PROGRAM
JaRod Hall (b. 1991)
Cathy Likhuta (b. 1981)
Clare Grundman
The Leather Bottle (1913–1996) Roving We Met
The Vicar of Bray
Negative Split (2021)
Urban Light (2021)
The Purple Carnival (1933)
Kaleb Switanek, graduate associate conductor
Roshanne Etezady (b. 1973)
Geoffrey Deibel, saxophone
Aaron Ovsiew, graduate associate conductor
James M. David (b. 1978)
Harold L. Alford (1875–1939)
Give Us This Day (2005)
Arnett Moore, guest conductor
David Maslanka (1943–2017)
A Washington, D.C. native, Geoffrey Deibel is a leading, innovative voice for the teaching and performance of the saxophone and contemporary music. He maintains a multi-faceted career as performer, teacher, and researcher. New projects for 2024-2025 include commissions from Tyshawn Sorey, Amadeus Regucera, and Ingrid Laubrock, performed by Trio Nebbia and a new ensemble with Duo Cortona. His most recent recordings include Iannis Xenakis’ Dmaathen with percussionist Ji Hye Jung, and his debut solo recording, “Ex Uno Plures.” He has performed with contemporary music ensembles such as the Wet Ink Ensemble (“Missing Scenes” recording now available) and the International Contemporary Ensemble at the Park Avenue Armory (NYC) in the full North American Premiere of Louis Andriessen’s De Materie. He has also given recitals throughout the U.S. and in Europe, and been an invited guest lecturer at several conservatories in Europe and many Universities in the US. He has appeared at the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik, Darmstadt, the International Iannis Xenakis Festival in Athens, Greece, and World Saxophone Congresses in the UK, Europe, and Thailand.
Deibel has commissioned new works by a wide range of composers, including Drew Baker, Caleb Burhans, Viet Cuong, Nathan Davis, Claudio Gabriele, Martin Iddon, Ingrid Laubrock, Robert Lemay, Marc Mellits, Joseph Michaels, Forrest Pierce, David Rakowski, Amadeus Regucera, David Reminick, Jesse Ronneau, Tyshawn Sorey, and Eric Wubbels. He has also premiered the music of Louis Andriessen, Georges Aperghis, Jason Eckardt, Hiroyki Itoh, Pierre Jodlowski, Marc Mellits, Elliott Sharp, Jagoda Szmytka, Mari Takano, Hans Thomalla, and Amy Williams.
Deibel is a member of the critically acclaimed h2 quartet, first prize winners at the Fischoff Competition and NASA Quartet Competitions, finalists at the Concert Artists Guild Competition, and recipients of multiple Aaron Copland Fund Grants. The American Record Guide has hailed h2 as a group of “artistic commitment…boasting superb blend, solid technique, [and] tight rhythm.” h2 has seven recordings available, and maintains a non-profit organization to promote the creation of new works for the saxophone quartet. Deibel is also a seasoned orchestral performer, and serves as principal saxophonist with the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra. He previously served in the same capacity with the Wichita Symphony, and has also performed with the New World Symphony and Grant Park Symphony.
Deibel holds degrees in history and music from Northwestern University, and a doctoral degree from Michigan State University. His principal teachers have included Joseph Lulloff, Frederick Hemke, Leo Saguiguit, and Reginald Jackson. Deibel has held teaching positions at the University of Florida and Wichita State University, where he was the recipient of the 2015 College of Fine Arts Award for Scholarly and Creative Activity, and the 2016 WSU Faculty Award for Excellence in Creative Activity. He currently serves as Associate Professor of Saxophone at Florida State University, where he was awarded a SEED Grant to fund projects from 2024-2027. He also serves on the faculty of the Cortona Sessions for New Music, and the Great Plains Saxophone Workshop. Deibel is a Yamaha, Vandoren, and LefreQue performing artist, and performs on Yamaha Saxophones, and Vandoren reeds, ligatures, and mouthpieces exclusively.
Hall: Knockout
JaRod Hall (b. 1991) is a Texas-based composer, educator, and performer. Hall’s compositions appear on the Texas Prescribed Music List, J.W. Pepper’s “Editor’s Choice” list, and the Bandworld Top 100. His pieces have been performed at the Midwest Clinic, and he has received recognition from the Dallas Winds and the Barbara Buehlman Prize. He is also an active marching band and WGI arranger and consultant.
Hall drew his inspiration for Knockout from the famed “Rocky” series by Bill Conti. This work seeks to capture the high stakes and unrivaled energy found at a boxing match. Throughout the piece, Hall incorporates a variety of musical elements that convey the powerful punches and fast footwork of expert boxers, while also providing moments of rest with slow-moving melodies. As percussion instruments emulate the infamous ringing of the bell, Knockout surges towards the conclusion, leaving the audience to decide who won the match.
The brake drum will interject to emulate these rounds, eventually sounding one final time as a winner is declared at the culmination of the piece.
Likhuta: Planet B
Catherine Likhuta (b. 1981) is a Ukrainian-Australian composer, pianist, and recording artist known for her emotionally charged, rhythmically complex, and programmatic music, often incorporating Ukrainian folk elements. Her works have been performed worldwide in prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall and Glyndebourne Opera House and by ensembles including the Melbourne and Queensland Symphony Orchestras, Dallas Winds, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass Quintet. She has held residencies at numerous institutions and received multiple awards, including the International Horn Society Composition Contest and grants from the Australia Council for the Arts. Catherine actively performs her own music and holds a PhD in composition from the University of Queensland.
Planet B takes listeners on a journey toward an imagined world free from conflict, inequality, and environmental destruction, offering a sense of hope for the future. It begins with sustained, layered harmonies that evoke the vast and mysterious expanse of space before shifting focus to Earth, portrayed as wounded and crying out in pain. As the music intensifies, it reflects the determination of young activists demanding action, their voices echoing the urgency of change. This section embodies the spirit of protest, drawing inspiration from passionate leaders like Greta Thunberg. In the final segment, the tension subsides, giving way to a sense of renewal as the sky clears, the sun emerges, and nature begins to heal. The piece concludes with a return to space, where Earth, now revitalized and full of promise, gradually fades from view.
Grundman: Little English Suite
Prolific American composer and arranger, Clare Grundman (1913–1996), is best known for his contributions to wind band literature. Educated at Ohio State University and the Berkshire Music Center, where he studied with Paul Hindemith, Grundman composed over 100 works for school, university, and professional bands. His music, including American Folk Rhapsody No. 4 and The Spirit of ‘76, is known for its craftsmanship, playability, and audience
appeal, becoming standard repertoire worldwide. He also arranged works by Bernstein, Copland, Holst, and Elgar and contributed to radio, film, ballet, and Broadway productions.
Composed in 1968, Little English Suite is a timeless classic in the wind band repertoire. Grundman took a set of four English folk songs: The Leather Bottle, Roving, We Met, and The Vicar of Bray and designated each as an entire movement. Within this suite, audience members will experience a masterful balance of cheerful and lively, to lyrical and delicate; indicative what many English folk tunes have to offer. Performers and audience members alike will experience the engaging and colorful orchestration of one of Grundman’s finest works.
Etezady: Negative Split
American composer Roshanne Etezady (b. 1973) is known for her expressive and stylistically diverse works. Initially inspired by a wide range of musical genres and a formative experience hearing composer Philip Glass on Saturday Night Live, she pursued composition, earning degrees from Northwestern, Yale, and the University of Michigan. Her music has been commissioned and performed by leading ensembles such as the Albany Symphony, PRISM Saxophone Quartet, and eighth blackbird, and recognized by institutions including the American Academy of Arts and Letters and ASCAP. A founding member of the Minimum Security Composers Collective, Etezady is also a dedicated educator, having taught at Yale, SUNY Potsdam, and Interlochen Arts Camp.
Etezady was commissioned by the Committee on the Status of Women of the North American Saxophone Alliance in 2021 to create Negative Split. The title of this work shares a meaning in competitive swimming, where athletes gradually increase their speed over time resulting in a “negative split” as each lap’s time decreases; an idea found within this composition from start to finish. Throughout this work, Etezady aims to highlight the parallels between professional athletes and musicians; both of which require a remarkable amount of dedication and practice that culminates in an awe-inspiring performance.
David: Urban Light
Florida State alumnus James M. David (b. 1978) is an internationally-known composer who currently serves as Associate Professor of Composition and Music Theory at Colorado State University. He has won the William D. Revelli Composition Contest and ASCAP Morton Gould Award, as well as been a finalist Sousa-ABA Ostwald Composition Award. His works for winds and percussion have been performed by the nation’s top military, collegiate, and community bands. Abroad, his music has been featured at conferences and festivals across North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Dr. David’s musical inspiration was his father, Joe David III, who had an outstanding and influential career teaching at Cairo (GA) High School, Georgia Southern University, and Columbus State University.
Urban Light (2021) was inspired by the Los Angeles art instillation of the same name. The now landmark art piece was created by Chris Burden in 2008 and features streetlights from cities across the state of California, as well as Portland, Oregon. The arrangement of lights captures the unique changes in hue as the sun sets over the mountains of Los Angeles and the city transitions from day to night. James David’s use of “power” chords and metallic percussion are meant to evoke the industrial imagery of urban lights and his melodic content, crafted from the Morse code rhythm of the word “California,” celebrates the “beauty and spirit” of the west coast.
Alford: The Purple Carnival
Harold L. Alford (1875 – 1939) was an American composer, trombone player, pianist, organist, and self-taught arranger. As a child in Michigan, his interest in music was inspired by the band of the traveling theatre company that would make their way to his hometown every year. Whenever they left town, Alford longed for the band’s return. As a teenager, he convinced their director to play one of his compositions, and nothing brought Alford more joy than hearing his music performed by the band he adored so much. Later, after a career as a trombone player in the theatre scene of Toledo, Ohio, Alford attended Dana’ Musical Institute, where he studied orchestration with Dr. Henry Dana. Despite his talent as performer, educator, and composer; Alford’s first love was arranging. In 1904, he became one of the first full time arrangers in Chicago, and while his early customers included ensembles of varying skill and notoriety, his music was eventually composed for and enjoyed by the likes of Irving Berlin, Scott Joplin, John Philip Sousa, Edwin Franko Goldman, and A.A. Harding.
The Purple Carnival March (1933) was composed for the Northwestern University band program and their director Glenn Cliffe Bainum. The use of “Purple” in the title refers to one of Northwestern’s primary colors. The march is unique in that it is in 6/8 time – providing a dance-like quality to a clear beat for marching. While its lyrical trio, technical woodwind writing, and fanfare-like lines follow many conventions of marches written in the early 20th century, Purple Carnival’s opening in a minor tonality and featuring of the low brass and woodwinds have helped it stand out, and ensured its popularity from the bands of the 1930’s to today’s Florida A&M Marching 100’s “5th Quarter” Performances.
Maslanka: Give Us This Day
David Maslanka (1943 – 2017) studied composition with Joseph Wood at Oberlin College Conservatory, following him to Austria for his Master’s before earning his PhD in Music Theory with H. Owen Reed at Michigan State University. After completing his education, Dr. Maslanka served on the composition faculty at SUNY – Genesco, Sarah Lawrence College, New York University, and Kingsborough Community College. Maslanka’s characteristic composition timbre derives from his study of the work of Swiss psychologist Carl Jung. After adding hypnosis to his meditation routine, he began to notice symbols within his “mental landscape” and incorporating the ideas of selfdiscovery and reflection into his compositions.
Give Us This Day: Short Symphony for Band (2005) was commissioned by Eric Weirather, Director of Bands at Rancho Buena Vista High School in Oceanside, CA. The inspiration for this piece is the writings of Buddhist monk Trich Nhat Hanh which state that a future for the planet is only possible if individuals become mindful of themselves and who they are. Maslanka believed that composing and performing music allows people to connect better to their true selves and the world around them. While the piece contains additional references to spirituality with the setting of the Bach chorale Vater Unser in Himmelreich (Our Father in Heaven) as well as the title’s connection to the Lord’s Prayer, it is not programmatic and follows a typical fast-slow two movement symphonic structure.
Piccolo
Taylor LaPage
Flute
Addison Peltier*
Anna Todd
Nicki Howard
Kayla Crider
Sofía Vélez
Mary Moshos
Oboe
Kyle Nishihori*
Emma Brock
Abigail Saltares
Mariana Rivera
Bassoon
Amelia Khanji*
Megan Meese
Aspen Atwood
B-Flat Clarinet
Isabelle Parsons*
Gianna Iadeluca
Althea Medenilla
Nora Romano
Brianna Steele
Mario Peña
Amanda Stewart
Ryan Golbe
University Concert Band Personnel
Devan Moore, Director
Aaron Ovsiew and Kaleb Switanek, Graduate Associate Conductors
Bass Clarinet
Jamari Richards
Contralto & Contrabass Clarinet
Elizabeth Kennedy
Alto Saxophone
Jakub Zella*
Erin Kane
Josie Liederman
Tenor Saxophone
Olivia Turke
Baritone Saxophone
Jamari Spears-Screen
Trumpet
Addie Elliott*
Preston Came*
Katherine Hatfield
Makenna Payne
Kye Turner
Horn
Braden Tan*
Andrew Whitlach*
Delaney Wharton
Anna Leach
Jordyn Anderson
Leandro Muñez
Trombone
Sam Mercier*
Caden Ragsdale
Andrew Walker
Blake Panepinto
Joshua McClendon
Sam Coté
Shane O’Sullivan
Marcus Lampkin
Euphonium
Lee Anderson*
Karina Benton
Fénix Quiñones Ramírez
Marissa Hutchins
Evan Dirlam
Marcelo Guerra
Tuba
Allegra Hreschak*
Allie Nutting
Parker Illif
Grant Markiewicz
Collier McBride
Sam Williams
String Bass
Paris Lallis
Percussion
Aiden Pippin*
Caleb Blakeslee
Timothy Thomas
Ethan Brink
Noah Peterson
Sami Smith
Gabby Overholt
Waylon Hansel
Ethan Turner
Piano
Bryden Reeves
Guitar
Vincent Varnedore
* Principal
