University Wind Ensemble
PROGRAM
Russlan and Ludmilla Overture Mikhail Glinka (1804–1857)
Our Cast Aways Julie Giroux (b. 1961)
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 Franz Liszt (1811–1886) arr. Franko Cesarini
INTERMISSION
Fanfare “S-E-A”
Eiji Suzuki (b. 1965)
Love and Light Brian Balmages (b. 1975) Blackout* Thomas Doss (1919–2006)
* Disclaimer: The piece calls for the lights to be temporarily shut off.
To Ensure An Enjoyable Concert Experience For All…
Please refrain from talking, entering, or exiting during performances. Food and drink are prohibited in all concert halls. Recording or broadcasting of the concert by any means, including the use of digital cameras, cell phones, or other devices is expressly forbidden. Please deactivate all portable electronic devices including watches, cell phones, pagers, hand-held gaming devices or other electronic equipment that may distract the audience or performers.
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Health Reminder: The Florida Board of Governors and Florida State University expect masks to be worn by all individuals in all FSU facilities. Florida State University provides accommodations for persons with disabilities. Please notify the College of Music at (850) 644-3424 at least five working days prior to a musical event to request accommodation for disability or alternative program format.
NOTES ON THE PROGRAM
Glinka – Russlan and Ludmilla Overture
Ruslan and Lyudmila is an opera in five acts composed by Mikhail Glinka between 1837 and 1842. It is an epic fairytale that contains themes of love and sorcery. In this story, Princess Ludmilla is abducted by an evil wizard, and it is up to the brave knight Russlan to rescue her.
Today, the best-known music from the opera is its overture, which Glinka is said to have composed in 24 hours. The overture starts with a noisy and energetic flurry of notes; however, these themes yield momentarily in the middle of the work to a softer lyrical passage before ending the music with a grandiose and exciting recap of the beginning themes.
Giroux – Our Cast Aways
Our Cast Aways, written by Julie Giroux, is dedicated to the roughly 2.4 million unadopted pets that are euthanized every year and to the thousands of dedicated workers fighting to end animal abuse and neglect. The composer notes, “For Those who rescue, Those who get rescued, and especially for those whose rescue never comes.”The first seven pages of the score are filled with pictures of rescued animals that belong to people who are Julie Giroux’s friends on Facebook.
Julie Giroux is an outstanding and accomplished composer, having written many notable pieces for soloists, chamber groups, wind band, symphony orchestra, and many other ensembles. She has been a true force in a maledominated field and has accrued many previously male-only awards. She is a member of ASCAP, The Film Musicians Fund, Kappa Kappa PSI, Tau Beta Sigma, and the American Bandmasters Association. She is a recipient of the Distinguished Service to Music Medal Award, Emmy Awards, and was the first female composer inducted into the American Bandmasters Association in 2009.
Liszt – Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
The famous Hungarian composer and piano virtuoso Franz Liszt (born Raiding, 1811, died Bayreuth, 1866) was heavily influenced by the folk music of his childhood. Aside from a large number of other compositions–including symphonic poems, concert pieces and piano studies–between 1846 and 1853 (and then later in 1882 and 1885) he wrote 19 Hungarian rhapsodies: especially colorful pieces characterized by melancholy, great expressive power and wonderful gypsy rhythms.
The glorious Rhapsody No. 2, comprised of a slow section (Lassan) and a fast section (Friska), was published in 1851 as a piano solo but soon afterwards, due to its great popularity in concert, there followed an orchestra version. No. 2 is the most successful of the rhapsodies, thanks mainly to the use of various passages in cartoons such as Tom and Jerry, Woody Woodpecker, and Bugs Bunny. The whirling music has a very broad appeal. This excellent arrangement for concert band by Franco Cesarini will doubtless enrich any concert.
- Program note by composer
Suzuki – Fanfare “S-E-A”
Eiji Suzuki (b. 1965) is a Japanese composer from Tokyo. He received a degree in composition from Toyko University of Fine Arts and Music and has also studied with Michio Mamiya and Masao Endo. Suzuki won the Ataka Prize in 1987 and the Nihon Wind Band Academy Award for composition in 2001. Some of his works for winds include: Cantos Sonare (2004), Chingis Khan (2007), The Fete of Light for Wind Ensemble (2001), and Intrada “S-S-S” (2003).
Fanfare “S-E-A” was commissioned for the SEIKA Girls High School Symphonic Band in Fukuoka, Japan.
Balmages – Love and Light
Brian Balmages (1975) serves as the Director of Instrumental Publications for The FJH Music Company, Inc. in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He holds degrees from James Madison University and the University of Miami.
Love and Light was commissioned by 1st Lieutenant Elizabeth Elliott in honor of her daughter Madison Hope Elliott whose “heart had stopped beating the day before (her birth) and (Elizabeth) labored for 12 hours to get to hold her for the first and last time that day…If you’ve never kissed your child goodbye forever in a hospital room or held your child’s lifeless body in your arms, or felt the deep dark hole that losing a child leaves in your heart, then I hope you never do.” Balmages uses elements of “All Creatures of Our God and King,” “The Luckiest” by Ben Folds, and Pavel Chesnokov’s “Salvation is Created” in an attempt to answer the difficult question, “What does it sound like when someone first sees the face of God?”
The piece was first premiered on February 20, 2020 by the United States Army Band with Elizabeth Elliott conducting.
Doss – Blackout
Thomas Doss is an Austrian conductor and composer. As a composer, he seeks to convey a message with his compositions, with the listener taken along and left confused, happy, moved or a combination of feelings at the end of a piece. He is fascinated with time, meter, pulse, and tempo and how they seem to be a key to a better understanding of our existence.
Blackout was an initiative of the Upper Austrian Music Education Authority for the Upper Austrian Youth Brass Band, later rearranged for full Wind Band. The piece portrays the hustle and bustle of city life. Doss says of the piece, “Stocks and shares, banking, the Internet, consumerism and wanton materialism drive people to the very limits of their physical and mental well-being. A sudden blackout abruptly interrupts the hectic: immediately all is calm…” Following a blues section meant to display the helplessness of the people, Doss incorporates Anton Bruckner’s chorale “Os Justi” to represent the clash of “the modern generation and religious fervour.” And finally, everything is back to normal…
Piccolo
Kylie Boschen
Flute
Adeline Belova Allison Acevedo Cameron McGill Isabelle Rodriguez
Oboe Veronica Jacob Sarah Ward Alex Rushe
English Horn Alex Rushe
Bassoon Timothy Schwindt Zach Martin Ryan Kegg Contrabassoon Ryan Kegg
E-Flat Clarinet
Jalen Smalls
Wind Ensemble Personnel
David Plack, Conductor
Drew Hardy-Moore and Michael Tignor, Graduate Associate Conductors
B-Flat Clarinet
Sadie Murray
Jariel Santiago Reymon Contrera Leah Price
Jalen Smalls Morgan Magnoni Jesse Rigsby Mark Stevens
Bass Clarinet Carly Davis
Contrabass Clarinet Mark Stevens
Soprano Saxophone Jason Shimer
Alto Saxophone Jason Shimer Evan Blitzer Drew Hardy-Moore Tenor Saxophone Ethan Horn
Baritone Saxophone Alex Krynski
Trumpet
Matthew Strickland Bob Kerr
Easton Barham
CarlosManuel Aceves Thum Rangsiyawaranon Thana Rangsiyawaranon
Israel Martinez Horn
Luis Oquendo Alex Garcia Patrick Creegan Jordan Perkins AC Caruthers
Trombone Christian Estades Taylor Haworth Connor McDonald Bass Trombone Tristan Goodrich
Euphonium
Luke Heinrich
Adam Zierden
Tuba Matthew Morejon Levi Vickers Sebastian Bravo
String Bass Lucas Kornegay
Piano Oliver Schoonover
Percussion Jordan Brown William Howald Jake Fenoff Will Vasquez Program Manager Chelsea Blomberg