Symphonic Suite
from Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2016)
Shenandoah (2019)
Lincoln Portrait (1942) Christopher Callahan, narrator Intermission
Chasing Sunlight (2016)
John Williams (b. 1932)
arr. Jay Bocook
Omar Thomas (b. 1984)
Aaron Copland (1900–1990) transcr. Walter Beeler
Cait Nishimura (b. 1991)
Ryan Abdelmalek ’21, ’23, graduate assistant conductor
Fanfare Politeia (2021)
Ecstatic Waters (2008)
Ceremony of Innocence Augurs
The Generous Wrath of Simple Men
The Loving Machinery of Justice
Spiritus Mundi (epilogue)
Kimberly Archer (b. 1973)
Steven Bryant (b. 1972)
Vu Nguyen is an associate professor of music and director of bands at the University of the Pacific. He conducts the Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Concert Band, and he teaches courses in conducting and music education. Nguyen maintains an active schedule as a clinician and has served as guest conductor with the United States Air Force Bands of the Golden West and Mid-America 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 the 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 in addition to being a visiting conductor with the Indiana University Concert Band. 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. In this position, he was responsible for all activities of this forty-member squadron, including participation in ceremonies, parades, concerts, and other public performances.
Christopher Callahan Christopher Callahan became Pacific’s twenty-sixth president July 1, 2020. He joined Pacific after more than twenty-five years in higher education leadership, most recently as the founding dean of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University (ASU), CEO of the university-owned Arizona PBS station and vice provost for ASU’s downtown Phoenix campus. He came to ASU from the University of Maryland at College Park, where he served as associate dean of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism and senior editor of American Journalism Review.
A first-generation college graduate, the New York native earned his Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from Boston University’s College of Communication and a Master of Public Administration degree from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Before entering higher education, Callahan was a journalist for the Associated Press in Washington, D.C., and state capitals in New England.
At Pacific, Callahan is focused on building on the strengths of California’s first university: the personalized education of a small college combined with the choices
of a major university, with a focus on experiential learning and public service across all three of its northern California campuses (Sacramento, San Francisco, and Stockton). Callahan has set the ambitious goal of Pacific becoming the best student-centered comprehensive university in the nation within a decade. He set out a series of pillars for the university to build upon: the personalized learning that is a hallmark of Pacific, expanded real-life learning opportunities coupled with service to communities, accelerating the pace of innovation, and becoming a model for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Callahan has moved quickly to recruit top new leaders from institutions such as UCLA, Occidental College, and Harvey Mudd College.
Callahan began his presidency three months after the majority of Pacific’s students, faculty, and staff had to leave their campuses for remote learning and work due to COVID-19. Callahan focused on ways for the Pacific community to remain connected, starting with a robust series of virtual events featuring headline speakers and a wide array of remote activities for students that included games, forums, entertainment, and musical performances.
A Bay Area native, Ryan Abdelmalek received his Bachelor of Music degree in music education at the University of the Pacific in 2021 and continues at his alma mater working toward a Master of Music degree in music education. Abdelmalek currently serves as a music education graduate assistant where his responsibilities include assisting with undergraduate fieldwork and administrative and musical duties with the Pacific Wind Bands. Abdelmalek is the current director of the Pacific Pep Band, a forty-member volunteer ensemble that performs for athletic and university events. His conducting mentors are Vu Nguyen, Eric Hammer, and Harvey Benstein. Abdelmalek received the 2021 Conservatory Music Education award for his leadership and execution of a project that created videos about different instruments in conjunction with the Stockton Symphony during the pandemic.
PACIFIC WIND BANDS
The Pacific Wind Bands at the Pacific Conservatory comprises students who represent music majors, minors, and non-majors from across the university. 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 Viet Cuong, Jennifer Jolley, Catherine Likhuta, Giovanni Santos, Alex Shapiro, Ingrid Stölzel, and James Syler.
Flutes
Ashley Bonfoey
Kalea Bringas
Mackenzie Coon
Logan Feece
Jessica Jenkins
Natalie Kowalski
Marcus Loya
Athena Paz
Jasmine Valentine
Victoria Wang
Oboes Glen Adcock
Jenna Bosnick
Raquel Johnson
Apollo Parish Mitchell
Valeria Rosseau Nunez
Clarinets
Damien Burgos
Kyle Chang
Rachel Dolan
Kaitlyn Ferreira
Edgard Gonzales
Maggie Juarez
Gerardo Lopez
Vanessa Lopez
Jordan Mabutas
Emily McGann
Abigail Miller
Sophia Rechel
Marcus Romero
Andrew Seaver
Samuel Vu Bassoons
Ella Hebrard Justin Silva
Saxophones
Krystle Kong
Tristan McMichael
Ryan Porter
Mason Weillie
Horns
Mary Denney Olivia Gideon Edgar Leyva
Don Parker
Jada Ramos Reese Romero Braydon Ross
Owen Sheridan Skylar Warren
Trumpets
Ainsley Berryhill Parker Deems
Kevin Hee
Julia Murillo
Yoshiki Shimokawa
Giana Stratton
