Morris
Joey Muldoon
Thomas Patterson
Kelcy Pearce
Mackenzie Peterlin
Cara Rhodes
Hannah Risberg
Anthony Rizzo
Briana Rumph
Jacob Sadler
Cathy Taylor
Special Thanks:
–
District School Board
Administration
John Wagnon, President
Todd Roach, Vice President
Mary Baskett, Secretary
Becky Drury
Rebecca Huller
Chris Pulcher
Steve Springer
Carrie Hruby, Superintendent
Ellen Hays, Amelia V. Carriel Junior High Principal
Joi Wills, Edward A. Fulton Junior High Principal
Jeffrey Brokering, Amelia V. Carriel Junior High Assistant Principal
Daniel Foehrkolb, Edward A. Fulton Junior High Assistant Principal
District 90 5th Grade Band Staff
Mary Gohl, Woodwind Instructor
Caren Vittetoe, Clarinet Instructor
Katie Heiser, Flute & Oboe Instructor
Brian O’Donnell, Beginning Band & Junior High Percussion Director
Guest Clinicians
Katrina Fitzpatrick
Dr. Stephen K. Steele
Jim Childers
District 90 General Music Teachers
Patti Bjornson
Carrie Crago
Dave Fairchild
Band Boosters
Colleen Perrier, President
Kim Brown, Vice President
Denise Kellerman, Secretary
Suzie Signore-Hayes, Treasurer
Cory Hollerbach, Fundraising Chair
Program Design
Giorgio Cabrera
Heather Cabrera
Photography
Shannon Petrovic
I would like to personally thank Dr. Melissa Gustafson-Hinds, Evan Hinds, Sean
Harris, and Martha Weld for the great advice, mentoring, and most importantly,
the friendship and kindness you've shared with me over the past three years.
Thank you to Jim Childers for sharing your experience and for the invaluable help
in choosing repertoire. Thank you to Dr. Steele for the opportunities you gave me
at ISU, and for our long conversations and the perspective you've offered since.
Thank you to Brian O'Donnell for never putting limits on Junior High Students
and reminding me to do the same. Finally, thank you to my wife Lauren, for the
years of support and acceptance of this thing called band.
Sincerely,
Mark Donahue
Notes: