UIC Wind Ensemble 3.5.22

UIC Wind Ensemble Saturday

Nicholas Carlson

March 5, 2022

conductor

7:30pm

Land Acknowledgement Statement

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The UIC School of Theatre and Music sits on the traditional homeland of the original peoples of the area: the Three Fires Confederacy (the Potawatomi, Odawa, and Ojibwe Nations) as well as the Menominee and Ho-Chunk who—along with many Indigenous people—were among its first inhabitants. With respect and gratitude, The School of Theatre and Music honors the many Native Americans who have, do, and will call this land their home.

STM acknowledges that we have benefitted from the repeated attacks on Native Americans that forced tribal representatives to sign the 1816 Treaty of St Louis, relinquishing to the U.S. all claims of the land from Lake Michigan to the Illinois River. This land seizure led to the era of economic development and rapid growth that made Chicago the metropolis that it is today.

We have an obligation to our students and the nearly 65,000 Native Americans now living in Chicago to do no further harm, to amplify Native voices, and to fight for equity and inclusion by engaging in anti-racism policies and practices. For us, this work begins with this statement, and must be followed by actions that immediately affect our work and life on campus. STM therefore commits to the following initiatives: / The creation of an Antiracism Action Plan and Committee / Antiracism training for all STM faculty and staff / Annual Recruitment workshops and on-site special events for Native high-schoolers. / An annual master class or talk with Native musicians and/or theatre artists. / Free tickets to STM performances and concerts, provided through UIC’s Native American Support Program. / Increased representation of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) voices and perspectives in STM pedagogy, classrooms, and performances.

This is only the beginning of our work. We look forward to expanded and sustained STM programming that addresses ignorance, systemic racism, and white dominance.

Developed by STM Theatre Faculty 08.25.2020

Program Vienna Philharmonic Fanfare

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Richard Strauss (1864-1949)

(1924)

Brief pause

Concerto For Alto Saxophone and

David Maslanka (1943-2017)

Wind Ensemble (1999) Song: "Fire in The Earth" Interlude: "Bright Window, Your Night Is Full of Stars" Song: "Mortal, Have You Seen This?"

Brief pause

Splinter (2020)

My Eyes Are Full of Shadow

Holly Harrison (b. 1988)

Joel Puckett (b. 1977)

(2016)

We Choose to Go to the Moon

Roger Zare (b. 1985)

(2020)

Four Scottish Dances (1975/1978) Pessante Vivace Allegretto Con brio

Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006) transcribed by Paynter

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Personnel Flute

Maya Cornejo

String Bass

Youjia Wang*

Gabby Jones

Jason Soto

Joanne Yu (picc)

Sammy Weintraub

Sophia Lopez

Louis Quigley

* Denotes principal or co-principal

Amy Lian Horn Oboe

Kyli Berkley*

Piano

Vivek Ily*

Daniel McCarrick

Jonathan Magboo

Mark Watson

Noemi Morquecho

(English horn)

Kali Giancana

Harp

Isaac Fertel

Lauren Cole

Danielle Williams

Bassoon

Graeme Classen

Lamar Curtis

Brett Perzee

John Pope

Julio de la Rosa

Clarinet

Trombone

Abdo Timejardine-

Tommy Haepp*

Zomeño*

Luis Lema(bass)

Simonne Harris

Phoebe Stoughton

Toni Smertene

Becca Nika

Alexia Pohlod

Joshua Gibson

Gustavo Morales Euphonium Bass Clarinet

Julia Soulsby*

Chris Izzo

Francisco Cruz

Saxophone

Tuba

George Grunditz*

Juan Peinado*

(alto/soprano)

Adam Carlson

Mark Parages (alto) Sam Winters (tenor)

Percussion

Jericho Kadusale (bari)

Caleb Fetzer* Jen Eng

Trumpet

Jair Manzanares

Luis Ortiz*

John Emiliano

Carolina Woźniczka

Matthew Greenberg

Lily Cruz

Josue Avila

Program Notes

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Vienna Philharmonic Fanfare Richard Strauss was born in Munich, Germany in 1864 to musically affluent parents. His father was considered one of the best horn players of his time and premiered many of Richard Wagner’s operas. Strauss began writing music at age six, and by age 18, had written over 140 pieces. That year, he released his Opus 1, Festive March for Large Orchestra. A bulk of Strauss’s fame came from his symphonic poems, such as Also Sprach Zarathustraand Don Quixote.

Richard Strauss built astrong relationship with the Vienna Philharmonic, which has consistently played his music since 1882.

Through this close relationship, the members of the philharmonic requested Strauss to compose a piece for them to perform. In 1924, the fanfare was premiered at the first Vienna Philharmonic Ball, held as a fundraiser for the musicians. Since then, the piece has been performed at the opening of every Vienna Philharmonic Ball in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein.

-Program Note by the Civic Orchestra of Abilene

Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble This concerto turned out to be a good deal larger than I would reasonably want. As I got into the composing, the ideas became insistent: none of them would be left out! The format of Songs and Interludes arises from my other recent works for saxophones (“Mountain Roads” for saxophone quartet and “Song Book” for alto saxophone and marimba) and suggests a music that is more intimate than symphonic. There is a strong spiritual overtone with quotes from Bach Chorales, and from my own works “Hell’s Gate” and “Mass.” A story is hinted at which has the Crucifixion right smack in the middle –the climax of the third movement quotes the “Crucifixus” from the “Mass.” I don’t know what the story is, only that it wants to be music, and not words.

Program Notes

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Song: “Fire in the Earth” Walking through a Montana field on a brilliant late fall day, three images came in rapid succession: a distant row of red plant stems caught by the morning sun, snow on thesurrounding high mountains, green grass at my feet. The following poetic image came:Fire in the earthSnow in the heavensNew green grass in the middle of NovemberThis is a quiet, emotional music –sometimes not so quiet –contained by a very simple song form.

Interlude: “Bright Window, Your Night is Full of Stars” “Bright Window” is the soprano song right before the Credo in my “Mass.”

I have transcribed it whole as a beautiful song for the solo saxophone. The words of the original song reach out in prayer to the Holy Mother and ask for a personal connection with all that is. This music is dedicated to the memory of Joseph Christensen, Director of Bands at Iowa State University, whose untimely death was a shock to his many friends.

Song: “Mortal, have you seen this?”

In the Book of Ezekiel, the prophet has a vision of a man “whose appearance shone like bronze.” The “Bronze Man” shows him the Holy City.

He then leads him into a deep and very wide river that cannot be crossed, and says “Mortal, have you seen this?” Where the river enters the sea the water becomes fresh; everything will live where the river goes; trees along the river will not wither, their fruit will be for food, their leaves for healing.

-Program Note by David Maslanka

Program Notes

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Splinter In this context, the word ‘Splinter’ means to break into small, sharp fragments, and refers to the way in which the piece is structured as a type of mosaic or stylistic patchwork. Many sections of the piece feature instrument sounds breaking or distorting in someway–whether this be in the extremes of register, wild glissandos, or crunchy chords. The other meaning of ‘splinter’ is as a foreign object within the body. This acts as a metaphor for my experimentation with some lighter, delicate moments, which are not always part of my musical soundworld.

-Program Note by composer

My Eyes Are Full of Shadow “My eyes are full of shadow, and my part Of life is yesterday.”

—Edith Nesbit I've always been a person prone to melancholy. My mother used to say that I had periods of sadness interrupted by periods where I was happy about being sad.As an adult, I've learned to be contented in these low periods and in those moments,I seek out thehealing power of music and poetry. Edith Nesbit's "Age to Youth," from which this work's title is taken, describes looking back on a moment of pain in the past and an inability— an unwillingness?—to move beyond it.Finding this poem brought me great joy inconnecting to its sadness.My Eyes Are Full of Shadowopens with an optimism of a new day but as the cadences are consistently left largely unfulfilled, we realize something is amiss.Each attempted restart of the opening results in another aborted cadence and now they are frequently interrupted by a simple, sad chaconne. Reflecting the poem's insistence on living in the past, this interrupting chaconne grows more insistent and eventually gives way to a return to the opening but now colored by the assertions of the chaconne.My Eyes are Full of Shadow was commissioned by the SEC Band Directors Association for its members.

-Program Note by composer

Program Notes

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We Choose to Go to the Moon “There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet. Its hazards are hostile to us all. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind, and its opportunity for peaceful cooperation many never come again. But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”

-President John F. Kennedy, September 12, 1962

In the fall of 2019 when I was asked to write a new wind ensemble work to accompany Mare Tranquillitatis,a piece I had written eleven years prior, I was both thrilled to revisit an older work that has meant a lot to me personally and nervous to try to finda way to bring ideas from that piece into the present and the future. As I write these program notes, we have not sent a person to the Moon in 47 years, but our drive to return there and go beyond is as strong as it has been in recent memory. For generations, we dreamed of traveling to the stars, and during the 1960s, competition with the Soviet Union finally pushed us to achieve manned space flight and travel to our nearest celestial neighbor. As President Kennedy said in his famous 1962 speech, we chooseto do difficult things because they are hard, and because the reward is so much greater for achieving them.

Putting people on the Moon and returning them to Earth safely was not without many trials and setbacks, such as the Apollo 1 tragedy; succeeding atthis monumental task was a testament to perseverance. This composition is a celebration of the achievements of the intrepid astronauts, scientists, and engineers who made what seemed impossible a reality in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and also a reflection of the excitement surrounding the possibility of returning to the Moon and going beyond to Mars in the near future.We Choose to Go to the Moon opens with the same floating A flat major chord as Mare Tranquillitatis, but a sudden shift in harmony led by pitch-bending trombones and horns immediately returns us back to the Earth. After a few attempts to get going, a continuous flow of notes helps push the music forward while fragmented melodies interject. This music is restless and complex, reflecting the difficulty and dangers of sending people outside the comforts of our planet. A calm middle section features euphonium and bass clarinet solos, with rich harmonies that help the music become warmer and more stable. As the stream of quick notes returns, a contrasting chorale emerges that culminates in a celebratory explosion of sound.

-Program Note by composer

Program Notes

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Four Scottish Dances These dances were composed early in 1957 andare dedicated to the BBC Light Music Festival. They are all based on original melodies but one, the melody of which is composed by Robert Burns.The first dance is in the style of a slow strathspey --a slow Scottish dance in 4/4 meter --with many dotted notes, frequently in the inverted arrangement of the "Scottish snap." The name was derived from the strath valley of Spey. The second, a lively reel, begins in the key of E-flat and rises a semi-tone each time it is played until the bassoon plays it, at a greatly reduced speed, in the key of G. The final statement of the dance isat the original speed in the home key of E-flat.The third dance is in the style of a Hebridean song and attempts to give an impression of the sea and mountain scenery on a calm summer's day in the Hebrides. The last dance is a lively fling, which makes a great deal of use of the open string pitches of the violin (saxophones in the band edition).

-Program Note by composer

Conductor Biographies

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Nicholas J. Carlson joined the faculty at the University of Illinois Chicago in the fall of 2010and currently serves as Senior Lecturer, Acting Director of Bands, and Coordinator of Instrumental Music. His responsibilities include conducting the Wind Ensemble, teaching the undergraduate conducting curriculum, teaching clarinet and chamber music, and all administrative aspects of the UIC band program. Prior to his work in Chicago, he was a graduate associate for the University of WisconsinMilwaukee (UWM) band department, where he earned a Master of Music degree with a dual concentration in instrumental conducting and clarinet performance under the direction of John Climer and Todd Levy, respectively. He served as the graduate conducting associate with the UWM University Band and UWM Youth Wind Ensembles and assisted with the overall administration of the university band program.Mr. Carlson is an active conductor, clinician, and freelance clarinetist and performs regularly throughout the Midwest. He is the Music Director/Conductor of the University of Chicago Wind Ensemble and the Music Co-Director/ Conductor of the Chicago Public Schools All-City Symphonic Band I. He has given numerous clinics throughout the greater Chicagoland area and has guest conducted honor bands in Wisconsin and Georgia. He is the principal clarinetist of the Chicago Arts Orchestra, Symphony847, and the Lake County Symphony Orchestra (LCSO). Other recent performances include the world premiere and recording ofMusic for Fiveby MarcMellits, the Midwest premiere of Mohammed Fairouz’s clarinet concerto Tahrir, and a featured performance with the concert series New Music Chicagoat the Chicago Cultural Center. As a featured soloist of the LCSO, he performed the world premiere of Donald Walker’s Fantasy for Clarinet & Orchestraand theArtie Shaw Clarinet Concerto.He has also performed with the Milwaukee Skylight Opera, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Elgin Symphony Orchestra, Kenosha Symphony Orchestra, Oshkosh Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Wind Orchestra, and the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra.Mr. Carlson attended the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in music education with Honors. Mr. Carlson taught instrumental music in the La Crosse Area School District and maintained a large private lesson studio. His professional affiliations include College Band Directors National Association, National Band Association, Music Educators National Conference, Illinois Music Educators Association, and Kappa Kappa Psi National Music Service Fraternity.

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UIC Concert Series Spring 2022 Saturday, March 5

Friday, April 15

Wind Ensemble L280 Wind Ensemble and

Friday, April 29 Percussion Ensemble

Theatre, 7:30pm 1044

Symphonic Band

L280 Theatre, 7:30pm

W Harrison St.

Logan Center, 7:30pm

1044 WHarrison St.

Chicago, IL

1044 W Harrison St.

Chicago, IL

Chicago, IL Friday, March 11

Saturday, April 30

Symphonic Band

Sunday, April 24

Contemporary

L280 Theatre, 7:30pm

UIC Orchestra

Music and

1044 W Harrison St.

Whitney M. Young High

Student Showcase

Chicago, IL

School Auditorium,

L280 Theatre, 7:30pm

3:00pm

1044 W Harrison St.

Thursday, April 20:

211 S Laflin St

Chicago, IL

UIC Jazz Festival

Chicago, IL

Epiphany Center for the Arts,

Tuesday, April 26:

201 S Ashland Ave,

Pop Rock,

Chicago, IL 60607

L285 Recital Hall,

TIME TBD

7:30pm 1044 West Harrison

Saturday, March 26

St. Chicago IL 60607

UIC Wind Ensemble at the Percy Grainger

Wednesday, April 27

Festival

Jazz Ensemble and

Orchestral Hall

Jazz Combo

Symphony Center

L285 Recital Hall

(time TBD)

7:30pm

220 S Michigan Ave

1044 W Harrison St.

Chicago, IL

Chicago, IL

Thursday, April 7 UIC

Thursday, April 28

Choral Festival, Notre Jazz Workshop and Dame

Jazz Combo

de Chicago, All day

L285 Recital Hall,

1334 W Flournoy St

7:30pm

Chicago, IL

1044 W Harrison St. Chicago, IL

Mission

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The School of Theatre & Music provides innovative, rigorous, and comprehensive academic and performance programs as part of our diverse, urban context. Our programs develop practical knowledge, cultural sensitivity, intellectual resourcefulness, and imaginative daring in emerging artists and scholars. We connect students to Chicago's abundant, vibrant theatre culture and to the city's dynamic jazz and classical music networks.

Thank you for being a dedicated member of our community!

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