ABOUT THE FEATURED FACULTY
Associate Professor of Flute Karen McLaughlin Large teaches flute lessons, flute ensemble, low flutes, Baroque flute, and Wind and Percussion Pedagogy at the FSU College of Music. Large is passionate about helping students navigate their unique paths in the music world. She does this in her lessons and classes through activities in areas such as music entrepreneurship, audition and competition preparation, community outreach, and grant-writing. Large previously served as Associate Professor of Flute and Music Theory at Kansas State University.
Large enjoys performing in concerto, solo, chamber, and large ensemble settings. She plays regularly with Traverso Colore: Baroque Flute Ensemble, Tornado Alley Flutes, and the Florida Flute Orchestra. She also previously performed with the Konza Wind Quintet, Topeka Symphony Orchestra, Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, and Pensacola Symphony Orchestra. As a guest artist, she has enjoyed performing and teaching at universities in Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Nebraska, Tennessee, and Florida.
Large’s research interests include flute transcriptions of Romantic music, creation of the world’s first Virtual Flute Choirs, Baroque flute performance practice, and the intersection of music theory and flute performance. In Spring 2018 she released her first solo CD which featured her original transcriptions, entitled, “String to Silver: Flute Transcriptions of Works in the Romantic Tradition.” Large regularly performs and presents her research at national and international conferences.
Large earned the DM, MM, and BM degrees from Florida State University studying with Eva Amsler, Stephanie Jutt, and Joshua Carter.
NOTES ON THE PROGRAM
Hazo: …Go
Samuel Hazo is a composer and music educator with robust careers in both fields. Having taught music at every grade level from kindergarten through being a tenured faculty at university, Hazo has been awarded “Teacher of Distinction” twice by the Teachers’ Excellence Foundation. Hazo was also the first composer in history to win both composition contests hosted by the National Bandmasters Association. He has composed for Grammy Award winning artists as well as famous ensembles such as the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra, Birmingham Winds, and premiered works at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in addition to the College Band Directors National Association Convention (CBDNA).
The first person to purchase Hazo’s first publication was Carol Lynn Mizell. Hazo wrote this piece to commemorate her 30th anniversary as the director of the Denton Community Band. Inspired by the influential figures of his past, Hazo incorporated a conglomeration of ideas which mixed influences of Ravel, Hindemith and Rodrigo in the opening, and Holst and Vaughan Williams in the middle of the composition. This energetic opener is sure to set the concert hall on notice.
Lauridsen: Contre Qui, Rose
Morten Lauridsen is an American composer as well as National Medal of Arts recipient. he was composer-in-residence of the Los Angeles Master Chorale (1994–2001) and was professor of composition at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music for more than 40 years. In 2006, Lauridsen was named an ‘American Choral Master’ by the National Endowment for the Arts. Lauridsen is one of the most esteemed names in the modern choral and compositional world even rising to such popularity as to have several films made about his life. The first film made about Lauridsen won four Best Documentary awards since opening the American Documentary Film Festival.
Contre Qui, Rose is the second movement of my choral cycle Les Chansons des Roses, on poems by Rilke, a poet whose texts were also used for my Nocturnes and Chanson Éloignée. Rilke’s poetry is often multilayered and frequently ambiguous, forcing his reader to use his or her own imagination to grasp the text. This wonderful little poem poses a series of questions, and the corresponding musical phrases all end with unresolved harmonies, as the questions remain unanswered. We have all been in situations where we have given affection and not had it returned, where attempts at communication have been unsuccessful, met by resistance or defenses of some kind. A sense of quiet resignation begins the setting as the stark harmony and melodic line, filled with unresolved suspensions and appoggiaturas, gradually build to a nine-part chord on [“on the contrary”] and then the music folds back on itself, ending on a cluster that simply fades away as does the hope of understanding the reasons for the rose’s thorny protection.
– Lauridsen
Grundman: Concord
Clare Ewing Grundman (1913–1996) was a prolific American composer and arranger, renowned for his lasting contributions to wind band music. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, he earned degrees from Ohio State University and studied composition with Paul Hindemith at the Berkshire Music Center. After teaching at Ohio State and serving in the Coast Guard during World War II, Grundman composed over 100 works across a 50-year career, crafting pieces like American Folk Rhapsody No. 4, Norwegian Rhapsody, and Tuba Rhapsody that became staples in school and university band repertoires. His music, known for its blend of substance and audience appeal, also includes acclaimed arrangements of works by Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Gustav Holst, and Edward Elgar.
Concord is built on three traditional New England tunes: The White Cockade, America by William Billings, and Yankee Doodle. The White Cockade is a fife-and-drum march known from the American Revolution, with roots in both American and British military traditions. America, composed by Billings (1746–1800), reflects the patriotic spirit of the early nation. As a tanner and amateur musician, Billings aimed to create a new kind of hymn for New England churches, producing works that embodied the independent ideals of the young republic. Yankee Doodle, a folk song widely associated with the Revolutionary War, became popular for jigs and dances across the colonies by the mid-1700s, though its origins remain unclear.
This piece was commissioned by and dedicated to “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band and premiered by them in Washington, D.C., on July 15, 1987. It was also featured at the Third International Conference of the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE) in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 21, 1987.
Milburn: Meditation
Major Dwayne S. Milburn (b. 1963, Baltimore, MD) is an American composer, conductor, and military officer. He earned a BFA and Ph.D. in music from UCLA and a Master’s in orchestral conducting from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Milburn has held key roles in the U.S. Army Band Program, including with “Pershing’s Own” and the U.S. Army Europe Band and Chorus, earning honors like the Meritorious Service Medal and NATO Medal. An active composer and adjudicator, his works—such as American Hymnsong Suite—are featured in Teaching Music Through Performance in Band and published by Alfred, Kjos, and Ludwig Masters. Milburn has been commissioned by programs at UCLA and the University of North Texas, and from 2005 to 2009, he served as composer-in-residence at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Pacific Palisades. In 2024, he was teaching composition and conducting at UCLA while completing new commissions for Pacific Serenades and the Vocal Arts Ensemble.
Meditation is a heartfelt composition blending two evocative melodies: the hymn If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee and the American folk song Poor Wayfarin’ Stranger. Commissioned by the Calvin Christian Schools Band Parents Association in memory of former student Nick Stegeman, this piece serves as the second movement of the suite Music for Bright Youth, honoring both Nick and the many young musicians the composer has worked with. The combined bands of Calvin Christian Schools, led by Jeff Looman, premiered the full suite in February 2005 during their winter concert, offering a moving tribute to those who have passed.
Delle Cese: L’Inglesina (The Little English Girl)
Davide Delle Cese (1856–1938) was an Italian composer, conductor, and bandmaster, renowned for his contributions to the concert march repertoire. Trained by Antonio Geminiani and at the Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella, Delle Cese led bands throughout Italy, including in Venice, San Leo, and Bitonto, where he spent the later years of his career. He was not only a skilled conductor but also a devoted teacher, organizing a youth ensemble called the Lilliputian Concert Band, featuring musicians as young as ten. After World War I, Delle Cese focused primarily on composing and teaching, producing a wide range of works, including ballets, intermezzi, and national anthem arrangements for band. Many of his compositions remain significant in the Italian band tradition and are preserved today by Casa Musicale Pucci.
Written in 1897 during Delle Cese’s tenure as bandmaster in Bitonto, L’Inglesina (The Little English Girl) is a concert march that has become a cornerstone of the Italian concert band tradition. Unlike traditional military marches, L’Inglesina features asymmetrical phrasing, dynamic shifts, and reintroduced elements that enhance its dramatic expressiveness. This marcia sinfonica reflects the Italian flair for lyrical and flexible musical forms, capturing the charm and sophistication of the late 19th-century Italian band style. L’Inglesina remains an international favorite and a testament to Delle Cese’s legacy as a master of the concert march.
Shimizu: Adventure Tale of Professor Alex
Daisuke Shimizu is a Japanese composer from Kanagwa, Japan. Shimizu graduated from the Showa College of Music in 2002, having studied composition with Toshibumi Fujiwara. He has composed for premier bands such as the Japan Air Self-Defense Force Chubu Band, Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Eastern Army Band, JGSDF 6th Division Band, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Yokosuka Band, and the Siena Wind Orchestra.
The Adventure Tale of Professor Alex portrays the cinematic expeditions of a fictional character – Professor Alex. Alex is a 20-year-old archaeologist who stumbled upon the Fountain of Youth, an immortal spring, alongside a luxurious trove of treasure. Instead of writing text to detail Professor Alex’s adventures, Shimizu composed this piece of music. To find out what happens to Professor Alex, you will just have to listen and let the soundscape engineered by Shimizu whisk you away on Professor Alex’s voyage.
Jager: Esprit de Corps
Following several years of serving as the arranger/composer at the US Navy Armed Forces School of Music, Robert Jager (b. 1939) attended the University of Michigan, where he studied with William Revelli and Elizabeth Green. He later joined the faculty at Old Dominion University, then Tennessee Tech University, where he was a Professor of Music and Director of Theory and Composition. As a skilled composer for both the wind band and orchestra mediums, he remains the only composer to be a three-time recipient of the American Bandmasters Association Ostwald Composition Award. 35 of his 150 published works were commissioned by either the United States Marine Band or the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra. Jager retired from Tennessee Tech in 2001, but remains an active composer, conductor, and lecturer both nationally and internationally.
Esprit de Corps (1984) is a tribute to the fervor and virtuosity of the US Marine Band and its conductor at the time, Colonel John R. Bourgeois. Commissioned by the Marine Band, the work can be considered a fantasy-march based on The Marine’s Hymn, which is quoted throughout the composition. In place of a traditional march trio, Jager includes a waltz-like section featuring two piccolos and solo alto saxophone. Of particular note is the tempo marking, “Tempo di Bourgeois!” which is expected to be “bright” to match the dramatic and spirited conducting of Colonel Bourgeois.
Ticheli: Sanctuary
Frank Ticheli (b. 1958) is a graduate of the University of Michigan, where he received his master’s and doctoral degrees in music composition. Ticheli served as the professor of composition at the University of Southern California from 1991 to 2023, and was the composer in residence for the Pacific Symphony from 1991 until 1998. His works continue to be performed both nationally and internationally, and he has received prestigious merits such as winning the 2006 NBA/William D. Revelli Memorial Band Composition Contest for his Symphony No. 2. As a well-known and accomplished composer of wind band music, several of his works are adaptable (flex) arrangements, and are appropriate for all levels of performers in both the secondary and higher education settings.
Sanctuary was commissioned in honor of H. Robert Reynolds, celebrating his 26-year tenure as Director of University Bands at the University of Michigan. Ticheli opens Sanctuary with a French Horn solo—H. Robert Reynold’s primary instrument—which develops around a set of pitches stemming from Reynold’s first name, Herra. As the piece continues, Ticheli references fond memories of Reynolds conducting Grainger’s Hill Songs and Colonial Song. The work concludes with the return of the French Horn and an echo of the bells from the beginning of the work. Sanctuary features moments of solitude, reverence, comfort, and joy as Ticheli successfully creates a sense of place for the listener and performer.
Halvorsen: Entry March of the Boyars
Johan Halvorsen (1864 – 1935) was a prominent Norwegian violinist, conductor, and composer. He quickly gained notoriety for his violin playing, becoming the concertmaster of the Bergen Philharmonic. After earning this position, Halvorsen continued to study with many of the great Romantic Era violinists of Europe, which, for the first time, took him outside of Norway for an extended period. He eventually returned to Norway, being named the principal conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic in 1893 and the National Theater in Oslo in 1899 – a position he held for thirty years. After retiring, he focused his efforts on composition, following and expanding on the tradition of his fellow Norwegian musician, and uncle-in-law, Edvard Grieg. Besides the piece you will hear tonight, Halvorsen is known for his three symphonies, two Norwegian Rhapsodies, and his orchestral arrangements of Grieg’s piano music.
Entry March of the Boyars (1895) was written after Johan Halvorsen was offered a teaching position in Bucharest, Romania. The Boyars were members of the Bulgarian, Russian, Ukrainian, and Romanian aristocracy – serving only the royal families of these nations. In his search for information on his potential new country of residence, Halvorsen became fascinated by the Boyars and their splendor. He wrote the piece in one night and premiered it the next day with the Bergan Philharmonic. The piece gained national prominence in Norway once Edvard Grieg set it for piano. Entry March of the Boyars has been arranged for band multiple times, however, legendary maestro Frederick Fennell’s 2000 arrangement, with its expanded clarinet parts and complement of percussion, best fits the modern concert band.
Chaminade: Concertino
Cécile Chaminade (1857 – 1944) grew up in a musical household, the daughter of a violinist and pianist. It was her mother who was her first piano teacher. Chaminade began composing when she was eight and, at 15, she started studying with Augustin Savard after Hector Berlioz heard one of her compositions and encouraged her parents to support her music education. She toured as a concert pianist throughout her life, performing her compositions throughout the world, including a 1908 performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Chaminade had a prolific compositional career, penning over 200 works for piano, several pieces for orchestra, and the opera The Woman of Seville
Concertino (1902) was commissioned by the Paris Conservatoire and dedicated to Professor of Flute Claude-Paul Taffanel. Taffanel helped to modernize the Conservatoire by bringing in new repertoire, moving away from the traditional masterclass model and towards individual instruction, and cultivating the flute vibrato technique and new “smoother” style of playing. The Concertino was likely used as an exam for flute students to not only demonstrate their technical ability, but also Taffanel’s new style of lyrical playing. In 1960, Clayton Wilson, former Chairman of the Department of Music at the University of California – Santa Barbara, scored the work for concert band accompaniment.
Giroux: La Mezquita de Córdoba
Julie Giroux (b. 1961) began composing at the age of 8 and published her first composition when she was 13. While composing for film scores and video games, she won three Emmys for “Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Direction” and was the first woman to receive the prestigious award. She was also the first female composer to be inducted into the American Bandmasters Association in 2009. Her works are composed for many musical settings and are consistently performed nationally and internationally. Her works continue to elevate the repertoire of wind band literature, and her publishing company, Musica Propria, serves as a hub for a growing number of composers.
Composed in 2005, La Mezquita de Córdoba (The Mosque at Córdoba) is a musical depiction of the historic Mosque-Cathedral in Córdoba, Spain. As Córdoba was under the rule of the Romans, Visigoths, Al-Andalus, Moors, and later the Christians; the Mosque was a place of worship for the Muslim, Jewish, and Christian faiths under the same roof. In 1236, the Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (Cathedral of our Lady of the Assumption) was constructed in the center of the awe-inspiring 4-acre Mosque and still stands today. Beginning with the fall of the Roman Empire and ending with excitement and tenacity, Giroux states that this work serves as a musical celebration of “La Gran Mezquita” and its multi-cultural religious and artistic accomplishments. Appropriately, Giroux celebrated a historically significant Mosque-Cathedral by also dedicating the work to the significant music educator Frank Wickes in celebration of 25 years on faculty at Louisiana State University.
Mashima: Gelato con Caffé
Toshio Mashima (1949 – 2016) was a Japanese composer, arranger, and Trombone player. Mashima originally intended to major in engineering at Kanagawa University, but after taking the “Yamaha Band Director” course, he changed his major to music. He went on to study music composition with Bin Kanade and jazz theory with Makoto Uchibori. After graduating, Mashima worked as a professional trombonist. He eventually served as an assistant to composer Naohiro Iwai, where he began to spend time writing for concert bands. His experiences playing trombone in jazz and pop bands across Japan influenced his writing, as he arranged jazz charts for band and incorporated jazz playing styles, instrumentation, and chord progressions into his original compositions.
Gelato con Caffé (2002), much like the dessert of the same name, provides the indulgence of gelato with the caffeine kick of expresso. Despite the Italian origins of this dessert, this piece is inspired by the music of Latin samba. The smooth melodic lines conjure a feeling of enjoying a relaxing afternoon in a café, whereas the syncopated, driving rhythms and drum break represent the energy you receive as the coffee hits your system.
University Concert Band Personnel
Devan Moore, Director
Collin Clark and Drew Hardy-Moore, Graduate Associate Conductors
Piccolo
Anna Todd
Flute
Taylor LaPage
Kathleen Antmann
Daniel Morgan
Nicki Howard
Kayla Crider
Queen Byrdsong
Oboe
Emma Brock
Mariana Rivera
Anna Mudgett
Abigail Saltares
Bassoon
Amelia Khanji
Megan Meese
Aspen Atwood
Brady Smith
E-Flat Clarinet
Althea Keren Medenilla
B-Flat Clarinet
Rachael Malawey
Althea Keren
Thomas Oberlin
Brooke Burns
Gianna Iadeluca
Amanda Stewart
Isabelle Parsons
Jacob Lirio
Ryan Golbe
Victoria Hamilton
Jamari Richards
Bass Clarinet
Katelyn Viachec
Alto Saxophone
Gabriel Ortiz
Caitlyn Jones
Brianne Yates
Megan Langhans
Tenor Saxophone
Erin Kane
Joshua Spraker
Baritone Saxophone
Hunter Milligan
Trumpet
Kai Okamoto
Tyler Bennett
Kye Turner
Henry Hobbs
Katherine Hatfield
Preston Came
Addie Elliott
Makenna Payne
Horn
Anna Leach
Wesley Vaden
Maya Robertson
Bea Kelly
Maren Smith
Hannah Parsley
Jordyn Anderson
Trombone
Calvin Fein
Sam Mercier
Sam Cote
Blake Panepinto
Easton Fuller
Marcus Lampkin
Andrew Walker
Shane O’Sullivan
Euphonium
Lee Anderson
Fénix Quiñones
Ramírez
Marissa Hutchins
Noah Robertson
Evan Dirlam
Karina Benton
Tuba
Braden Meyer
Grant Markiewicz
Allegra Hreschak
Devin Walmsley
Vincent Ochoa
Sam Williams
Collier McBride
Allie Nutting
Bass
Paris Lallis
Percussion
Aiden Pippin
Timothy Thomas
Caleb Blakeslee
Ethan Brink
Ethan Turner
Piccolo
Mary Moshos
Flute
Lexi Smith*
Javier Rivera
Alexandra Kotsonis
Sophie Palm
Maya Sparks
Allie Mattice
Oboe
Peter Arbogast*
Lily Owens
Kyle Nishihori
Megan Halter
Bassoon
Lyx Abshire*
Jake Norona
Daniel Bently
Malik Roger
University Symphonic Band Personnel
David Plack, Director
Andy Dubbert and Aaron Ovsiew, Graduate Associate Conductors
B-Flat Clarinet
Christian Gonzalez-Villa*
Elizabeth Kennedy
Halle Mynard
Ryan Tone
Abby Varnadoe
Joseph Eckhardt
Nia Thompson
Ryan Brabham
Madeline Mondok
Bass Clarinet
Alexei Kovalev
Alto Saxophone
Caleb Wolf*
Micah Mazzella
Jamari Spears-Screen
Parker Button
Tenor Saxophone
Olivia Turke
Baritone Saxophone
Jakub Zella
Trumpet
Nathan Reid*
Alisyn Jones*
Brian Ratledge
Katherine Brinkman
Max McLaughlin
Kate Moncada
Horn
Brandon Doddy*
David Pinero**
Ashlie Green
Braden Tan
Anthony Santillan
Davis Craddock
Brandon Bourdeau
Andrew Whitlach
Trombone
Ethan Colon*
Caden Ragsdale
Connor Casey
Austin Boudi
Micah Hreczkosij
Caleb Couchois
Euphonium
Brendan Dominique*
Maggie Shaffer
Alan Jean-Baptiste
Kris Stottlemire
Tuba
Xavier Gauthier*
Thomas Ambrose
Connor Kelley
Noah Bryant
Chris Bernhardt
Percussion
Chance Douglas*
Owen Montgomery
Cole Martin
Gabby Overholt
Aiden Pippin
Sami Smith
Waylon Hansel
String Bass
Connor Oneacre
Piano Bryden Reeves
