Program - University of Illinois at Urbana

Illinois Wind Symphony
Linda R. Moorhouse, conductor
Barry L. Houser, conductor
J. Ashley Jarrell, conductor
Ollie Watts Davis, soprano
Alaric Saxophone Quartet
Nicki Roman, alto saxophone
Hyungryoul Kim, alto saxophone
Pin-Hua Chen, tenor saxophone
Evan Clark, baritone saxophone
Foellinger Great Hall
Krannert Center for the Performing Arts
Friday, March 20, 2015
7:30 PM
HENRI TOMASI
(1901-1971)
Fanfares Liturgiques (1947)
I. Annonciation
Barry L. Houser, conductor
MICHAEL COLGRASS +
(b. 1932)
Urban Requiem (1995)
Alaric Saxophone Quartet, saxophone soloists
Linda R. Moorhouse, conductor
intermission
WAYNE OQUIN
(b. 1977)
Spiritual
arr. STEPHEN ANDREW TAYLOR *
(b. 1965)
Affirmation (2013)
J. Ashley Jarrell, conductor
Spirituals for soprano and winds (2015)
I. Give Me Jesus (after Hall Johnson)
II. Ride Up in the Chariot (after Betty Jackson King)
Ollie Watts Davis, soprano
OLIVER WAESPI
(b. 1971)
+
Audivi Media Nocte (2013)
Linda R. Moorhouse, conductor
class of 1954, University of Illinois, performance and composition
* Professor of Composition-Theory, University of Illinois
Illinois Wind Symphony
flute
Tim Fernando
Erin Happenny + (picc)
Mora Novey
Jenny Shin *
oboe
Mika Allison **
Kristin Sarvela ** (english horn)
Amy Shea
bassoon
Carlos Garcia (contrabassoon)
Annie Mason *
Niko Yamamoto
clarinet
Sarah Altshuler
Jiyeon Choi **
Jessica Clark
Diana Economou
Vince Gilbert +
Caroline Liao ** (e-flat)
Mitchell Lutz (bass)
Bao Vo (contrabass)
Carrie White
saxophone
Pin-Hua Chen (tenor)
Evan Clark (baritone)
Erik Elmgren ** (alto)
Hyungryoul Kim ** (alto)
Nicki Roman ** + (alto, soprano)
trumpet
Ben Clemons
Jeff Crylen
Donny de la Rosa **
Morganne Garcia
Brian Reichenbach **
Robert Sears
percussion
Jonah Angulo-Hurtig
Dan Benson
Colin Rambert
Andrew Shankland
Trent Shuey *
Ben Van Arsdale
horn
Carly Charles
Brad Dallman
Kate Eaton
Jancie Philippus *
Chris Williams
harp
Chanah Ambuter
trombone
Quinten Breach
Dave Day *
Adam Kosberg (bass)
Colin Lord
Allison Yerkey
piano/synthesizer
Long-Tao Tang
euphonium
Bryce Conrad
Spencer Hile *
tuba
Ethan Clemmit
Andrew Dolgon
Matt Wilshire *
string bass
Adam Davis
Alex McHattie
* principal
** co-principal
+ section leader
influence on my own music. On the other hand, I experienced the need for a considerable kinetic energy in order to outweigh the calm, contemplative flow of the
motet and to place Tallis’s music into a more contemporary context. Hence, various
rhythmical motifs began to emerge, some of which were in turn secretly related
to the rhythmical structure of the motet. Moreover, I developed a series of chords
whose harmony constitutes a counterpoint to the modal background of the motet.
Gradually, the piece developed a character of its own, loosely connected to the mystical imagery
of the night, hiding our secret passions and regrets. It evolved into an instrumental drama rather
than a set of variations, including elements of a concerto grosso, as groups of soloists are featured
in quite unusual ways. The sonic character of a brass band, with its preponderance of heavy,
low registers, its lyrical potential and its ability to shape compact rhythmical gestures, proved
favorable to my musical intentions. Audivi Media Nocte thus became a musical tale that oscillates
somehow between past and present, between contemplation and frivolity, between prayer and rave.
The University of Illinois Bands Staff
Linda R. Moorhouse, interim director of bands
Barry L. Houser, director of athletic bands | assistant director of bands
J. Ashley Jarrell, assistant director of bands
Lana Custer, financial associate
Terri Daniels, business administrative associate
Elaine Li, bands performance collection librarian
Brian Coffill, graduate assistant
Morganne Garcia, graduate assistant
Trent Shuey, graduate assistant
Long-Tao Tang, graduate assistant
Brad Wallace, graduate assistant
University of Illinois Bands Selected Events
March 28, 2015, 7:30pm Illinois Wind Symphony at the College Band Directors National
Association Annual Conference, Schermerhorn Symphony Center (Nashville, TN)
April 2, 2015, 7:30pm Illinois Wind Orchestra with Warren Township High School, KCPA
April 27, 2015, 7:30pm Campus and University Concert Bands, KCPA
Visit the University of Illinois Bands at www.bands.illinois.edu
Bands at the University of Illinois
The historic University of Illinois Bands program is among the most influential and comprehensive
college band programs in the world, offering students the highest quality musical experiences in a
variety of band ensembles. These ensembles include several concert bands led by the Illinois Wind
Symphony, the Marching Illini “The Nation’s Premier College Marching Band,” two Basketball
Bands, Volleyball Band, the Orange & Blues Pep Bands, and the community Summer Band. Students
from every college on campus participate in the many ensembles, and the impact on the campus is
substantial. The Illinois Bands are a critical part of the fabric of the University of Illinois, and their
influence on students––past, present and future––is truly unique.
Ride Up in the Chariot is based on an interpretation by Betty Jackson King (1928-1994), who was a
prominent teacher and nationally known composer, lecturer and performing musician. King grew
up in Chicago and received her bachelor of arts in piano performance and a master of music in
composition from Roosevelt University. She taught in the Chicago public system and later became
a music professor at Dillard University in New Orleans. Both King and her sister were influenced
by the Negro spirituals sung at the Southern Christian Institute near Vicksburg, Mississippi, where
her mother taught music. These spirituals so influenced King that much of her music included
arrangements of spirituals.
THE CONDUCTORS
Ride Up in the Chariot (after Betty Jackson King)
Gonna meet my brother there, yes, Gonna chatter with the angels,
Gonna ride up in the chariot,
Soon-a in the mornin’,
Soon-a in the mornin’,
Soon-a in the mornin’,
Chatter with the angels,
Meet my brother there, yes,
Ride up in the chariot,
Soon-a in the mornin’,
Soon-a in the mornin’,
Soon-a in the mornin’,
Chatter with the angels,
Meet my brother there, yes,
Ride up in the chariot,
Soon-a in the mornin’,
Soon-a in the mornin’,
Soon-a in the mornin’,
And I hope I’ll join the band.
And I hope I’ll join the band.
And I hope I’ll join the band.
Dr. Moorhouse is active as a conductor, clinician and adjudicator nationally and internationally and
her service to the band profession is a matter of record. She is a member of the Board of Directors
of the prestigious American Bandmasters Association, and is both a past president and the current
Executive Secretary of the National Band Association, where she also serves as Editor of the NBA
Journal. A Member Laureate of Sigma Alpha Iota, professional fraternity for women in music, she
was awarded the “Diploma of the Sudler Order of Merit” from the John Philip Sousa Foundation
in recognition of extraordinary service to the music community. In addition to her conducting and
teaching obligations, Dr. Moorhouse has several notable publication credits including contributions
to multiple volumes of both the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band (GIA) and A Composer’s
Insight (Meredith Music) series, along with other Meredith Music publications.
O, Lord, have mercy on me,
O, Lord, have mercy on me,
O, Lord, have mercy on me,
And I hope I’ll join the band.
O, Lord, have mercy on me,
O, Lord, have mercy on me,
O, Lord, have mercy on me,
And I hope I’ll join the band.
O, Lord, have mercy on me,
O, Lord, have mercy on me,
O, Lord, have mercy on me,
And I hope I’ll join the band.
Audivi Media Nocte
Oliver Waespi completed his studies in composition at the Musikhochschule Zürich under the tutelage
of Gerald Bennett and Andreas Nick, and also attended the Royal Academy of Music in London.
Interpreters of his music include world-renowned symphony orchestras and chamber ensembles,
soloists, choirs and many illustrious wind ensembles. Within the circle of interpreters it is clear that
Waespi maintains a wide and diversified interest in music, which brings him into contact with both
young, amateur musicians and internationally renowned professional artists and orchestras. Central
to his interest is the investigation of various, apparently contradictory aesthetic possibilities in order
to illuminate certain musical ideas from differing sides. It is thus that abstraction and clarity, linear
and vertical orientated thinking, art music and folk music all combine harmoniously in his works.
Audivi Media Nocte is the 2013 winner of the William D. Revelli Composition Contest of the National Band Association, a contest which has been in existence since 1977. Originally written for
the world brass band championships in 2011, Audivi Media Nocte was rescored for wind band in
2013.
The composer writes,
Whilst composing Audivi Media Nocte I was driven by several conflicting musical
ideas. On the one hand, I was partly inspired by the sixteenth-century motet by
Thomas Tallis from which the piece draws its title. Tallis’s motet is sung primarily
on All Saints’ Day, and its title means “I heard, at midnight …” Having remembered
and cherished this motet for many years, I felt it was time to let it finally have an
Linda R. Moorhouse joined the Illinois faculty in the fall of 2010 and currently serves as Interim
Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Music. Within the School of Music she serves as
conductor of the Illinois Wind Symphony and teaches courses in graduate and undergraduate
conducting and graduate wind literature. Prior to her Illinois appointment, she served on the faculty
at Louisiana State University for over 20 years, where she was the recipient of select campus-wide
awards for teaching excellence.
Dr. Moorhouse received a Doctor of Musical Arts in Instrumental Conducting from the University
of Washington, where she studied with Peter Erös and Timothy Salzman. She has a Master of
Music Education degree from LSU, and a Bachelor of Music Education with Honors degree from
the University of Florida. In the fall of 2010, she was inducted into the University of Florida Bands
Hall of Fame.
Barry L. Houser is the Director of the Marching Illini & Athletic Bands, Assistant Director of Bands
and Clinical Assistant Professor in the School of Music at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign. His duties include conducting the Illinois Wind Orchestra, the 360-member Marching
Illini-The Nation’s Premier College Marching Band, the Illinois Basketball Bands, Volleyball Band,
and teaching courses in instrumental wind band conducting and marching band procedures.
Professor Houser’s teaching experience encompasses both extensive public school and university
experiences. Prior to his current position at Illinois, his bands have performed at the Macy’s
Thanksgiving Day Parade, the NBC Today Show, the ISSMA State Marching Finals, and the IMEA
State Convention. Other performances include the Indianapolis 500 Parade, the Target Thanksgiving
Day Parade, the Outback Bowl Parade and Half-Time Show, the Hollywood Christmas Parade, the
Washington DC National Memorial Parade, Chicago Bears Game, and performances with Maynard
Ferguson and the Dallas Brass. Professor Houser serves as President and Director of the SmithWalbridge Clinics, Chair for the North Central Division and Board of Directors for the National
Band Association, and as one of the Directors of the Macy’s Great American Marching Band!
Professor Houser received a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Florida,
and a Master of Music in Wind Conducting degree from the University of Illinois, where he was a
student of James Keene.
J. Ashley Jarrell currently serves as Assistant Director of Bands at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign where his teaching and conducting responsibilities include the Hindsley Symphonic
Band, Introduction to Conducting, Advanced Conducting and Graduate Wind Literature and History.
Prior to his appointment, he served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant and the inaugural candidate for
the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Wind Conducting at the University, where he was a recipient
of the Begian Conducting Assistantship. While a graduate student at the University, Dr. Jarrell
served on the School of Music Graduate Committee and he received the Edmund C. Williams award
for excellence in bands. He received the Master of Arts degree in Wind Conducting from Middle
Tennessee State University and the Bachelor of Music degree from East Tennessee State University.
Before coming to the University of Illinois, Dr. Jarrell served as Director of Bands at Martin Luther
King Jr. Academic Magnet School in Nashville, Tennessee. Consistently named by U.S. News and
World Report and Newsweek magazines as one of the fifty best high schools in the nation, Martin
Luther King Jr. Academic Magnet School Bands received numerous superior ratings, accolades, and
three performances for the Tennessee Music Education Association Conference in the span of six
years during Dr. Jarrell’s tenure. Previously, Dr. Jarrell also served as Associate Director of Bands
at Middle Tennessee State University and Associate Director of Bands at Harpeth High School.
Dr. Jarrell is active as a clinician and adjudicator throughout the United States. He is the co-founder of
Positive Performance Concepts, a comprehensive marching band leadership clinic. He is also an active
member of many professional organizations including National Association for Music Education,
National Band Association, Tennessee Music Education Association, Middle Tennessee School Band
and Orchestra Association, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia and elected membership with American School
Band Directors Association, Phi Beta Mu and Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society.
THE SOLOISTS
Since making her New York debut at Carnegie Hall in 1990, soprano Ollie Watts Davis has appeared
with many leading symphony orchestras, including those in San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Minnesota,
Houston, Dallas, and Milwaukee. Her international activities include a performances of Mozart’s
C Minor Mass on tour with Orquesta Sinfonica Simon Bolivar of Caracas, Venezuela; performances
at the celebration of the founding of the Pakistani American Cultural Center in Karachi; concerts
in the Canary Islands with the Chicago Sinfonietta; recitals on the University Artists Concert Series
in San Jose, Costa Rica; and performances of Handel’s Messiah with the Orquestra Sinfonica de
Asturias in Oviedo, Spain. Professor Davis’ extensive concert credits include the Mozart Requiem,
the role of Salud in Falla’s La Vida Breve, Bach’s B Minor Mass and St. Matthew Passion, Handel’s
Messiah and Judas Maccabeus, Mahler’s Symphony No 2 and Symphony No 4, Gorecki’s Symphony No
3, Honegger’s Le Roi David, Strauss’ Vier Letzte Lieder, Orff’s Carmina Burana and Poulenc’s Gloria.
She has also performed in roles with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Des Moines Metro Opera,
and Opera Theatre of Springfield. Professor Davis appeared on the West Virginia Arts and Letters
Series at the Governor’s Mansion and as the guest artist for the Governor’s Inaugural Ceremony.
She has released two musical recordings, one conducting the UI Black Chorus, and one singing
arrangements of Negro Spirituals for solo voice and piano. Dr. Davis has also written two books,
Talks My Mother Never Had with Me: Helping the Young Female Transition to Womanhood and Talks My
K. Le Guin, was premiered in Portland, Oregon and at the University of Illinois in 2012.
Besides composing for traditional instruments, Taylor also works with live electronics in pieces
such as Agoraphobia for flute, harp and electronics, premiered by Jonathan Keeble and Ann Yeung
in Montreal in 2009. He is also active as a conductor with the Illinois Modern Ensemble, and as a
theorist, writing and lecturing on György Ligeti, Björk and Radiohead. He also collaborates with
the band Pink Martini, and rock singer Storm Large.
Born in 1965, he grew up in Illinois and studied at Northwestern and Cornell Universities, and the
California Institute of the Arts; his teachers include Steven Stucky, Karel Husa, Mel Powell, Bill
Karlins and Alan Stout. His music has won awards from Northwestern, Cornell, the Conservatoire
Américain de Fontainebleau, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Composers, Inc., the
Debussy Trio, the Howard Foundation, the College Band Directors National Association, the New
York State Federation of Music Clubs, the Illinois Arts Council, the American Music Center, and
ASCAP. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2014. Among his commissions are works for
Northwestern University, University of Illinois, the Syracuse Society for New Music, Pink Martini and
the Oregon Symphony, the Quad City Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, Quartet New Generation
and the New Philharmonic, Piano Spheres, and the American Composers Orchestra.
Tonight’s two movements of Spirituals was derived originally from a four-movement work of the
same name written for string quartet and soprano in the fall of 2014. Each spiritual is based on an
actual setting of the song by a prominent African American composer.
Give Me Jesus is based on an interpretation by Hall Johnson (1888-1970). Johnson was a highly regarded
choral director, composer, arranger, and violinist, and he spent the better part of his career preserving
the rich legacy and integrity of the Negro spiritual that developed under slavery in America. Johnson
dedicated his long career as a choral director to championing the Negro spiritual and the significance
of this black American art form. The Hall Johnson Choir was the first professional group of its kind,
and Johnson enjoyed a successful concert and recording career for more than 30 years in the United
States and abroad. During his career, he coached hundreds of distinguished musicians, and virtually
every African American singer of note has performed his solo works and arrangements.
In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
Give me Jesus.
Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus.
You can have all this world,
Just give me Jesus.
When I am alone,
When I am alone,
When I am alone,
Give me Jesus.
Give Me Jesus (after Hall Johnson)
Give me Jesus.
Give me Jesus.
Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus.
Give me Jesus.
Just give me Jesus.
You can have all this world,
Just give me Jesus.
You can have all this world,
When I come to die,
Give me Jesus.
When I come to die,
Give me Jesus,
When I come to die,
Give me Jesus.
Give me Jesus.
You can have all this world,
You can have all this world,
You can have all this world,
Just give me Jesus.
“pulsating with urban power.” Oquin’s music has been premiered on five continents, seventeen
countries, and in thirty states by such acclaimed musicians as The King’s Singers, The Aspen
Contemporary Ensemble, The United States Air Force Band, The United States Army Field Band,
and The West Point Military Academy Band. His latest work, Affirmation, was commissioned in 2014
by the American Bandmasters Association. Dr. Oquin joined the Juilliard faculty in the fall of 2008
and was recently named Chair of its Ear Training Department.
The composer writes about Affirmation:
“To affirm the world is meaningless, unless one also affirms the tragic reality
which is at the core of existence. To live on—to develop means, as I see it, to
enter always more and more deeply into the very essence of tragic reality.”
Aaron Copland
April 21, 1931
That these lines were written in a private letter by one America’s foremost
composers, one known for his optimistic populist works, is eye-opening. Though
Copland intended this description for his own dark and sinister Piano Variations, the
meaning of his words—that it is impossible to affirm life without also considering
the tragic—serves as the impetus for my own Affirmation, a ten-minute reflection
on wide range of often conflicting emotions that encompass the human condition:
life and death; love and loss; darkness and light.
At no point in the work are these extremities juxtaposed side by side; but rather,
they gradually materialize. While the music travels far in terms of its range of
register, harmony, and dynamic it does so almost imperceptibly, as one long arc
from beginning to end.
Affirmation is dedicated to the American Bandmasters Association and to the
University of Florida Bands with much appreciation for their continued support.
I’m also indebted to Col. Larry Lang and The United States Air Force Band for
giving an astounding world premiere.
Affirmation was recently named the winner of the 2014 National Band Association/ William D. Revelli
Composition Contest.
Spirituals
Stephen Andrew Taylor’s music often explores boundaries between art and science. His first orchestra
commission, Unapproachable Light, inspired by images from the Hubble Space Telescope and the
New Testament, was premiered by the American Composers Orchestra in 1996 in Carnegie Hall.
Other works include the chamber quartet Quark Shadows, commissioned by the Chicago Symphony
and premiered in 2001; and Seven Memorials, a 32-minute cycle for piano inspired by the work of
Maya Lin and premiered by Gloria Cheng in Los Angeles, 2004; she also performed the work at
Tanglewood in 2006. The Machine Awakes, a CD of his orchestra, chamber and electronic music was
released in 2010 on Albany Records; and Paradises Lost, a new opera based on a novella by Ursula
Mother Never Had With Me: A Loving Mother’s Perspective for Young Women, which targets elementaryage girls. These publications are part of the TALKS Leadership Curriculum, published by KJAC
Publishing. Professor Davis’ work as both performing artist and teacher has been recognized at the
college, university, and national level.
She is the founding director of the Black Sacred Music Symposium (1991), held biennially on the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus with participants from across the nation. In
1993 she received the College of Fine and Applied Arts Outstanding Faculty Award, an Appreciation
and Recognition Award from the UI Alumni Association, and was named the Alumna of the Year by
the College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia Institute of Technology. In 1994, Professor Davis
was awarded the Bronze Medallion of Honor by the University of Illinois Women’s Association,
and has been listed on the Incomplete List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign every year to date. In 1998 Professor Davis received a
Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign.
In 2008, Ollie Watts Davis was named a University Scholar, one of the highest honors the University
bestows on its faculty. Other honors include national honorary membership in Sigma Alpha Iota,
honorary membership in the National Arts and Letters Society, and membership in the Phi Kappa
Phi Honorary Society. Professor Davis serves on the faculty for the summer SongFest in Malibu,
California.
Hailing from all over the globe, Alaric Saxophone Quartet has performed at notable events including
MTNA’s East Central Division Competition, Beckman Institute’s “Thursdays at 12:20 Concert Series”
and the Illinois Fall School of Music Open House. Individually each member has received national
and international acclaim as soloists in their field. Originally from northern California, Nicki Roman
(soprano saxophone, 2nd year MM) is a national finalist in the 2015 MTNA Young Artist Solo
Competition and has been awarded 2nd prize in the 2014 NASA National Solo Competition. Born in
South Korea, Hyungryoul Kim (alto saxophone, 2nd year DMA) is a graduate of the Eastman School
of Music and one of the University of Illinois’s concerto competition winners. Born in Taiwan, PinHua Chen (tenor saxophone, 3rd year DMA) was the first Taiwanese saxophonist to advance to the
semi-final round of any international competition and is a founding member of the MIT Saxophone
Ensemble, a group devoted to broadening the saxophone environment in Taiwan. Completing the
quartet is South Carolina native Evan Clark (baritone saxophone, 1st year MM), who recently took
3rd prize at the 2014 International Saxophone Symposium and Competition and was named a finalist
in 2011 by the National YoungArts Foundation. The quartet will be featured with the University of
Illinois Wind Symphony at the 2015 College Band Director’s National Association Conference in
Nashville, TN., where they will perform Urban Requiem for saxophone quartet and wind orchestra
by Michael Colgrass. These University of Illinois graduate students are all proud members of the
Illinois Saxophone Studio and study under internationally renowned saxophonist and pedagogue,
Professor Debra Richtmeyer.
PROGRAM NOTES
Fanfares Liturgiques
Henri Tomasi was a well-known and well-regarded French composer, conductor, and pianist with
a significant catalogue of works, the best-known of which are concertos and other pieces for winds.
He was born in Marseilles to Corsican parents, and he quickly demonstrated musical precociousness.
His father encouraged his talent, sending him to the Marseilles Conservatoire where, even as a
teenager, the young Tomasi was able to earn a living playing in a variety of settings such as cafés and
movie theaters. Eventually he won a scholarship from the city of Marseilles itself to travel to Paris
for further study. While in Paris, he continued to perform, and also won first prizes for conducting
as well as for his first composition, a wind quintet. Additionally, he associated with many of Paris’s
leading musical forerunners, forming the “Triton” group for new music with contemporaries Sergei
Prokofiev and Darius Milhaud. In 1927, he won the prestigious Prix de Rome.
Tomasi’s compositions are picturesque, drawing inspiration from his parents’ birthplace of Corsica,
and more exotic locales including Cambodia, Laos, and Brazil. Keeping with the 20th-century French
tradition, his music is highly colorful, with many exotic touches from various adopted folk traditions.
In 1935, Tomasi wrote music for a radio adaptation of O.V. de Milosz’s 1912 play Miguel Mañara, a
retelling of the Don Juan legend in which the great seducer mends his ways. Tomasi later converted
this piece into an opera in the early 1940s, during a time when his own failing marriage and doomed
love affair pushed him into a life of seclusion in religious retreat, paralleling the theme of the opera.
He considered taking religious orders, but he eventually reconciled with his wife. After becoming
aware of some of the inhuman atrocities of World War II, he became disenchanted with religion. In
1945 he “re-entered the world,” taking up a position as conductor of the Opéra de Monte-Carlo. While
in Monte Carlo, Tomasi excerpted four Fanfares concertantes, later to be called Fanfares liturgiques,
from the score to his opera Don Juan de Mañara. The opera, which premiered in 1956, is considered
Tomasi’s most significant and characteristic score. The premiere of the Fanfares as a concert work
occurred in 1947, nine years prior to the premiere opera’s premiere. “Annonciation” is the first of
the four fanfares in the set, calling for a chamber brass ensemble of three trumpets, four horns, four
trombones, and tuba, omitting the timpani and battery percussion used in the later fanfares.
Urban Requiem
Michael Colgrass began his musical career in Chicago, where his first professional experiences were as
a jazz drummer from 1944-1949. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
in 1954 with a degree in performance and composition. Additional studies included training with
Darius Milhaud at the Aspen Festival and Lukas Foss at Tanglewood. He served for two years as
timpanist in the Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra in Stuttgart, Germany, and then spent eleven
years supporting his composing as a free-lance percussionist in New York City. During this time,
Colgrass performed with a wide range of artists such as the New York Philharmonic, American
Ballet Theater, Dizzy Gillespie, the Modern Jazz Quartet, the original West Side Story orchestra
on Broadway, the Columbia Recording Orchestra’s “Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky” series, and
numerous other ballet, opera and jazz ensembles.
Colgrass won 1978 Pulitzer Prize for Music for Déjà vu, which was commissioned and premiered
by the New York Philharmonic. Additionally, he received an Emmy Award in 1982 for the PBS
documentary “Soundings: The Music of Michael Colgrass.” He has been awarded two Guggenheim
Fellowships, a Rockefeller Grant, First Prize in the Barlow and Sudler International Wind Ensemble
Competitions, and the 1988 Jules Leger Prize for Chamber Music.
Regarded as a major contributor to 20th century wind band music, Colgrass’s major works - including
Winds of Nagual, Arctic Dreams, and Urban Requiem - are considered staples of the repertoire.
The composer writes:
Urban Requiem, for four saxophones and wind orchestra, was commissioned by
the University of Miami School of Music, through its Abraham Frost Commission
series. This was the first work in a perpetual series of biennial commissions made
possible by the Abraham Frost Endowment. Established by Dr. Phillip Frost in
memory of his father, the endowment seeks to support the creation of major works
for a variety of mediums that will encourage contributions to the orchestral, wind,
choral, and jazz repertoire.
A requiem is a dedication to the souls of the dead. Urban Requiem might be described
as an urban tale, inspired by a diversity of random impression. I thought of our urban
areas, where the saxophone was spawned, and of the tragedies and struggles that
occur in this environment daily. But I also was inspired by the energy and power
of our cities and the humor inherent in their conflicts. I feel that the saxophone is
particularly well suited to express the variety of emotions required for this idea,
because it can be not only highly personal and poignant in character but also
powerful and commanding. It can howl like a banshee or purr like a kitten. In short,
the saxophone is perhaps more like the human voice than any other instrument.
In my mind I heard four saxophones singing like a vocal quartet, a music that was
liturgical in nature but with a bluesy overtone, a kind of ‘after hours’ requiem.
The size of the wind ensemble for Urban Requiem matches the non-string
instrumentation of a symphony orchestra (triple winds and brasses, tuba, four
horns, harp, synthesizer, timpani, and four percussion). The players are divided
into four groups surrounded by the larger wind ensemble, with each sax having its
own little ‘neighborhood.’ The soloists interact in virtuoso display and play duets
and trios with principal players in their bands. The sax players are called upon to
improvise occasionally over basic material in sometimes jazz, sometimes ethnic
musical traditions.
Urban Requiem is respectfully dedicated to Gary Green, whose boundless enthusiasm
for its creation was a constant inspiration to me. It is written for all urban souls, living
and dead, who, like myself, love our cities and continue to be inspired by them.
Affirmation
Wayne Oquin has composed a body of work highly regarded for its craft and power to communicate
a wide range of musical expression. The music’s acclaim is testament to its dramatic capacity:
“dreamlike spirit,” “tremendously exciting,” “unaffected simplicity,” “beautiful complexity,”