Spring 2024 University of Texas at San Antonio Wind Symphony
Flute / Piccolo
Hannah Benitez
Zackery Cuellar
Jazmine Dearlove
Jordan Rodriguez
Abigail Valadez
Oboe
August Naranjo
Julian Rivera
Bassoon
Brendan Tsai
Jared Worman (also Contra Bassoon)
Cl ari net
Sikander Ahmed
Kali Crist
Joel Hernandez
Kenedy Lerma
Madilynne Mohr (M)
Brenda Reynoso
Joanna Sanchez
Bass Cl arinet
Michael Lee Summers
Al to Saxophone
1 Makenzi Costa
2 Gabriel Campa
Tenor Saxophone
Brianna Castilla
Baritone Saxophone
Nicholas Zars
Horn
Brandon Bayer
Macy Harminson
Caleb Jones
Noe Loera
Andrew Ramirez
Band Staff
Jordan Rodriguez - Music Librarian
Jarred Worman - Music Librarian
Trumpet
Chris Barrera
Jay Hidrogo
Caleb McDonald
Gustavo Medrano
Raymon Saldana
Myles Thornton (M)
Karim Vazquez
Trombone
Eva Ayala
Andrew Garcia
Ethan Gomes (M)
Jayden Zunker-Trevino
Bass Trombone
Javier Lopez
Euphoni um
Alex Guzman
Brandon Ichavez (G)
Tuba
Matthew Bruns (M)
Kenyon McCrary (M)
Percussion
Zachary Cook
Gregory Felter
Nicolas Morales
Rebecca Palmer
Mark Sawyer
Charles Settles
Meaghan Trevino (GA)
Doubl e Bass
Heriberto Ayma
Organ
Scott Rushforth
Guest Musi ci ans
Sarah Hamm – Bass Clarinet
Ethan Aguilar - Piano
Graduate Assi stants/Band Managers
Graduate students are listed with (G) above
Graduate Assistants are listed with (GA) above Band Managers are listed with (M) above
the
contribution
by each musician.
Personnel roster is listed alphabetically to emphasize
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C o n d u c t o r s
R o n E l l i s serves as Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Music at The University of Texas at San Antonio. Prof Ellis conducts the UTSA Wind Ensemble, the UTSA Symphonic Band, The UTSA University Band, and the UTSA Athletic Bands. His responsibilities also include teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in conducting, wind literature, and music education. A nationally recognized guest conductor, adjudicator, and composer/arranger, his works for concert band, orchestra and choir are performed by university, community, high school and professional wind bands as well as in Carnegie Hall. He also currently serves as a music director for Walt Disney Attractions Entertainment in Orlando where he has directed the Toy Soldiers and the Student Musician Program since 1993.
He is a member of the College Band Directors National Association, Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Bandmasters Association, Florida Music Educators Association, Florida Bandmasters Association, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Music Fraternity. He is also an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi, Tau Beta Sigma, and Pi Kappa Lambda. Prof. Ellis received his Bachelor of Arts in Trombone Performance from the University of Central Florida and a Master of Music in Wind and Orchestral Conducting from the University of South Florida where he was a conducting student of William Wiedrich.
D r . R o b e r t R u s t o w i c z - A native of the Detroit area, Michigan, Dr. Robert Rustowicz received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from Central Michigan University in 1968. He spent four years in the Air Force band program, serving as an Oboist at Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio, and Clark Air Base, Republic of the Philippines. He completed the Master of Music degree in Oboe Performance (1975) and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Wind Conducting and Literature (1980) at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
Dr. Rustowicz came to the University of Texas at San Antonio in 1976 to start the instrumental music program. While his primary responsibility had been conducting the UTSA Wind Ensemble, his teaching duties included undergraduate and graduate courses in conducting, wind literature and rehearsal techniques. He authored a conducting text, Basic Conducting Technique – Patterns and Gestures, for use in undergraduate conducting classes at UTSA, and has presented clinics at the Texas Music Educators Convention (Non-Traditional Performance Techniques in Band Literature and Increasing the Musical Effectiveness of Your Band) and the Texas Bandmasters Association Convention (Maintaining the Integrity of the Band Repertoire).
Dr. Rustowicz retired in the Spring, 2012, and was appointed Associate Professor Emeritus in the Fall of 2014.
Dr. Rustowicz currently serves as the conductor and music director for the San Antonio Wind Symphony. A group he founded in 2003.
T h e U T S A W i n d S y m p h o n y
The UTSA Wind Symphony is comprised of UTSA Students who have achieved an extreme high level of musicianship and who perform some of the most challenging music composed for wind band. Membership in this ensemble is open to all UTSA Students, regardless of major, who audition at the beginning of each semester. The UTSA Wind Symphony maintains a vigorous performance schedule of three demanding concerts each semester as well as an ensemble tour when schedule and budget permits.
Andrew David Perkins is an American arranger, composer and conductor.
Perkins' orchestral training began in Rochester schools, accelerated at the Interlochen Arts Camp, and led to undergraduate studies focusing on music education. He holds a specialist certificate in orchestration from the Berklee College of Music, a Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Michigan State University.
Perkins has served as an adjunct professor of Film Scoring at Madonna University in Livonia, Michigan, and is currently the Director of Instrumental Music and Music Technology at Fenton High School in Fenton, Michigan. He additionally serves as the Music Director and Conductor of the Fenton Community Orchestra. Mr. Perkins is a member of the American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and his music is exclusively published through APOLLO STUDIOS (ASCAP).
Mr. Perkins spent several seasons as a marching member and conductor of the Phantom Regiment Drum & Bugle Corps from Rockford, Illinois. He especially enjoys writing music for younger musicians, on which he has focused for the past few years, including commissions from Davison HS, Bloomfield Hills HS, the Flint Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Conservatoire de Limonest, and a variety of consortia. A regular guest clinician nationally and abroad, he is the winner of the 2018 National Band Association/Alfred Publishing Young Band Composition Award.
On Clutch, the composer writes, “I have visceral childhood memories of going to the Belle Isle Indy car races in Detroit with my Dad. The smell of high-octane racing fuel, burning rubber, domestic beer, feeling the scorching hot summer sun bouncing off the asphalt. The pitch-bending sounds of the Formula One cars screaming past us at insane speeds, the roar of the crowd at the checkered flag. Wildly dangerous, every boundary being tested, all for a chance at the winner's circle.
This competitive spirit inspired me to write a fanfare that pushes the boundaries of tempo, range & technical demand, and gives the conductor, performers, and listener a nice adrenaline rush too. I also wanted to push myself to write the most exciting wildly chaotic music I could imagine.
Fast. Loud. And a bit reckless.”
- Program Note by composer wuw
P r o g r a m N o t e s Compiled and Edited by Ron Ellis C l u t c h – A n d r e w D a v i d P e r k i n s
Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Gottlieb Mozart was an Austrian composer of the Classical period.
Mozart's father, Leopold, was a composer and violinist, working mainly as concertmaster at the archiepiscopal court and the Salzburg court. Mozart displayed an aptitude for music at a very early age, writing his first sonata at age four, his first symphony at eight, and his first opera (La Finta Semplice) at twelve. His father took advantage of his musical talents, setting out on a tour of France and England and visiting numerous courts in both countries. The young and precocious Mozart amazed audiences with his immense talent and his showmanship, as well as with his behaviour. Haydn called him “the greatest composer known to me in person or by name; he has taste, and what is more, the greatest knowledge of composition.”
Although he is best known for his operas, symphonies, and works for piano, Mozart contributed much to the body of wind literature. Perhaps the three most important works in this vein are his Serenades Nos. 10, 11, and 12, K.361/370a, K. 375, and K.388/384a, respectively.
Mozart died of rheumatic fever in 1791. Despite persistent rumors to the contrary, Mozart was not poisoned, and the Italian composer Antonio Salieri certainly had nothing to do with his death. Mozart was never a healthy individual, and he had suffered from rheumatic fever most of his life.
Mozart's famous opera, The Marriage of Figaro, composed in 1786, was the first of his greatest series of operas. The combination of DaPonte's witty text and Mozart's sparkling music was irresistible, and the opera was an immediate success. The adventures of the resourceful barber (who appears again in Rossini's Barber of Seville) are illustrated by some of the most delightful music Mozart ever wrote. The overture, which is in one tempo throughout, is a pure gem of spontaneous melody and skillful design.
- Program Note by Program Notes for Band wuw
Robert Russell Bennett was an American composer.
Bennett's early music studies were with his parents and Carl Busch and from 1926-29 he studied composition with Nadia Boulanger. Most of his career was spent as an orchestrator for over 300 Broadway musicals from the 1920s into the 1960s. Examples of these include Show Boat, Girl Crazy, Of Thee I Sing, Annie Get Your Gun, South Pacific, The King and I, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, and Camelot. He also worked on the documentary Victory at Sea by developing melodies by Richard Rodgers into over twelve hours of music.
T h e M a r r i a g e o f F i g e r o ( O v e r t u r e ) – W o l f g a n g A m a d e u s M o z a r t ( E a r l S l o c u m )
S y m p h o n i c S o n g s f o r B a n d – R o b e r t R u s s e l l B e n n e t t
His original works include seven symphonies for orchestra and an opera. Bennett also hosted his own radio show and wrote the book Instrumentally Speaking on scoring for theater groups. Besides his original compositions for winds he made arrangements for band of works such as Porgy and Bess, Oklahoma!, and The Sound of Music
To most music fans, Robert Russell Bennett remains best known for his musical theater scoring and arranging. For decades, Bennett was Broadway’s pre-eminent orchestrator, scoring all or part of nearly 300 musicals, including Anything Goes, Kiss Me Kate, Annie Get Your Gun, My Fair Lady, Oklahoma, The Sound of Music, and other immortal works. Bennett’s second work for band, the Symphonic Songs, is in three movements, each depicting a song form and presented in Bennett’s typical charming Americana style.
Symphonic Songs was commissioned by the Kappa Kappa Psi Band Fraternity and premiered by the National Intercollegiate Band at the 1957 national convention in Salt Lake City. The work is as much a suite of dances or scenes as songs, deriving their names from the tendency of the principal parts to sing out a fairly diatonic tune against whatever rhythm develops in the middle instruments. The Serenade has the feeling of strumming, from which the title is obtained. Otherwise it bears little resemblance to the serenades of Mozart. The Spiritual might possibly strike the listener as being unsophisticated enough to justify its title, but in performance this movement sounds far simpler than it really is. The Celebration recalls an old-time county fair with cheering throngs (in the woodwinds), a circus act or two, and the inevitable mule race.
- Program Note by Program Notes for Band wuw
Lindsay Bronnenkant is American composer, conductor and student.
Ms. Bronnenkant currently [2021] studies with Mark Scatterday at the Eastman School of Music in pursuit of a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in wind conducting. She received her master’s degree in wind conducting from the University of Michigan under the tutelage of Michael Haithcock. Her talents as a conductor have earned her several honors, including an invitation to conduct the United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own” at their 2017 Conductors Showcase.
Ms. Bronnenkant is director of the Hobart and William Smith Colleges Community Wind Ensemble. Prior to her graduate studies Bronnenkant served as director of bands at the Aquinas Institute of Rochester, director of the University of Rochester Pep Band, and interim conductor of the Brighton Symphony Orchestra. She is an alumna of the Nazareth College of Rochester (B.M., music education), where she studied conducting privately with Jared Chase and Nancy Strelau. She additionally holds a degree in science from the University of Rochester (B.S., brain and cognitive sciences).
T a r o t – S y m p h o n y f o r B a n d – L i n d s a y B r o n n e n k a n t
Gustav Holst was incredibly interested in Indian culture, going so far as to teach himself Sanskrit. Some evidence suggests that he tried to incorporate Indian rāgas into his works, and after investigating Holst’s resources and analyzing his Planets, I believe that Holst tried to reference rāgas that evoked similar characters to those of the planets in his suite. Holst’s access to authentic performance of Indian music was limited, however, and like many composers especially as a British composer entrenched in modal composition during the English folk song revival of the early twentieth century he took what he understood of rāgas and filled in the gaps with Western theoretical knowledge, resulting in the treatment of what were once rāgas as scales or modes.
I decided to compose a suite that traces Holst’s footsteps but applies his musical experimentation to a new topic: Tarot. Like astrology, Tarot cards have been used for divination, and as each planet in modern astrology represents specific characteristics and personality traits, so too does each Tarot card. Some elements of the Hindustani thāts, Karnātak mēlakarta rāgas, and pitch sets Holst references in his Planets are referenced in Tarot using a similarly Western approach to portray Tarot card analogs.
In Tarot, the Fool represents someone who dives head-first through open doors with enthusiasm (and sometimes with a blissful ignorance of any looming danger). The card represents new beginnings, playfulness, naïveté, and optimism. The first movement, The Fool, contains several intentionally comedic moments as the Fool, unaware of the luck manifesting from his will, manages to skip through a minefield unharmed. The movement references the pitches of the Kalyān that are found in Jupiter, a benefic planet of good fortune, to represent the Fool’s beginner’s luck. The movement also uses the whole-tone scale hinted at in some of Holst’s themes for Uranus, a chaotic and unpredictable planet, to depict the unintentional mayhem that inevitably follows each of the Fool’s steps.
In Tarot, the suit of cups corresponds with emotional energy and the element of water. A deeply empathic soul, the King of Cups tempers his emotions by balancing his heart with his head. The King leads diplomatically through compassion. The second movement, The King of Cups, references the pitches of mēlakarta rāga Dhavalāmbari from Neptune as a nod to a fellow intuitive and ruler of the sea, and additionally employs the pitches of the Bhairavī that are found in Venus to allude to the King’s kind and gentle countenance.
The Tower represents surprise, upheaval, and destruction. It represents the collapse of structure, the crumbling of façades based on faulty foundations. The final movement references Mars, the Bringer of War with two similar pitch sets: the one Holst uses in Mars, as well as a theme that Holst may have meant to draw from, Bhairav.
- Program Note by composer
John Philip Sousa (6 November 1854, Washington, D.C. – 6 March 1932, Reading, Pennsylvania) was America's best known composer and conductor during his lifetime. Highly regarded for his military band marches, Sousa is often called the "The March King" or "American March King".
T h e F r e e L a n c e ( M a r c h ) – J o h n P h i l i p S o u s a
wuw
Sousa was born the third of 10 children of John Antonio Sousa (born in Spain of Portuguese parents) and Maria Elisabeth Trinkhaus (born in Bavaria). His father played trombone in the U.S. Marine band, so young John grew up around military band music. Sousa started his music education, playing the violin, as a pupil of John Esputa Jr. and G. F. Benkert for harmony and musical composition at the age of six. He was found to have absolute pitch. When Sousa reached the age of 13, his father enlisted him as as an apprentice of the United States Marine Corps. Sousa served his apprenticeship for seven years, until 1875, and apparently learned to play all the wind instruments while also continuing with the violin.
Several years later, Sousa left his apprenticeship to join a theatrical (pit) orchestra where he learned to conduct. He returned to the U.S. Marine Band as its head in 1880, and remained as its conductor until 1892. He organized his own band the year he left the Marine Band. The Sousa Band toured 1892-1931, performing 15,623 concerts in America and abroad. In 1900, his band represented the United States at the Paris Exposition before touring Europe. In Paris, the Sousa Band marched through the streets inclu ding the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe – one of only eight parades the band marched in over its forty years. Sousa died at the age of 77 on March 6th, 1932 after conducting a rehearsal of the Ringgold Band in Reading, Pennsylvania. The last piece he conducted was "The Stars and Stripes Forever", his most famous work and the US's national march.
Sousa wrote 136 independent marches, while a host of other marches and dances have been adapted from his stage works. Despite the genre's relatively limited structure, Sousa's marches are highly varied in character. The vast majority are in the quickstep dance style and a third of their titles bear military designations. His earlier marches are best suited for actual marching, while later works are increasingly complex. He also wrote school songs for several American Universities, including Kansas State University, Marquette University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Minnesota.
People are usually aware of Sousa’s prodigious creation of marches, but they are generally unaware of the vast array of suites, songs, waltzes, humoresques, and arrangements he produced. The Free Lance was one of 15 operettas. The title comes from Middle Age knights with lances who were independent and could choose for whom they would work.
First produced in 1905, the story does stretch belief. The bankrupt kingdoms of Braggadocia and Graftiana, each seeking the other kingdom's wealth, sought a marriage of their daughter and son, respectively. The Prince and Princess, unhappy with the proposed marriage, run away independently. The kingdoms force Griselda, a goose girl, to impersonate the Princess. A goatherd, Sigmund, would take the Prince’s place in the ceremony. Since these two happen to be already husband and wife, they see no problem in the arrangement. After the ceremony, each country discovers the poverty of the other and war is declared. Meanwhile, the real Prince and Princess meet each other, disguised as peasants, and fall in love. Sigmund arranges to hire himself out to each country as a “free lance” soldier. He cleverly manipulates the battle so that neither side can win and a truce is called. He demands a ransom from each country, which cannot be met, so he proclaims himself as ruler of both countries. The true Prince and Princess are too much in love to care about ruling.
In 1906, Sousa utilized the song On to Victory as the central theme for The Free Lance March, incorporating many other musical motifs from the operetta. This was the only march Sousa composed that year, because he devoted significant time and effort into campaigning for composers’ royalties on recordings. This effort formed a foundation for our current copyright laws.
- Program Note by Foothill Symphonic Winds
The 350-member “Spirit of San Antonio” Marching Band is open to all UTSA students, regardless of major. Like all college bands, the group is comprised of students of various performance backgrounds. The “Spirit of San Antonio” will perform a standard pre-game show, 4-5 different halftime shows, stand tunes, and maintain UTSA traditions, while at the same time promoting a positive learning and social environment for its members. College bands strive towards being fun and spirited organizations while still achieving a quality of performance representative of the image of the university.
U T S A W i n d E n s e m b l e
The UTSA Wind Ensemble is comprised of UTSA Students who have achieved an extreme high level of musicianship and who perform some of the most challenging music composed for wind band. Membership in this ensemble is open to all UTSA Students, regardless of major, who audition at the beginning of each semester. The UTSA Wind Ensemble maintains a vigorous performance schedule of three demanding concerts each semester as well as an ensemble tour when schedule and budget permits.
The UTSA Symphonic Band is made up of 45-55 outstanding wind players who perform a repertoire chosen from a variety of historical periods and for ensembles of various sizes. While the group occasionally presents pieces composed for smaller groups, much of its time is spent in the study and performance of works from the standard symphonic band repertoire. Membership is open to all students at the university who audition at the beginning of each semester.
The UTSA University Band performs a wide variety of works from different composers and arrangers, in addition to maintaining an active three-concert schedule each semester. There is no formal audition required to participate; students must be able to read music and play a concert band instrument. Membership in the ensemble includes students from almost every discipline on campus. We invite all students interested in performing in this ensemble to come out and join us at the beginning of each semester!
B a n d s a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f T e x a s a t S a n A n t o n i o ALL UTSA STUDENTS can make music with us!
S A “ S p i r i t o f S a n A n t o n i o ” M a r c h i n g B a n d
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T S A U n i v e r s i t y B a n d
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Special thanks to the following for their ongoing support and dedication to the UTSA Bands:
Dr. Tracy Cowden, Director, School of Music
Dr. Stacey Davis, Acting Director, School of Music
Dr. Kasandra Keeling, Associate Director, School of Music
Naomy Ybarra, Administrative Services Officer 1
Steven Hill, Administrative Associate
Wesley Penix, Senior Events Manager
Rolando Ramon, Marketing Coordinator
Dr. John Zarco, Director of Instrumental Ensembles
Prof. Hector Garcia – Assistant Director of Athletic Bands
Mr. Donald Marchand, Music Program Specialist, UTSA Bands
Emilio De Leon, and Meaghan Trevino, UTSA Bands Graduate Assistants
Prof. Sherry Rubins and Prof. Paul Millette, Percussion Area Faculty
Dr. Rachel Woolf and Dr. Oswaldo Zapata, Woodwind and Brass Area Coordinators
Dr. Kasandra Keeling and Prof. Christine Debus, Keyboard Area Coordinators
Prof. Troy Peters, Director of Orchestras
Dr. Yoojin Muhn, Director of Choral Activities
UTSA School of Music Faculty
Jordan Rodriguez and Jared Worman, School of Music Librarians
UTSA Bands Managers
Mu Tau Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi
Iota Tau Chapter of Tau Beta Sigma
A c k n o w l e d g e m e n t s
U p c o m i n g U T S A S c h o o l o f M u s i c E v e n t s All events are in the UTSA Recital Hall and are free unless otherwise indicated Sun. Feb. 25th, 3:00 pm UTSA University Band Thu. Feb. 29th, 7:30 pm UTSA Orchestra U T S A N e w M u s i c F e s t i v a l with Distinguished Guest Composer – Reena Esmail Tue. Mar. 5th, 7:30p UTSA Chamber Ensembles Wed. Mar. 6th, 7:30p UTSA Symphonic Band and Wind Symphony Thu. Mar. 7th, 7:30p UTSA Choirs F o r M o r e I n f o r m a t i o n : Visit our Website UTSA School of Music h t t p : / / m u s i c . u t s a . e d u
MAKE A BOLD IMPACT
The UTSA School of Music has made incredible strides in providing a high-quality music education for all of our students and being a cultural arts center for the city of San Antonio.
You can help us continue to elevate the quality of our program by making a gift to the School of Music. Our donors have made an invaluable impact through scholarships and funding research, innovative academic programs, outreach activities, and beyond.
Donations have also contributed to our ability to offer public enrichment activities such as Maestria, En Vivo, the Insitute for Music Research lecture series, and On-Corps, our free music program for U.S. veterans.
HOW TO GIVE
Gifts can be made via the secure online donation form. Select “Friends of Music” in the designation dropdown.
For more information on how to make a gift, visit https://colfa.utsa.edu/music/giving
En Vivo brings high-caliber artists from all over the world to our university for free public concerts and masterclasses for our students.
On-Corps engages the community by offering U.S. veterans free music lessons and the opportunity to perform in a concert band ensemble.
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