Letter from the Department
Welcome to this concert presentation by the Music Program in the Department of Performing Arts. We are delighted to have the wonderful support of great families and friends. A very special welcome goes out to our visitors from the community who may not have any affiliation to our students, and simply come to hear spectacular musical performances by these talented student musicians. We hope everyone in our audience is pleased with the musical selections; and proud of the achievement of the students involved.
The students you will hear at this performance are not music majors. They do this for their love of music and dedicate their time and energy to cultivating their passion for this art form. They are as dedicated to their studies and career pursuits as they are to this intrinsic passion they have within them. The program is fortunate to have a bounty of students with this yearning. We would not exist without them!
The Music Program and Department of Performing Arts is dedicated to providing robust opportunities in the performing arts while students are at Drexel. Our goal is to provide a positive and supportive environment for our students. It is our hope that students and audiences alike feel they are represented in the selections being performed. The human connection is most important to us all.
Thank you for attending this performance. Being here is the greatest show of support for the students, the Music Program, and the Department of Performing Arts. Thanks to the dedicated leadership of the faculty ensemble directors and staff, we are pleased to present you with the following program.
Sincerely,
Luke Abruzzo, Music Program Director
Miriam Giguere, PhD, Department Head, Performing Arts
Acknowledgements
Thank you to Luke Abruzzo, Music Program Director; Miriam Giguere, Performing Arts Department Head; Jason Schupbach, Dean of Westphal College of Media Arts and Design; the administrative team, Ellie Ebby, Hannah Burke, Lauren Tracy; and our graduate assistant Cecelia Hill for your work, guidance, and support of our students in the Drexel University Concert Band.This does not happen without you!
Thank you to the Drexel community at large for your support and encouragement of this group of young musicians.
Drexel Performing Arts would like to thank Senior Vice President for Student Success, Dr. Subir Sahu, for his continued support of Performing Arts at Drexel.
About the Ensemble
The Drexel University Concert Band connects students from across the university through shared experience and performance. The students who make up this ensemble are non-music-performance majors who come from backgrounds in architecture, biology, engineering, computer science, fashion design, behavioral and health sciences, music industry, and more. These students rehearse twice a week, Monday and Wednesday, and perform great works from the concert band repertoire. Concerts are held at the end of fall, winter, and spring terms and are free and open to the public. Admission to the ensemble is by audition only.
About the Concert
The Drexel University Concert Band presents "LIT!", a captivating musical journey through literature-inspired compositions. The evening begins with "The Star-Spangled Banner: A Love Song for Our Country" by Smith/Stamp, written after 9/11 and based on the poem ’ s final verse it envisions a future where free people stand courageously against the devastation of war, safeguarding their cherished nation. Next, Erika Svanoe's "Steampunk Suite" brings literary legends to life in a fantastical blend of history and imagination. Andrew Boysen, Jr.'s "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" paints a vivid soundscape of Ichabod Crane’s eerie adventure. After intermission, Stephen Melillo’s "Musical Haiku #14…Never Forgotten" offers a reflective interlude before concluding with W. Francis McBeth’s "Of Sailors and Whales," an evocative homage to Melville's "Moby-Dick." Please enjoy this unique fusion of music and storytelling!
Program
Drexel University Concert Band
Dr. Domenic Pisano, Music Director & Conductor
The Star-Spangled Banner: A Love Song for Our Country -----
Steampunk Suite -------------------------------------------------------------
Movement 1 Charlie and the Mechanical Man Marching Band
Movement 2 The Strange Case of Doctor Curie & Madam Hyde
Movement 3 Bertie Wells attends Mr. Verne’s Lecture on Flying Machines
Movement 4 Barnum and Tesla’s Tandem Bicycle
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow -----------------------------------
Musical Haiku #14…Never Forgotten -----------------------------from Three Musical Haikus for Band
Of Sailors and Whales: Five Scenes from Melville -------for Symphonic Band
W Francis McBeth
Movement 1 ISHMAEL
Movement 2 QUEEQUEG
Movement 3 FATHER MAPPLE
Movement 4 AHAB
Movement 5 THE WHITE WHALE
Smith/Stamp
Erika Svanoe
Andrew Boysen, Jr.
Stephen Melillo
Ensemble Members
Dr. Domenic Pisano
Music Director & Conductor
Piccolo
Lindsay Hager
Flute
Hannah Bashore
Jane Brylewski
Dane Gentles
Arina Glozman
Shawn Marcucci
Victoria Sanchez-Galarza
Oboe
Abigail Holmberg
Clarinet
Fisher Anderson
Clarinet (cont)
Devin Casas
Kennedy Casey
Brandon Colan
Eleanor Davis
Nelson Fiedelson
Bass Clarinet/Alto Clairnet
Thomas Cope
Bass Clarinet
Faith Harden
Talia Spolansky
Contrabass Clarinet
Amanda Douglas
Program Note
Drexel University Concert Band Members are listed in alphabetical order to denote each member’s importance to the ensemble.
Ensemble Members
Alto Saxophone
Allison Dern
Stephanie Rinehart
Cole Yacono
Tenor Saxophone
Ana Clara Ramirez
Elena Gonzales
Baritone Saxophone
Nate Judd
Trumpet
Theo Abrams
Brandon Stern
Evan Thalheimer
Mason Vetter
French Horn
Fiona Andrew
Yseult Barbedette
Cruz Maria Carreiro
Kent Masten
Trombone
Andrew Cox
Dan Dowlin
Leandro Lucas
Jonathan Meitzler
Micah Miles
Euphonium
Hannah Buckleman
Benjamin Liber
Max Millenbach
Program Note
Drexel University Concert Band Members are listed in alphabetical order to denote each member’s importance to the ensemble.
Ensemble Members
Tuba
Connor Byrnes
Matt Velardi Percussion
Jason Adams
Nicholas Craft
Alex Craig
Sam Gatti
Mia Nagy
Rafi Sanchez Jr.
Ezra Smith-Pohl
Rory St. Andre
Sim Wafula
Piano/Trumpet
Matthew Rakowski
Program Note
Drexel University Concert Band Members are listed in alphabetical order to denote each member’s importance to the ensemble.
About the Composers
Dr. Jack
Stamp
Recently serving as International Composer in Association to the world-renowned Grimethorpe Colliery Brass Band (2019-2023), I have a lifetime of musical pursuits and experiences prior to this appointment. After a distinguished twenty-five-year appointment at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) serving as Professor of Music and Director of Band Studies, department chair, conducting the Wind Ensemble and teaching graduate conducting, I retired from full-time employment in 2015. During my tenure, I was awarded the title of University
Professor, the highest honor bestowed upon a professor. Other honors include being named as a Distinguished Alumnus of IUP; induction into the prestigious American Bandmasters Association; Citation of Excellence from the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association; and the Orpheus Award from the Zeta Tau Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha for service to music. Once attaining emeritus status from IUP, subsequent years were spent as visiting professor of music at Luther College and serving as adjunct faculty at the University of WI-River Falls
Upon receiving an undergraduate degree in Music Education from IUP and a Master in Percussion Performance from East Carolina University, my teaching career began in the public schools of North Carolina. This was followed by a Director of Bands at Campbell University, a small private institution. While there, I served as chair of the Division of Fine Arts, enjoyed a year ’ s appointment as conductor of the Duke University Wind Symphony, and led the Triangle British Brass Band to a national championship in 1989. I was awarded a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in wind conducting from Michigan State University where I studied with Eugene Corporon.
Interspersed with my formal education, I pursued composition studies with American composers Robert Washburn, Fisher Tull, Evan Copley, David Diamond, Joan Tower, and Richard Danielpour. My compositions have been commissioned and performed by leading military and university bands throughout the United States
Recent projects include commissions and premieres by the North Texas Wind Symphony, Grimethorpe Colliery Band, Uptown Brass (brass quintet of the Minnesota Orchestra), and the Barcelona Clarinet Players.
About the Composers
Erika Svanoe
Erika Svanoe (b.1976 Whitewater, Wisc.) is an American conductor, composer, and educator.
Dr. Svanoe earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting from The Ohio State University under Russel C. Mikkelson. She also holds a Master of Music degree in wind conducting from Oklahoma State University and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire.
Dr. Svanoe maintains an active schedule as a composer, writing music for band and chamber ensembles. Her first published work, The Haunted Carousel, won the 2014 NBA Young Band Composition Contest and was featured at the Midwest Clinic and the CBDNA Southern Division Conference Her piece Steampunk Suite was featured on Wisconsin Public Radio, at the 2017 American Bandmasters Association National Conference, and performed by “The President's Own” United States Marine Band at the U S Capitol Building Her DMA dissertation included a critical edition of Aaron Copland's El Salón México for wind ensemble, with related research published in the WASBE Journal and presented at the CBDNA national conference. She is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP).
She is also the creator of Marrying Mr. Darcy, the Pride & Prejudice card game, and occasionally advocates/speaks on the topics of crowdfunding, game design, and arts entrepreneurship, with past appearances at a variety of gaming-related events and media.
Dr. Svanoe is currently an independent conductor, composer and educator living near Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has previously served as the conductor of the Augsburg Concert Band at Augsburg University in Minneapolis, Minnesota, director of bands at Bemidji State University in Bemidji, Minn., and director of athletic bands at the University of New Hampshire She is active as a guest conductor and clinician, appearing with high school, university, and festival ensembles across the United States.
About the Composers
Andrew Boysen, Jr.
Andrew Boysen, Jr. (b. 29 September 1968, Iowa City, Iowa) is an American composer, arranger, conductor and educator.
Boysen earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in wind conducting at the Eastman School of Music, where he served as conductor of the Eastman Wind Orchestra and assistant conductor of the Eastman Wind Ensemble. He received his Master of Music degree in wind conducting
from Northwestern University in 1993 and his Bachelor of Music degree in music education and music composition from the University of Iowa in 1991
Boysen is presently a full professor in the music department at the University of New Hampshire, where he conducts the wind symphony and teaches conducting, composition and orchestration. Previously, Boysen served as an assistant professor and acting associate director of bands at Indiana State University, where he directed the Marching Sycamores, conducted the symphonic band and taught in the music education department. Prior to that appointment, he was the director of bands at Cary-Grove (Ill.) High School and was the music director and conductor of the Deerfield Community Concert Band. He remains active as a guest conductor and clinician, appearing with high school, university and festival ensembles across the United States and Great Britain.
Dr. Boysen also maintains an active schedule as a composer, receiving commissions from the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library, the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Orchestra Festival, the Iowa All-State Band, the Rhode Island All-State Band, the Nebraska State Bandmasters Association, and many university and high school concert bands across the United States. Boysen won the International Horn Society Composition Contest in 2000, the University of Iowa Honors Composition Prize in 1991 and has twice won the Claude T. Smith Memorial Band Composition Contest, in 1991 for I Am and in 1994 for Ovations. Boysen has several published works for band, orchestra, clarinet and piano, and brass choir.
About the Composers
Stephen Melillo
Stephen Melillo (b. 1957) is an American composer and educator.
Melillo attended the University of Connecticut at Storrs in 1976, the Manhattan School of Music in New York in 1979, and holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the Boston Conservatory of Music in 1980 and a master's in music and conducting from Columbia University in 1982. He studied conducting with Jens Nygaard and Atilio Poto, a student of Arturo Toscanini
In addition to film work with New York and Los Angeles based studio orchestras, he has conducted more than 112 live concert premieres.
With 17 years in the public schools, more than 30 years as an international guest conductor, and more than 35 years as a practitioner of the Chinese martial art, Melillo's ability to communicate musically comes from an extensive knowledge base. From beginning instrumental students to musicians employed by the Rotterdam and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, he has worked with a vast array of multinational students aged 4-87. Such diverse experience includes teaching Braille-reading music students at Perkins School for the Blind in Massachusetts to teaching close-quarter defense techniques to an 11-man detachment of Green Berets stationed in Mansfield, Connecticut during the late 1970s.
About the Composers
William Francis McBeth
William Francis McBeth (9 March 1933, Ropesville, Texas
– 6 January 2012, Arkadelphia, Arkansas) was a prolific American composer and educator who wrote for piano, choir, symphony orchestra, chamber ensembles, and over thirty works for wind band.
McBeth was professor of music and resident composer at
Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, from 1957 until his retirement in 1996. In 1962, McBeth conducted the Arkansas All-State Band, with future president Bill Clinton playing in the tenor saxophone section He served as the third conductor of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra from 1970 until 1973 and was appointed Composer Laureate of the state of Arkansas by Governor Bob C. Riley in 1975, the first such honor in the United States
His musical influences included Clifton Williams, Bernard Rogers, Howard Hanson, Kent Kennan, Wayne Barlow, and Macon Summerlin. The popularity of his works in the United States during the last half of the twentieth century led to many invitations and appearances as a guest conductor where he often conducted the premiere performances of his compositions, the majority of which were commissioned. His international reputation as a conductor and clinician had taken him to forty-eight states, three Canadian provinces, Japan, Europe, and Australia. At one time, his "Double Pyramid Balance System" was a widely used pedagogical tool in the concert band world.
About the Works
The Star-Spangled Banner: A Love Song for Our Country, Smith/Stamp
O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand Between their loved home and the war ’ s desolation! Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto — “in God is our trust:’ And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Information about this work collected by The Wind Repertory Project Click Here to read more
About the Works
Steampunk Suite, Erika Svanoe
Mvt. 1 Charlie and the Mechanical Man Marching Band
…imagines composer Charles Ives as a boy with his father leading a band of automatons…
Mvt. 2 The Strange Case of Doctor Curie & Madam Hyde
…takes a look at the work of Marie Curie and imagined an alternate history where radiation has gotten he better of her during her work…
Mvt. 3 Bertie Wells attends Mr. Verne’s Lecture on Flying Machines
…Bertie Wells attends Jules Verne's lecture on flying machines imagines the two side science fiction authors meeting and having a discussion about the nature of sci-fi with a young Bertie Wells being a bit deflated at the end…
Mvt. 4 Barnum and Tesla’s Tandem Bicycle
…imagines the two brilliant men collaborating on a bicycle built for two that is ridden around the circus ring with lots of umbrellas and embellishments but with Nikola Tesla in the back desperately trying to keep the bicycle working…
Information about this work collected by The Wind Repertory Project Click Here to read more
About the Works
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Andrew Boysen, Jr.
Scenes:
It was the very witching time of night…
As Ichabod aproached this fearful tree, he began to whistle. It was but a blast sweeping sharply through the dry branches.
Suddenly he heard a groan...
As he approached the stream his heart began to thump…
At this moment a plashy tramp…caught the ear of Ichabod. He… broke forth with involuntary fervour into a psalm tune. He rained a shower of kicks…upon Gunpowder. Away then they dashed.
He saw the walls of the church dimly…
He heard the black steed… close behind him…
Ichabod cast a look behind…
It encountered his cranium with a tremendous crash…
Information about this work collected by The Wind Repertory Project Click Here to read more
About the Works
Musical Haiku #14…Never Forgotten: from Three Musical Haikus for Band, Stephen Melillo
This is a collection of three short chorales for band. They may be utilized as part of the warm-up or rendered as what I call "musical haikus."
They were composed to draw the musician's attention to sonority and warmth, while being short pieces of music. In the past, their purpose was for warming up. However, many conductors enjoy them and find them to be worthy of the Concert Hall.
- Program Note by composer
Information about this work collected by The Wind Repertory Project Click Here to read more
About the Works
Of Sailors and Whales: Five Scenes from Melville for Symphonic Band, W. Francis
McBeth
Mvt. 1 ISHMAEL
Call me Ishmael. I go to sea as a simple sailor, right before the mast, plumb down into the forecastle (folk-sul), aloft there to the royal masthead. I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas and land on barbarous coasts. For these reasons, the whaling voyage was welcome; the great floodgates of the wonderworld swung open. There floated in my inmost soul endless processions of the whale, and one grand, hooded phantom - like a snow hill in the sky.
Mvt.
2 QUEEQUEG
Queequeg's father was a High Chief, a King; his uncle, a High Priest There was excellent blood in his veins - royal stuff. It was quite plain that he must be some abominable savage, but Queequeg was a creature in the transitory state - neither caterpillar nor butterfly Savage though he was, and hideously marred about the face, his countenance yet had something in it; through all his unearthly tattooings, and in his large, deep eyes, fiery black and bold, there seemed tokens of a spirit that would dare a thousand devils.
Mvt.
3 FATHER MAPPLE
There was a low rumbling of heavy sea-boots among the benches, and all was quiet again, and every eye was on the preacher. Father Mapple rose, and in prolonged solemn tones, like the continued tolling of a bell in a ship that is foundering at sea in a fog - in such tones he commenced reading the following hymn.
The ribs and terrors in the whale arched over me a dismal gloom While all God's sunlit waves rolled by, and lift me lower down to doom. In black distress I called my God when I could scarce believe Him mine, He bowed His ear to my complaint, no more the whale did me confine. My songs forever shall record that terrible, that joyful hour, I give the glory to my God, His all the mercy and the power.
Information about this work collected by The Wind Repertory Project Click Here to read more
About the Works
Of Sailors and Whales: Five Scenes from Melville for Symphonic Band, W. Francis
McBeth
Mvt. 4 AHAB
As I leveled by glance towards the taffrail, foreboding shivers ran over me; Captain Ahab stood on his quarterdeck.
So powerfully did the whole grim aspect of Ahab affect me that for the first few moments I hardly noted the barbaric white leg upon which he partly stood.
Mvt. 5 THE WHITE WHALE
Bedraggled with trailing ropes, and harpoons, and lances, Moby Dick seemed possessed by all the angels that fell from heaven. Retribution, swift vengeance, eternal malice were in his whole aspect
The birds!, the birds!, they mark the spot.
The whale, the whale! Up helm, up helm! Oh, all ye sweet powers of air, he turns to meetus My God, stand by me now!
Information about this work collected by The Wind Repertory Project Click Here to read more
DR. DOMENIC JOSEPH CHRISTIAN PISANO DUCB MUSIC DIRECTOR & CONDUCTOR
Dr. Pisano is currently the Director of the Drexel University Concert Band and Pep Band, as well the Coordinator of Visual and Performing Arts for the Brandywine School District, serving over 80 teachers in 16 schools with over 8,000 Visual and Performing Arts students.
Dr. Pisano has been a music educator for over 27 years, teaching at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts and the Upper Perkiomen School District before becoming the Music Department Chair and instrumental music teacher at Concord High School in Wilmington, Delaware for 17 years.
Dr. Pisano has written extensively about music education, including “Music Educators:
Investigating the Relationship Between Undergraduate Music Education, State Certification, and Professional Responsibilities,” and he was a contributing author for the book “Creative Music Making at Your Fingertips: A Mobile Technology Guide for Music Educators.”
He has directed ten honor bands through Europe with American Music Abroad and edited several pieces of band literature with his mentor, Dr. Jack Stamp. Dr. Pisano has also served as a clinician, guest speaker, adjudicator, guest conductor, and lecturer for Universities and several state MEAs and worked on educational policy with various state agencies.
Interested in a Music Minor?
Drexel offers four different music minors:
Music: requires 26 credits, including work in Music Theory, History, private lessons, ensemble performance, and 9 credits of music electives.
Music Theory and Composition: aimed at people who are writing their own music or who would like to begin doing so. You will take courses in Music Theory, Arranging, Composition, and Digital Composition, and end with a portfolio of several completed pieces.
Music Performance: requires two years of private lesson studies with our artist faculty culminating in a recital. The Music Program will provide support for the recital venue and accompanist.
Jazz & African-American Music: includes course work in Jazz History, African-American Music, Jazz Theory, private study in Jazz performance, and ensemble work in several ensembles devoted to jazz.
Support Great Performance
Dance, Music, and Theatre are a vital, central part of the Drexel academia and student life. Donations support performing arts ensembles and programs, as well as the operation of our performing arts venues, including the Mandell Theater and URBN Annex Black Box Theater.
Drexel University Department of Performing Arts Staff
Department Head
Dr. Miriam Giguere
Program Directors
Luke Abruzzo
Music
Nick Anselmo Theatre
Jennifer Morley Dance
Administrative Staff
Ellie Ebby Department Assistant
Hannah Burke Department Administrator
Caroline Leipf
Mandell Theater Managing Director
Cece Hill
Performing Arts Graduate Assistant
Liv Shoup
Audience Services Coordinator
Lauren Tracy
Ensemble Production Associate
Production Staff
Paul Jerue
Theatre Production Manager/Black Box Theater Technical Director
Asaki Kuruma
Costume Shop Manager
Chris Totora
Mandell Theater Technical Director
Upcoming Performing Arts Events
CHAMBER STRINGS
March 3, 2025 | 7:30 PM | Mandell Theater
FUSION BAND AND ROCK ENSEMBLE
March 11, 2025 | 7:30 PM | Mandell Theater
MEDITERRANEAN ENSEMBLE
March 12, 2025 | 7:30 PM | Mandell Theater
JAZZ ORCHESTRA AND JAZZTET
March 13, 2025 | 7:30 PM | Mandell Theater
DREXEL UNIVERSITY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
March 14, 2025 | 7:30 PM | Main Auditorium
END-OF-TERM THEATRE SHOWCASE - WINTER
March 15, 2025 | 1:00 PM | URBN Annex Black Box Theater
March 15, 2025 | 8:30 PM | URBN Annex Black Box Theater
NEWWORKS FESTIVAL
March 15, 2025 | 7:00 PM | URBN Annex Black Box Theater
DREXEL UNIVERSITY GOSPEL CHOIR
March 15, 2025 | 7:00 PM | Mandell Theater
ALL-COLLEGE CHOIR AND CHAMBER BRASS AND WINDS
March 15, 2025 | 7:30 PM | Main Auditorium
UNIVERSITY CHORUS AND CHAMBER SINGERS
March 16, 2025 | 3:00 PM | Great Court in Main Building
PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE & EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC ENSEMBLE
March 16, 2025 | 3:00 PM | Mandell Theater
Learn more about our upcoming events:
