Belmont University School of Music
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2024 7:30 PM
MCAFEE CONCERT HALL
Belmont University School of Music presents
Concert Band & Wind Ensemble
George Shannon II, conductor
Barry Kraus, conductor
Concert Band
George Shannon II, conductor
Havendance
Benediction
American Riversongs
Block M
Wind Ensemble
Barry Kraus, conductor
Through the Looking Glass
George Shannon II, guest conductor
I Know Moonrise
A Movement for Rosa
Symphony No. 2
I. Shooting Stars
II. Dreams Under a New Moon
III. Apollo Unleashed
David Holsinger (b. 1945)
John Stevens (b. 1951)
Pierre LaPlante (1943-2024)
Jerry Bilik (b. 1933)
Jess Turner (b. 1983)
Jess Turner
Mark Camphouse (b. 1954)
Frank Ticheli
(b. 1958)
Program Notes
Havendance: After an extensive career as Director of Bands at Lee University (Cleveland, TN), David Holsinger retired in 2023. During his twenty-four years at Lee, Holsinger served as the inaugural conductor of the Wind Ensemble and taught coursework in advanced and graduate-level instrumental conducting, orchestration, and composition.
Havendance, written for the anniversary concert of the North Central Missouri Honor Band, was inspired by the composer’s daughter, Haven, who was eight at the time of composition.
Holsinger writes:
For her earliest holiday costume, my daughter Haven wanted to be dressed as a ballerina. It was a passion that has not stopped to this day. ‘Havendance’ was the first of “children’s dances” [and Haven] was constantly leaping and dancing about the house. [S]he seemed the perfect subject of a “dance” piece. Thus, ‘Havendance.’
Benediction: Professor Emeritus of Tuba and Euphonium from the University of WisconsinMadison, John Stevens originally composed this work for tuba/euphonium quartet. Written for the Sotto Voce Quartet in 2002, the group completed an album with Summit Records which contained all of the composer’s work, concluding with Benediction. The composition was “intended to be a sonorous ‘amen’ of vocal character,” as Stevens describes. Encouraged by UW-Madison Director of Bands Scott Teeple, the tuba/euphonium work was expanded for wind band. In gratitude, Stevens dedicated the piece to Teeple.
American Riversongs: Pierre LaPlante is a staple in wind band literature, having composed popular works such as In the Forest of the King, English Country Settings, and American Riversongs. LaPlante, of French-Canadian descent, studied at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and later taught elementary through college-level vocal and instrumental music. These experiences provided the inspiration and compositional technique that is familiar to the composer’s music. LaPlante tasks the listener to reflect upon when the United States was a growing nation, relying heavily upon rivers and waterways as a lifeline. The traditional tunes referenced in the work are Down the River, Shenandoah or Across the Wide Missouri, and concludes with Stephen Foster’s The Glendy Burk Embedded within The Glendy Burk is a second theme, based on a Creole bamboula tune, which is believed to originate from the Louisiana Delta region.
Block M: As a nod to the composer’s alma mater, Block M is a traditional march that uses a colorful harmonic structure, providing a twist to the listener’s ear. The trio sounds unusual, suggesting a reference to vaudeville, an early twentieth-century type of entertainment music, particularly with the addition of the cup-muted trumpets upon repeat of the section. Jerry Bilik, an American composer, arranger, songwriter, conductor, and director of stage productions, was born in 1933 and attended the University of Michigan during the “Golden Years.” As a member of the trombone section of the marching band, the weekly pregame show included a BLOCK M on the football field, thus providing the title.
Program notes by Dr. George Shannon II, School of Music Faculty
Through the Looking Glass and I Know Moonrise: Jess Langston Turner has found success in writing wind band music in his relatively recent career as a composer. As an undergraduate, he studied trumpet performance at Bob Jones University. He continued to compose while pursuing a masters degree in trumpet at the Hartt School of Music and completed his doctoral degree in
composition at Indiana University.
Through the Looking Glass was written as a concert opener. Turner wrote:
When I began composing ‘Through the Looking Glass’ I knew that I wanted to write a piece that was fantastical in nature a piece that would transport us into an imaginary land where anything is possible. I chose the title Through the Looking Glass because just as Alice's doorway to Wonderland was her looking glass, this fanfare is a doorway to a world of musical landscapes. The piece is constructed of two different elements: a pervasive rhythmic pattern and an entire pitch vocabulary of only five different notes that are arranged in many different ways sometimes in long angular lines and other times in massive blocks of sound. Underneath all of this is the driving rhythmic impetus that propels the piece forward. These combined elements are meant to convey the imagery of colorful and fantastical shapes and images hurtling past the listener as he or she is transported to a new musical world where anything is possible.
I Know Moonrise was commissioned to honor the retirement of Turner’s father, Dan Turner, who was Director of Bands at his undergraduate alma mater. The work uses the spiritual tune of the same name which originated in the mid-1800s. The text of the tune relates to the inevitability of death and the embracement of transcendence from one life to the next. Turner uses the tune, beginning with solo horn, in both plaintive and complex musical textures, decorated with bluesy harmonic resolutions and celebratory passages.
A Movement for Rosa: Small acts of defiance are often the catalyst for necessary change. Such was the result of Rosa Parks' decision to stay seated when a white man demanded her bus seat on December 1, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama. Her subsequent arrest motivated the civil rights movement of the 1950s. While it is difficult to imagine such a scenario in modern times, racism is still prevalent in society. In her 1992 autobiography, Rosa Parks noted:
What troubles me is that so many young people, including college students, have come out for white supremacy and that there have been more and more incidents of racism and racial violence on college campuses. It has not been widespread, but still it is troublesome. It seems like we still have a long way to go.
While often not obvious as in the pre-civil rights south, racism continues to linger in our society twenty years later. Rosa Parks’ heroic story was the inspiration for composer Mark Camphouse in writing A Movement for Rosa a quasi tone poem in three contrasting sections. The first section evokes Parks’ early years in Alabama. The flute soloist introduces Rosa’s theme, a plaintive fournote motive that reappears throughout the piece. A heroic melody represents her determined spirit to stand up for what is right. Section two is prefaced by a minor version of Rosa’s theme, giving way to the ugliness of racial persecution, in which the heroic theme makes a brief appearance amidst strife symbolized through harmonic dissonance. Camphouse foreshadows hope with a fragment of the gospel tune We Shall Overcome against a stark half-step interval portraying racial tension. A marching theme and opposing ostinato represents Freedom Riders clashing with authorities and mobs. As the chaos subsides, the music becomes tranquil. Section three recalls We Shall Overcome amidst a transparent musical backdrop, suggesting peaceful protest. In the final bars, Camphouse leaves us with a remnant of dissonance, reminding us of racism lingering just out of sight.
Symphony No. 2: Frank Ticheli is perhaps one of the most notable composers of band music in the twentieth century, writing nearly fifty works for the medium. Symphony No. 2 was written in honor
of the iconic conductor James Croft upon his retirement as Director of Bands at Florida State University from 1981 to 2003. Now twenty years old, Symphony No. 2 has become a standard work in the repertoire. Ticheli writes about his music:
The symphony's three movements refer to celestial light Shooting Stars, the Moon, and the Sun.
Although the title for the first movement, ‘Shooting Stars,’ came after its completion, I was imagining such quick flashes of color throughout the creative process. White-note clusters are sprinkled everywhere, like streaks of bright light. High above, the E-flat clarinet shouts out the main theme, while underneath, the low brasses punch out staccatissimo chords that intensify the dance-like energy. Fleeting events of many kinds are cut and pasted at unexpected moments, keeping the ear on its toes. The movement burns quickly, and ends explosively, scarcely leaving a trail.
The second movement, ‘Dreams Under a New Moon,’ depicts a kind of journey of the soul as represented by a series of dreams. A bluesy clarinet melody is answered by a chant-like theme in muted trumpet and piccolo. Many dream episodes follow, ranging from the mysterious to the dark, to the peaceful and healing. A sense of hope begins to assert itself as rising lines are passed from one instrument to another. Modulation after modulation occurs as the music lifts and searches for resolution. Near the end, the main theme returns in counterpoint with the chant, building to a majestic climax, then falling to a peaceful coda. The final B-flat major chord is colored by a questioning G-flat.
The finale, ‘Apollo Unleashed,’ is perhaps the most wide-ranging movement of the symphony, and certainly the most difficult to convey in words. On the one hand, the image of Apollo, the powerful ancient god of the sun, inspired not only the movement's title but also its blazing energy. Bright sonorities, fast tempos, and galloping rhythms combine to give a sense of urgency that one often expects from a symphonic finale. On the other hand, its boisterous nature is also tempered and enriched by another, more sublime force, Bach's Chorale BWV 433 (Wer Gott vertraut, hat wohl gebaut). This chorale a favorite of the dedicatee, and one he himself arranged for chorus and band serves as a kind of spiritual anchor, giving a soul to the gregarious foreground events. The chorale is in ternary form (ABA'). In the first half of the movement, the chorale's A and B sections are stated nobly underneath faster paced music, while the final A section is saved for the climactic ending, sounding against a flurry of 16thnotes.
Program notes by Dr. Barry Kraus, School of Music Faculty
Flute
Zoe Blythe
Miette Donet
Michelle Jacks
Paige Marlow
Lola Virelli
Concert Band Personnel
Psychology | Music Minor Reading, MI
Audio Engineering Technology Houston, TX
Music Business Knoxville, TN
Music Education Old Hickory, TN
Elementary Education | Music Minor Batavia, IL
Oboe
Briana Crowder
Anastasia Heers
Bassoon
Avery Bell
Dillon Wright*
Clarinet
Shirley Broxterman
Music Business Glasgow, KY
Music Composition | Theory Florence, AZ
Hospitality & Tourism Management | Music Minor Franklin, TN
Multiple Woodwind Performance Lynchburg, VA
Music Performance Clarksville, TN
Daria Ghazi Neuroscience Nashville, TN
Alayna Lepore
Heidi Linhart
Bass Clarinet
Jackie Therrien
Alto Saxophone
Joseph Aey
Livi Jean Crawford
Shane Taylor
Magdalena Turner
Music Therapy Aviston, IL
Audio Engineering Technology Grapevine, TX
Songwriting Merrimack, NH
Music Technology Youngstown, OH
Music Therapy San Diego, CA
Commercial Music Exeter, RI
Audio Engineering Technology | Studio Art Lititz, PA
Tenor Saxophone
Luke Blackwell
Zayne Carter
Whitney Gabriel
Megan Gretz
David Hofmiller
Baritone Saxophone
Dylan Ahrens
Sean Gutman
Trumpet
Commercial Performance Round Rock, TX
Music Business Menifee, CA
Music Education Batavia, IL
Music Education Matthews, NC
Audio Engineering Technology Clarksville, TN
Music Composition Fairfax, VA
Saxophone Performance Stony Brook, NY
Joseph Ballard Biology Springfield, TN
Owen Jackoboice
Calie Leach
Cadence Thomas
Kristen Lester
French Horn
Olivia Bange
Grace Helton
Caroline Holmes
Trombone
Amelia Bailly
Brooke Garrett
Jordan Nguyen
Euphonium
John Kane IV
Commercial Music Nashville, TN
Music Business Dallas, GA
Music Therapy Alma, GA
Music Education Dallas, GA
Music Education Dayton, OH
Music Therapy Sarasota, FL
Music Education Plymouth, MA
Audio Engineering Technology Moorehead, MN
Music Business Nashville, TN
Music Education Nashville, TN
Music Education Franklin, MA
Katie Funk Elementary Education Irvine, CA
Tuba
Andrew Itzla
Music Education Briarcliff Manor, NY
Jackson Mershon
Noe Rodas-Zambrano
Percussion
Praxina Guerra
Braxton Hill
Jacob Mann
Karsci Pentek
Brenden St. Mary
Caleb Walz
Creative Entertainment Industries Sherwood, OR
Commercial Music Winder, GA
Flute
Jake King*
Hannah Steele
Brendan Wilson
Oboe
Lily Chantler*
Briana Crowder
William Fedack
Music Therapy San Antonio, TX
Percussion Performance Richmond, VA
Music Business Louisburg, KS
Audio Engineering Technology Fairfax, VA
Audio Engineering Technology Ephrata, WA
Motion Pictures | Computer Science Kendallville, IN
*graduate student
Wind Ensemble Personnel
Classical Performance Chicago, IL
Audio Engineering Technology Mishawaka, IN
Classical Performance Glasgow, KY
Music Education Clarksville, TN
Music Business Glasgow, KY
Classical Performance | Audio Engineering Technology Atlanta, GA
Bassoon
Cayman Hogue
Emily Okamura
Harrison Sampson*
Clarinet
Michelle Babyak
Classical Performance Fernandina Beach, FL
Music Therapy Dallas, TX
Classical Performance Newport, TN
Music Education Shorewood, IL
Maddie Crowder History Kansas City, KS
McKensey Malin*
Neuroscience | Statistics Murfreesboro, TN
Chloe Schmidt Publishing Murfreesboro, TN
Tommy Steele
Music San Antonio, TX
Kylie Watson Psychology Ankeny, IA
Dillon Wright**
Bass Clarinet
Multiple Woodwind Performance Lynchburg, VA
Emily Castaneda* Psychology Tullahoma, TN
Jude Whalen
Alto Saxophone
Bojer Gibson*
Justin Smith
Ryland Watson
Tenor Saxophone
Garrett Brooks
Finley White
Baritone Saxophone
Owen Fell
Trumpet
John Berns
Duncan Blackstock
Zachariah Govan
James Ownby*/**
Biruke Woldeyohannes
Luke Woody
French Horn
Jacob Andrews*/**
Joseph Assiryani
Holden Cessna
Grace Helton
Trombone
Brian King
Luke Myers
Caden Mohnke
Joshua Walz*
Music Business Cincinnati, OH
Music Education Spring Hill, TN
Music Education Nashville, TN
Audio Engineering Technology Mount Pleasant, SC
Music Education Cumming, GA
Music Education Hillsborough, NC
Commercial Guitar Dallas, TX
Music Education Oconee, IL
Music Education The Villages, FL
Classical Performance Parkland, FL
Classical Performance Goodlettsville, TN
Supply Chain Management Mount Juliet, TN
Classical Performance Sharpsburg, MD
Classical Performance Winston-Salem, NC
Music Business Bethesda, MD
Classical Performance Beans Cove, PA
Music Therapy Sarasota, FL
Music Business Houston, TX
Music Education Omaha, NE
Commercial Performance Franklin, TN
Audio Engineering Technology Kendallville, IN
Euphonium
Adam Chavez
Commercial Performance Mount Pleasant, SC
Philip Wolfe* Commerical Music Kansas City, MO
Tuba
Bryce Bobo*
Audio Engineering Technology Lucas, TX
Hudson Butler Music Education Nashville, TN
Percussion
Matthew Love*
Classical Performance Nashville, TN
Miriam Marks Composition Rosemount, MN
Jay Moreland Composition Nashville, TN
Matthew Oliver Composition Opelika, AL
Gramm Raedeke Classical Performance St. Louis, MO
Joshua Wingard
Piano
Classical Performance Flintstone, GA
Andrew Wieler Classical Performance Milwaukee, WI
String Bass
Alex Haldane** Commercial Music Falls Church, VA
*principal **graduate student
Upcoming Concerts and Events
Musical Theatre: No Man’s Land
Friday, October 4, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 5, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, October 6, 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Massey Concert Hall
This is a ticketed event. Tickets can be purchased at the Belmont Box Office.
For more information on upcoming concerts and events, please visit www.belmont.edu/cmpa or “like” Belmont University School of Music on Facebook.
