MAR 18 KU Wind Ensemble with Joseph Alessi, trombone

KU Wind Ensemble

with special guest

, trombone Joseph Alessi

Conducted by Paul W. Popiel Page 7

Wednesay MAR 18 7:30 pm

Sponsored by

Cherry Hill Properties is pleased to partner with the Lied Center to bring the KU Wind Ensemble and Joseph Alessi to the stage. Enjoy tonight’s performance.

PROGRAM

Aria and Dance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thom Ritter George (b. 1942) KU Trombone Choir with Joseph Alessi

Far From Home. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kit Turnbull (b. 1969) Tom Davoren, guest conductor

Tintagel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arnold Bax (1883–1953)/trans. Colnot Wind Ensemble premiere

20-Minute Intermission

Quaternity (2019). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bruce Broughton (b. 1945) I. Earth II. Air III. Fire IV. Water Kansas premiere Joseph Alessi, soloist

Joseph Alessi

Joseph Alessi was appointed principal trombone of the New York Philharmonic in the spring of 1985. Prior to joining the Philharmonic, Alessi was second trombone of the Philadelphia Orchestra for four seasons and principal trombone of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal for one season. In addition, he has performed as guest principal trombonist with the London Symphony Orchestra in Carnegie Hall, led by Pierre Boulez. Alessi is an active soloist, recitalist and chamber music performer. In April 1990, he made his solo debut with the New York Philharmonic, performing the Creston Fantasy for Trombone, and in 1992, he premiered the Pulitzer Prize-winning Christopher Rouse Trombone Concerto with the Philharmonic, which was commissioned by the Philharmonic for Joseph Alessi, in honor of its 150th anniversary celebration. Alessi has recorded and performed extensively with four prominent trombone quartets: The New York Trombone Quartet, Four of a Kind Trombone Quartet, the World Trombone Quartet and Slide Monsters Trombone Quartet. The Lied Center engagement will include the Kansas premiere of Quaternity, composed by Bruce Broughton and commissioned by a consortium of university and military bands, specifically for Mr. Alessi as soloist.

Other solo engagements have included the New Japan Philharmonic, Nagoya Philharmonic, Orchestra of Teatro Bellini, Mannheim National Theater Orchestra, The Hague Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, and the Colorado, Alabama, Santa Barbara, Syracuse and Puerto Rico symphony orchestras. Alessi has also participated in numerous festivals, including the Festivale Musica di Camera (Protogruaro, Italy), Cabrillo Music Festival, Swiss Brass Week and the Lieksa Brass Week in Finland. He was featured in the 1997 International Trombone Festival in Feldkirch, Austria and the International Meeting of Brass Instruments in Lille, France. In 2002, Alessi was awarded an International Trombone Association Award for his contributions to the world of trombone music and trombone playing, and in 2014, was elected president of that association. Mr. Alessi is currently on the faculty of The Juilliard School, and he has toured extensively as a master teacher.

Paul W. Popiel

Paul W. Popiel, professor of music, is the Director of Bands at the University of Kansas and only the seventh person to hold this position in the band’s 125-year history. Dr. Popiel conducts the KU Wind Ensemble, directs the graduate program in wind conducting and guides all aspects of the university band program. His previous appointments include the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and Oklahoma State University. He also enjoyed several years teaching in the public schools of Texas and Michigan. His Carnegie Hall debut in 2013 was heralded by The New York Times: “The ensemble, conducted by Paul W. Popiel, performed with polish, assurance and copious spirit, eliciting a rousing ovation,” while New York’s Feast of Music said, “Give credit to Popiel, a strong advocate for new music, who went for broke, succeeding in showing us that there is, in fact, real, adventurous music being made over on the other side of the rainbow.” Under Popiel’s leadership, the KU Wind Ensemble has performed at Carnegie Hall in 2013, for President Obama in 2015, at the Kansas Music Educators Association (2012 and 2015), the national convention of the College Band Directors National Association in 2017, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2018. The band’s recent performances have been acclaimed by The New York Times, Gramophone, Feast of Music, Fanfare, and the American Record Guide. A proponent of distinctive new music, Popiel has commissioned and premiered numerous new works for winds, including pieces by composers Joel Puckett, Mohammed Fairouz, Michael Torke, Kevin Walczyk, James Barnes, David Dzubay and Joni Greene, among others. In 2013, Popiel was elected to the membership of the prestigious American Bandmasters Association and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, known for the Grammy Awards.

Popiel holds degrees from Truman State University, the University of Notre Dame and Michigan State University. A recipient of a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship, he also earned a postgraduate diploma in twentieth-century music at the University of Bristol, England. Popiel was also the Frank L. Battisti Conducting Fellow, serving as the resident conductor of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute.

KU Wind Ensemble Described by The New York Times as “one of America’s most esteemed concert bands,” the KU Wind Ensemble is the premier wind band at the University of Kansas. Their Carnegie Hall debut in 2013 was described by Feast of Music as “showing amazing chops in their transitions and an impressive range of dynamics.” The ensemble performed for President Obama for his address to the University of Kansas in January 2015, and they premiered Kevin Walczyk’s Symphony No. 5: Freedom from Fear at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2018. The band has hosted numerous composers in recent years, including John Corigliano, Frank Ticheli, Steven Bryant, Kevin Walczyk, Joni Greene, Aaron Perrine, Michael Torke, Joel Puckett, John Mackey, Mohammed Fairouz and Eric Ewazen as well as guest conductors Dai Zhonghui, Michelle Rakers, John Whitwell, H. Robert Reynolds and Mallory Thompson. Recent guest soloists with the ensemble include Jim Walker, Gail Williams, Jeff Nelsen, Jon Lewis, Joey Tartell, the Boston Brass and Chris Vadala. The band performs diverse repertoire of the highest caliber, from chamber works to large ensemble pieces, and has a strong commitment to new music as well as the finest standard band repertoire.

FLUTE Pablo Sanchez Puebla, Mexico Kelly Bushouse, picc Overland Park, KS Samantha Holloman Toledo, OH Marie Parker Kansas City, MO Jamie Hankins Olsburg, KS

OBOE/ENGLISH HORN Elizabeth Phillips McKinney, TX Brittney Eyerly, English horn Stevensville, MI Alex Griffitt Grain Valley, MO

BASSOON Ryan Morris Richardson, TX Gina Moore Petersburg, VA LiYang Wan, bsn/contra Jiang Xi, China Hannah Howell, bsn/contra Alanson, MI

CLARINET Kaitlyn Gerde The Colony, TX Hilary Lowery, Eb Norman, OK Lauren Walbert Lenexa, KS Angela Fornelli Overland Park, KS Katherine Anderson Omaha, NE Bennett Morgan Las Cruces, NM Joey Tangeman Olathe, KS Maddie Cain Olathe, KS Petar Smilev, bass Skopje, Rep. of Macedonia

SAXOPHONE Lingxiao Li, alto Dalian, Liaoning, China James Lawhn Honolulu, HI Tyler Walker Kearney, NE Christopher Ord O’Fallon IL Sophia Hollman, tenor Shawnee, KS Alexandra Rutkowski, bari Overland Park, KS

TRUMPET Robert Vandivier Orlando, FL Tyler Parkridge Bald Knob, AR Hannah Steinert Wichita, KS Tori Klopp Naperville, IL Baset Azizi Kabul, Afghanistan Zak Terp Mt Vernon, MO Madi Howard Appleton, WI

HORN Sam Spicer Bellevue, WA Maggie Spotanski Kearney, NE Cole Epley Rose Hill, KS Caleb Kraemer Kansas City, KS Emily Kimball West Plains, MO

TROMBONE Sam Rosenbaum Overland Park, KS Colin Wreath Wichita, KS Megann Lawrenz Baldwin City, KS Ty Templeton McKinney, TX PJ Kelly, bass Olympia, WA

EUPHONIUM Nathaniel Martin Olathe, KS Sabrina Jacobs Lawrence, KS

TUBA Josie Jones Kansas City, KS Webb Adelsperger Vincent, OH Lorren Stroder Olathe, KS

HARP Erin Wood Lawrence, KS

STRING BASS Ben Tervort Kansas City, MO

PIANO Taeri Lee Seoul, South Korea

PERCUSSION Grayson Rushing Norman, OK Lauren Molloy Austin, TX Collin Smith Palatine, IL Tom Fabing Gardner, KS Rachael Mrosko Chanhassen, MN Nicholas Wright Olathe, KS Ryan Pearson Mitchellville, IA