Conservatory of Music
MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN
University of the Pacific, California’s first Conservatory of Music, is honored to perform for you today. We are grateful for the invitation CASMEC extended to the Pacific Wind Bands under the leadership of Professor Vu Nguyen. Together—Vu, Ruth Bri in, Ricardo Martinez, our students and their faculty mentors—offer music that celebrates Pacific’s history as a center for music education, one shaping a contemporary and inclusive vision for music.
Today’s performance of works by Nishimura, Bri in, Likhuta, Shapiro and Copley is one of 15 sessions Pacificans present at CASMEC 2025—each a gi offered to California’s communities. We take immense pride in all Pacific alumni, students and faculty members who present and perform at CASMEC this weekend, and for the daily commitment CMEA makes to students and families.
As the Pacific Wind Bands performance today a ests, there is much to celebrate at Pacific in 2025: record institutional enrollments; Professor Eric Dudley’ second Grammy; Downbeat magazine’s award for the Pacific Jazz Ambassadors as America’s best undergraduate jazz combo; residencies by composers Gabriela Lena Frank and Viet Cuong, Skywalker Ranch’s Leslie Ann Jones, conductors Valérie Sainte-Agathe and the Reno Philharmonic’s Laura Jackson; a rejuvenated Pep Band thanks to leadership of Dr. Jonathan La a; and a production award from the National Opera Association. That’s not all.
On New Year’s Eve, America learned that Pacific alumnus Filo Ebid ’23 (music performance, voice) will participate in American Idol as a platinum-ticket recipient. National broadcasts start March 9, 2025.
We hope you sense, and hear, that music and music education are thriving at Pacific. For that, we give thanks to each of you, California’s dedicated and expert music education professionals.
See you at the reception this evening!
Sincerely,
Peter Wi e, Dean Conservatory of Music
University of the Pacific
PACIFIC RECEPTION
Friday | January 17, 2025 | 6 p.m.
Prelude Kitchen and Bar 1117 11th Street, Sacramento
2024 PACIFIC WIND BANDS TOUR AND CBDNA CONFERENCE
More than 50 Conservatory students playing in Pacific Wind Bands went on a tour of Southern California high schools in March 2024. The tour culminated with a performance for College Band Directors National Association Western/Northwestern Division Conference in Las Vegas. The final concert was a result of an invitation issued only to the highest quality college ensembles and a ringing endorsement for Director of Bands Vu Nguyen and Conservatory faculty as mentors and models for our students.
ALBUM RELEASE
SCAN TO LISTEN
Pacific Wind Bands’ album “From a Deep Blue Sky” is available on major streaming platforms. It was recorded and produced over the last three years at University of the Pacific, in-person and online. Aside from Viet Coung’s “Re(new)al,” these are the first commercial recordings of the featured works.
UPCOMING CONCERTS
Faye Spanos Concert Hall, Stockton
Saturday, February 1 | 7:30 pm with guest artist Louis Hanzlik, trumpet
Works by Omar Thomas, Manuel de Falla and Dwayne Millburn. Hanzlik is a Grammy Awardwinning trumpeter and a member of the renowned Orpheus Chamber Orchestra as well as a former member of the American Brass Quintet.
Thursday, April 10 | 7:30 pm with student soloist Hasina Torres, cello
Works by Giovanni Santos, Ivan Trevino and Julie Giroux. Soloist Hasina Torres, a winner of the 2024-25 Conservatory Performance Competition, will perform Friedrich Gulda’s Concerto for Cello and Wind Orchestra.
UNIVERSITY OF THE PACIFIC WIND BANDS
Vu Nguyen, conductor
Ruth Brittin, guest conductor
Ricardo Martinez, saxophone
January 17, 2025 | 5:00 pm
CONCERT PROGRAM
Origin (2011)
Golden Vistas (2024)
Ruth Brittin, guest conductor
Let the Darkness Out (2011; 2019)
Ricardo Martinez, saxophone
Cait Nishimura (b. 1991)
Ruth Brittin (b. 1961)
Catherine Likhuta (b.1981)
Moment (2016)
DOPE (2022)
Alex Shapiro (b. 1962)
Katahj Copley (b.1998)
NISHIMURA: ORIGIN
Cait Nishimura is a Japanese Canadian composer based in Waterloo, Ontario. Known for writing nature-inspired, programmatic music, Nishimura has established herself as a prominent voice in the concert band community.
Since winning the Canadian Band Association’s composition prize in 2017, her music has been presented at MusicFest Canada, The Midwest Clinic, and numerous other international conferences and festivals. Her work has become increasingly popular among educational music communities, with new works being regularly commissioned and performed around the world.
Nishimura is passionate about empowering others through art and strives to set a positive example for future generations of musicians through her creative work and her dedication to mental health awareness and environmentalism. She is an associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre and holds degrees in music and education from the University of Toronto.
Note by the composer
Origin was commissioned by Dr. Jeff Reynolds for the University of Toronto Wind Ensemble. As an alumna of the school and a former student of Dr. Reynolds, it was an honour to compose this short fanfare to open the 2022-23 concert season at UofT. Origin is an uplifting, empowering piece that evokes the feeling of returning home to a significant place in one’s journey, reflecting on all that has changed and all that has remained.
I have come to cherish the magical full-circle experiences that occur when my music is performed in spaces that were meaningful or inspiring to me as a young musician. This piece is an ode to all the people and places that leave a lasting impact on the lives of others.
BRITTIN: GOLDEN VISTAS
For the composer’s biography, see section: Artist Biographies.
Note by the composer
Golden Vistas celebrates Arthur Holton, Jr.’s 50 years of teaching and service in music education. Art’s expertise and experience in conducting, teaching, service to the world of bands and instrumental music, and clarinet performance is matched only by his enormous enthusiasm for his native Golden State of California. Golden Vistas brings musical hints of times special to Art and his wife and chief collaborator of five decades, Kathy Holton: trains approaching, road trips and hikes in Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada mountains, and poignant changes of season. Golden Vistas playfully explores 4/4, 5/4 and 6/4 meters, with contrasts of major and minor modes. You’ll hear river rocks in the percussion section, the long-long-short-long rhythmic fanfare in the brass (based on the train signal for approaching a railroad crossing), and waterfalls and falling snow depicted in the woodwinds. The lyrical theme in the middle celebrates a long and loving relationship, and everyone gets exciting melodies as this theme grows into an exuberant finale.
LIKHUTA: LET THE DARKNESS OUT
Catherine Likhuta is a Ukrainian-Australian composer, pianist and recording artist. Her music exhibits high emotional charge, programmatic nature, rhythmic complexity and Ukrainian folk elements. Her works have been commissioned and performed by prominent ensembles including the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, The Ohio State University Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the National Radio of Ukraine, The Dallas Winds, Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass Quintet, Atlantic Brass Quintet, Ensemble Q, ICE, Lyrebird Brass, NU CORNO and US Army Field Band Horns.
Likhuta has held residencies with The Dallas Winds, at Tyalgum Music Festival, North Carolina NewMusic Initiative, and dozens of American universities and conservatories. She is a two-time winner of the International Horn Society Composition Contest (virtuoso division) and a recipient of numerous prestigious awards and grants. Her piece Vivid Dreams is featured on horn virtuosa Denise Tryon’s album Hope Springs Eternal, which was awarded the 2022 American Prize in Instrumental Performance.
Likhuta holds a bachelor’s degree in jazz piano from Kyiv Glière Music College, a five-year post-graduate degree in composition from the National Music Academy of Ukraine (Kyiv Conservatory) and a PhD in composition from the University of Queensland. In the US, she studied with Dana Wilson and Steven Stucky.
Note by the composer
In its original 2011 version, Let the Darkness Out is a virtuosic sonata for alto saxophone and piano, and is one of my most performed saxophone pieces.
Shortly after moving to Australia in 2012, I heard about Michael Duke as one of the country’s most prominent saxophonists and champions of new saxophone repertoire. Incidentally, around the same time, Michael was attending an international conference in the United States and heard about me and my music from the then-president of the North American Saxophone Alliance, Griffin Campbell, who had toured Darkness for several concert seasons. Since then, I had great pleasure to collaborate with Michael and his renowned ensemble HD Duo.
At some point during our collaboration, Michael came up with the idea to turn Darkness into a saxophone concerto and gave me inspiration and support to make this idea a reality. I felt very comfortable (and excited!) making this new version for John Lynch and the SCM Wind Symphony, one of the absolute best wind ensembles in the country. Inspired by these fine musicians, the piece aims to highlight the expressive and virtuosic features of a stellar saxophone soloist, matched and supported by a confident and powerful ensemble.
SHAPIRO: MOMENT
Alex Shapiro aligns note after note with the hope that at least a few of them will sound good next to each other. Her persistence at this activity, as well as non-fiction music writing, public speaking, arts advocacy volunteerism, wildlife photography, and the shameless instigation of insufferable puns on Facebook, has led to a happy life.
Drawing from a broad musical palette that giddily ignores genre, Shapiro’s acoustic and electroacoustic works are published by Activist Music LLC, performed and broadcast daily. They can be found on over 30 commercial releases from record labels around the world.
Shapiro lives on Washington State’s remote San Juan Island. When she is not composing, she can be found communing with nature, as seen on her music and photo-filled blog, notesfromthekelp.com, and her website, alexshapiro.org.
Note by the composer
Our hearts are equally shaken by moments excruciatingly painful and transcendentally beautiful. In a world in which emotions are often blunted by the assault of overload, we cannot allow ourselves to ignore profound, inner responses evoked in an instant. Awestruck. Hopeful. Grieving. Longing. Shocked. Weeping. Thinking. Amazed. Waiting. Stunned. Heartbroken. Transported. Hurting. Dreaming. Startled. Dismayed. Delighted. Caring.
What are the moments that have moved you?
COPLEY: DOPE
Georgia native Katahj Copley premiered his first work, Spectra, in 2017 and has not stopped composing since. As of now, Copley has written over 100 works, including pieces for chamber ensembles, wind ensembles, and orchestra. His compositions have been performed and commissioned by universities, organizations, and professional ensembles, including the Cavaliers Brass, California Band Director Association, Admiral Launch Duo, and “The President’s Own” Marine Band. Copley has also received critical acclaim internationally with pieces being performed in Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, China, and Australia.
Copley received two Bachelor of Music degrees from the University of West Georgia in music education and composition in 2021. In 2023, he received his master’s in music composition from the University of Texas at Austin, studying with Omar Thomas and Yevgeniy Sharlat. He is currently studying music composition at Michigan State University.
Aside from composing, Copley is an excited educator who teaches young musicians the joy of discovering music and why music is a phenomenal language.
“Music for me has always been this impactful thing in my life. It can soothe, it can enrage, it can quiet, and it can evoke emotions that are beyond me and this world we live in. I believe that music is the ultimate source of freedom and imagination. The most freedom I have had as a musician was through composing. Composition is like me opening my heart and showing the world my drive, my passion, and my soul.”
Note by composer
The first semester of my masters—I was in a different headspace. I had finished writing Where the Sky Has No Stars and at the moment, I felt renewed. I didn’t know what else to write, so I began to write music that felt disingenuous to my spirit (music that will never see the light of day)—I was going on autopilot, and I had lost my voice. During one of my lessons at UT Austin, my professor Omar Thomas and I began listening to a piece I had mocked up a couple of days before. We both weren’t feeling it, and finally I asked him to turn off the piece and I told him it didn’t sound like me. I felt lost creatively. He then asked me what music I listen to. I began to name only band music composers. He asked me again, and I told him outside of wind band music I’m in love with rap, R & B, jazz and soul.
Then he asked an important question, “Why do you make a barrier between those ideals?”
I didn’t have an answer. It was a wake-up call for me. Why was I compartmentalizing my musical inspirations?
He continued, “If you create something that is a celebration of who you are, the music you grew up with, and the music that inspires you now. . . then that would be dope. . .”
And with that, this piece was born. With that realization, I began to create a piece that celebrated all the music that had inspired me throughout my life. From Thundercat to Kendrick Lamar, Miles Davis to Hiatus Kaiyote, I wanted to bring all of these influences together into one cohesive work. . . one dope work.
DOPE is a gumbo of all the music that inspires and influences me from Thundercat to Kendrick Lamar to Miles Davis to Hiatus Kaiyote and more, this piece is in essence a deep look into my musical world.
The piece can be broken up into three parts. Since this work is dedicated to the trail Black music has created, inspired and the new horizons it’s reaching, each part is named after a part of the black identity.
UNDENIABLY (which is the partial score) is the opening of the piece. It’s gritty, intense with moments of color and undeniable energy. It is carried by a bass line heavily influenced by Thundercat’s playing on Kendrick Lamar’s Untitled 05 along with Miles Davis’s Nardis.
UNAPOLOGETICALLY (the middle section) is a world building vibe and examines just how beautiful the music can be. I explore the colors and stretch them to their limits, but in doing so I found new hues within myself and my writings. With this act, I gained heavy inspiration from John Coltrane, Robert Glasper, Kamasi Washington and Hiatus Kaiyote (to name a few).
UNDISPUTEDLY (the finale) is an intense, groove filled statement. Every color explored is here and is in its full potential. It’s bold and—like undeniably and unapologetically—is undisputedly black. Guided by my love for Tyler, the Creator’s Hot Wind Blows, Marvin Gaye’s I Want You (due to Kendrick’s The Heart series), and Kamasi Washington’s Street Fighter Mas along with Askim.
I hope that DOPE will serve as a tribute to the Black musicians who have paved the way and inspired me to create music that is authentic to who I am. I also hope that this piece will inspire others to break down the barriers between their musical influences and create something truly unique and personal.
Ruth Brittin is professor and director of music education at University of the Pacific, where she has led the undergraduate and graduate program since 1997. At Pacific, she has been awarded the Eberhardt Award, the premier honor for teaching and scholarship, and the Faculty Mentor Award.
Brittin publishes for wind band and orchestra with Excelcia and Wingert-Jones Publications. Her compositions are featured with All-State and honor ensembles. She also conducts and adjudicates ensembles and is an active researcher.
Brittin’s leadership has included serving as editor (International Journal of Music Education and Update: Applications of Research in Music Education), on editorial boards such as Journal of Research in Music Education, and reviewer for national and international journals such as Psychology of Music, Research Studies in Music Education, Journal of Band Research, and College Music Symposium. She served internationally as USA representative for ISME’s research commission and representative for NAfME and CMEA’s research divisions.
As a keynote speaker Brittin has been featured at state music education conferences and as Distinguished Visiting Professor at University of Alabama, Pennsylvania State University, Louisiana State University, and University of North Texas.
As a horn player, Brittin performs throughout Northern California.
Ricardo Martinez is assistant professor of practice in saxophone at University of the Pacific, where he also teaches courses in musicianship and music appreciation.
Martinez began his saxophone studies in the Bay Area under David Henderson of Stanford University and William Trimble, and he earned degrees at the University of Minnesota and at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Cergy-Pontoise, France, receiving the Médaille d’Or in saxophone and graduating with honors in chamber music. Martinez later completed graduate work at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music under the guidance of Otis Murphy and studied with the esteemed Japanese saxophonist Nobuya Sugawa at the Hamamatsu International Wind Academy and Festival.
Martinez was a featured soloist with the Mission Chamber Orchestra of San José, Stanford Summer Symphony, University of the Pacific’s Orchestra, Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de CergyPontoise Wind Ensemble in France, and Mitaka City Orchestra in Japan. In addition, Martinez has performed with the San Francisco Symphony, California Symphony, Classical Tahoe, Music in the Mountains, and San Francisco Contemporary Music Players. He has recorded at Skywalker Ranch in Marin County.
An avid chamber musician, Martinez won the grand prize in the 2019 Plowman Chamber Music Competition, first prize in the 2017 Chicago Woodwind Ensemble Competition, and first prize in the 2015 East Central Division MTNA Chamber Music Competition. Martinez is an endorsing artist for Legere Reeds and BG France.
Vu Nguyen is an associate professor of music and director of bands at University of the Pacific. He conducts Pacific Wind Bands and teaches courses in conducting and music education. Nguyen maintains an active schedule as a clinician and has served as guest conductor with military bands as well as honor bands across the country. Ensembles under his direction have performed at state music educator conferences, at the Midwest Clinic, and at the College Band Directors National Association Conference.
A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Nguyen holds degrees in conducting from the University of Washington and the University of Oregon, and he earned a Bachelor of Music degree in music education from University of the Pacific.
Prior to his appointment at Pacific, he served in similar roles at the University of Connecticut, University of Indianapolis, and Washington University in St. Louis. He began his teaching career in the San Ramon Valley Unified School District. In addition to his academic career, Nguyen recently retired as an officer in the Air National Guard (ANG) where he was the commander and conductor of the ANG Band of the West Coast.
Pacific Wind Bands comprise students who represent music majors, minors, and non-majors from across University of the Pacific. The ensemble performs at least four concerts each academic year. It provides students the opportunity to play a broad range of music for winds, brass, percussion, and keyboards drawn from a repertoire that honors the rich history of the past and looks to the future, ranging from chamber to full wind band instrumentation. Recent premieres and collaborations with composers include Kevin Bobo, Viet Cuong, Kevin Day, Catherine Likhuta, Giovanni Santos, and Alex Shapiro.
Flutes
Grace Coon
Riko Hirata
Bobby Singh
Jasmine Valentine
Ethan Williams
Oboes
Walker Austin
Jayden Laumeister
Emily Zamudio
Clarinets
Mitchell Amos
Edmund Bascon
Audrey Ewing
Kaitlyn Ferreira
Tommy Galvin
Jacquéline Hairston
Vanessa Lopez
Abigail Miller
Joseph Schwarz
Andrew Seaver
Bassoons
Justin Silva
Jordan Wier
Saxophones
Ivan Barajas
Tristan McMichael
Marcus Rudes
Ves Turk
Horns
Don Parker
Jada Ramos
Owen Sheridan
Skylar Warren
Trumpets
Parker Deems
Keagan Low
Alex Maldonado
Alayna Ontai
Kamron Qasimi
Trombones
Bronson Burfield
William Giancaterino
Miguel Palma
Radley Rutledge
Matthew Young
Pacific Faculty Coaches
Brittany Trotter, flutes
Kyle Bruckmann, oboes
Patricia Shands, clarinets
Ricardo Martinez, saxophones
Nicolasa Kuster, bassoons
Leonard Ott, trumpets
Sadie Glass, horns
Euphonium
Victor Alcaraz
Tubas
Seth Morris
Alejandro Villalobos
Bass
Kyle Saelee
Percussion
Hunter Campbell
Ryan Eads
Maddie Karzin
Casey Kim
Matthew Kulm
Jinling Li
Robert McCarl
Peter Norman
Keyboards
Magdalene Myint
Davis Robinson
Bruce Chrisp, low brass
Jonathan Latta, percussion
Sonia Leong, piano
Kathryn Schulmeister, double bass
Jonathan Latta, ensembles program director
