Circus Days with the North Coast Wind Ensemble

It’s Circus Days with the North Coast Wind Ensemble, and there’s something different in each ring, from circus marches to a modern concerto featuring pianist Daniela Mineva.

The circus marches (also known as “screamers” because they are designed to whip up the circus crowd) are the fast and furious Rolling Thunder by Henry Fillmore, and Circus Days by Karl L. King, who conducted circus bands for Barnum & Bailey and Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, and composed some of the most recognizable circus melodies.

The concert’s featured work is the Little Concerto, a 1951 piece by California modernist composer Henry Cowell. “No other composer of our time has produced a body of work so radical and so normal,” famed composer Virgil Thompson said of Cowell.

HSU professor Daniela Mineva is the solo pianist for the concerto. “This work uses extended piano techniques,” said conductor Kenneth Ayoob, “including strumming the strings inside the piano, and the use of tone clusters played with the forearm.”

Also on the program is An Original Suite for Military Band by British composer Gordon Jacob, Variation Overture by American band composer Clifton Williams, and works by Norman Dello Joio, Vincent Persichetti and Alfred Reed.

The North Coast Wind Ensemble is comprised of musicians from local communities. Proceeds from the concert benefit the HSU Music Department Scholarship Fund.

North Coast Wind Ensemble conducted by Kenneth Ayoob and featuring pianist Daniela Mineva performs on Saturday January 28 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $5 general, $2 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Produced by HSU Music Department.