Friday, April 29, 2016

Symphonic Band’s Promise of Star Wars

If the blockbuster movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens got you nostalgic (or curious) about the Star Wars that started it all, you’re in luck. The HSU Symphonic Band performs the original Star Wars Suite, plus a world premiere by HSU composer Brian Post, Copland’s “Promise of Living” and a trombone piece featuring student Craig Hull, on Friday April 29 in Fulkerson Recital Hall.


Symphonic Band played two movements from John Williams’ Star Wars Suite in December, before “The Force Awakens” was released. Now old and new fans can enjoy the entire suite, based on music from the first trilogy.

 “This is not your average high school band Star Wars arrangement,” said Symphonic Band director Paul Cummings. “This suite is at least 20 minutes of substantial music, and the hardest by far for band. It calls for a number of unusual instruments. But when you hear music from the suite, you appreciate the genius of composer John Williams in a way that the movie soundtracks don’t quite deliver.”


The concert also includes the world premiere of Textures, a two-movement work by HSU composition professor Brian Post, and the first movement of the Trombone Concerto by Danish composer Launy Grondahl that features HSU student trombonist Craig Hull as soloist. “This is an excellent piece,” said Cummings, “and one of the best in the repertoire for trombone.” 


 On the program is “The Promise of Living” by Aaron Copland, taken from his only full-length opera, The Tender Land. “It’s beautiful music that’s not known very well because Copland is just not known for opera. Though this is tuneful, it’s not typical Copland—it’s a slow, reflective piece, beautifully scored for band, including some very nice passages for the English horn.” 

 The Symphonic Band also performs several movements from the Suite Francais by Darius Milhaud and Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Grainger. 

The HSU Symphonic Band performs on Friday April 29 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8, $5 seniors and children, free to HSU students with ID, from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door.  Directed by Paul Cummings, produced by HSU Music department.

Saturday, April 23, 2016

Three Ensembles Evoke the 19th Century in “Alcatraz Brass Plus” 

 Two brass quintets play 19th century works on period instruments, and join in a grand finale performing a Eureka-made march with the Humboldt Bay Brass Band in the “Alcatraz Brass Plus” concert on Saturday April 23 at Fulkerson Recital Hall. 

 A quintet from Sacramento, the 5th California Volunteer Infantry Regiment Band, specializes in 19th century brass band music. At Alcatraz Island, they recently reenacted a performance of a military band based in San Francisco in the 1800s. As guest performers for this concert, they play 19th century works with a California flavor, including “Crossing the Grand Sierras,” “Pacific Rail Road Polka” and “Banks of the Sacramento.” 

 The brass project for HSU students this semester is the 19th Century Quintet, which also performs on period instruments. This group plays works by 19th century German composer Ludwig Maurer and Russian composer Victor Ewald. “This music is ‘symphonic’ in tones, and chamber music in setting,” said HSU brass professor Gilbert Cline.

 The two quintets combine for two famous 19th century works, Stephen Foster’s “Maggie By My Side” and “Hail, Columbia” which for much of the 19th century functioned as the American national anthem. 

 They are joined by the entire Humboldt Bay Brass Band for a Humboldt County finale: “Sequoia Carnival March,” composed in 1895 for a summer festival in Eureka. “This one is part John Philip Sousa, and part Scott Joplin,” Cline said.

 “Alcatraz Brass Plus” is performed on Saturday April 23 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8, $5 seniors and children, free to HSU students with ID, from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. Produced by HSU Music department.

Alcatraz Brass Plus: The Program

5th California Volunteer Infantry Regiment Band

Banks of the Sacramento based on Stephen Foster
 Arranged by Conrad Ray Hicks and John Moore Jr.

 Banner Of the Sea by G. Hewitt
 Crossing the Grand Sierra’s by Henry Clay Work
 Adapted by John Moore Jr.

Pacific Rail Road Polka arranged by Ken Brungess
 Edited by John Moore Jr.

Santa Anna’s Retreat from Buena Vista by Stephen C Foster (1848)
 Edited by John Moore Jr.

 Overture to “Patience” (or “Bunthorne’s Bride”) Sir Arthur Sullivan 1881 Arranged by John Moore Jr.

HSU 19th Century Quintet 

 Suite (1881) by  Ludwig Maurer (1789-1878)

 Quintet by Viktor Ewald (1860-1935)

 The HSU 19th Century Quintet is using historic brass instruments (all from the Cline collection) : ca. 1865 E-flat rotary valve soprano cornet (US) ca. 1895 B-flat rotary valve mezzo cornet (Germany) ca. 1885 E-flat rotary valve alto horn (US) ca. 1895 B-flat piston valve baritone horn (France) ca. 1896 E-flat piston valve bass horn (England) (and also, for the Ewald, a B-flat rotary valve mezzo cornet of my own construction, affectionately called "The FrankenCline Trumpet" because of all the parts I took from older, out-of-service trumpets ! )

Both Quintets

"Maggie By My Side" by Stephen Foster
"Hail, Columbia": music by Philip Phile, lyrics by Joseph Hopkinson

Both Quintets with Humboldt Bay Brass Band

Sequoia Carnival March

HSU Composition Studio at Morris Graves

As part of the Constellation Series, students and faculty of the HSU Composition Studio will perform on Saturday April 23 at 8 p.m. at the Morris Graves Museum.

They will perform original minimalist works as well as the classic minimalist composition "In C" by Terry Riley.

 "At times performers will be located in different parts of the museum while performing at the same time. Four of the pieces performed will be collaborative compositions written by everyone in the studio. Improvisation will be an important element of all of the pieces being given throughout the evening. The goal of each piece will be to spontaneously create a musical and electronic soundscape through the use of pre-composed and improvised material."

For more information, follow this link to Humboldt State Now.

Sunday, April 17, 2016

Percussion Rhythms from Bali, Africa and Cuba at HSU

 Three HSU percussion groups lead a rhythmic tour from Bali to West Africa and the Cuban Carnival in their shared concert on Sunday April 17 in Fulkerson Recital Hall. 

 The Percussion Ensemble performs “Ketjak,” a contemporary work by Japanese composer Akira Nishimura, based on the Balinese Monkey Chant that traditionally accompanies enactment of the Sanskrit epic story, the Ramayana. Seven percussionists play multiple instruments, including two sets of tubular bells.

 “This virtuosic piece captures the deep emotion of the Monkey Chant in a dramatic percussive orchestration that pushes the seven-player ensemble to the limits of their technique and musicality,” said Ensemble director Eugene Novotney. 

 Then the HSU West African Ensemble performs a suite of traditional Mandeng drumming using all indigenous instruments, including djembe, dundun and balafon.


 Finally, the World Percussion Group presents the driving beat of “Conga Mozambique,” an arrangement of Afro-Cuban Comparsa music. A horn section playing traditional melodies adds to the authentic Cuban Carnival sound.

 The HSU Percussion Ensemble, West African Ensemble and World Percussion Group perform on Sunday April 17 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8, $5 seniors and children, free to HSU students with ID, from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door.  Directed by Eugene Novotney, Howard Kaufman and Joe Bishop. Produced by HSU Music department.

Friday, April 08, 2016

Jazz Combos: From Winter in Arcata to the Sunny Side of the Street 

Four bands playing jazz classics, newer jazz and HSU originals perform in the HSU Jazz Combos concert on Friday April 8 in Fulkerson Recital Hall. 

The band Trumpet Pancake features two of the more renowned HSU horn players, Andrew Henderson (trumpet) and Craig Hull (trombone), plus David Semon (guitar), Eric Simpson (bass) and Jacob Partida (drums.) They play tunes by Portland-born jazz star Esperanza Spalding and the fusion band Snarky Puppy as well as a David Semon original entitled “Winter in Arcata.” 

 A medley about sunshine that includes the classic “Sunny Side of the Street” highlights the 2:00 Band set. Their other tunes are “Nature Boy,” the 1940s standard by hippie pioneer Eden Ahbez, and “So Beautiful” by singer-songwriter Musiq Soulchild. Alan Spencer plays tenor sax, Leo Plummer plays guitar, Jared Margen is on bass and Eric Tolfa on drums. 

 Old Hat performs originals by its bassist Ryan Woempner and HSU student Aaron Katz as well as Chick Corea’s “Spain” and a tune composed in 1917 by big band progenitor Art Hickman. Besides Woempner, the band features Kyle McInnis on saxophones, Jake Burns on guitar and Wes Singleton on drums.

 Hindsight Bias plays “Peace” by Horace Silver, “One Finger Snap” by Herbie Hancock and “Captain Marvel” by Chick Corea. The band is Max Marlowe (piano,) Abraham Loaiza (tenor sax,) Ricardo Cueva (bass) and Felipe Pezzoli (drums.) Skyler McCormick sings one number each with Hindsight Bias and the 2:00 Band.

 HSU Jazz Combos perform on Friday April 8 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8, $5 seniors and children, free to HSU students with ID, from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. Directed by Dan Aldag, produced by HSU Music department.

Media: Mad River Union, Times-Standard Urge, North Coast Journal The Set List, HSU Now.

Photo above: Jacob Partida, David Semon, Eric Simpson, Andrew Henderson and Craig Hull are Trumpet Pancake, one of four bands performing in the HSU Jazz Combos concert on Friday April 8.

Jazz Combos: The Program

Trumpet Pancake


"Mela" by Esperanza Spalding
 "Winter In Arcata" by David Semon
 "Binky" from the group Snarky Puppy (composed by Michael League)










Old Hat

"Skyhook" by Ryan Woempner
 "Spain" by Chick Corea
 "Rose Room" by Art Hickman
"Waltz For Lily" by Aaron Katz (HSU student and former Jazz Combos member.)








The 2:00 Band

"Nature Boy" by Eden Ahbez
 a Sun Medley ("Everybody Loves The Sunshine", "Sunny", and "On The Sunny Side Of The Street") by Roy Ayers, Bobby Hebb, and Jimmy McHugh/Dorothy Fields, respectively (although the last may have actually been written by Fats Waller, who sold the rights.)

So Beautiful by Musiq Soulchild (composed by JR Hutson and Soulchild)


Hindsight Bias


"Peace" by Horace Silver
 "One Finger Snap" by Herbie Hancock
 "Captain Marvel" by Chick Corea

Sunday, April 03, 2016

Romantic Stories in Music with the Humboldt Symphony

A queen’s romance, a gypsy’s passion, a show of force, and the legend of a cathedral emerging from the sea are all evoked in music performed by the Humboldt Symphony in an afternoon concert on Sunday April 3. 

 British composer Benjamin Britten wrote the opera Gloriana about the romance of Queen Elizabeth I and the Earl of Essex for the coronation of her namesake, the current Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. Humboldt Symphony plays its most familiar instrumental section, “Courtly Dances.”

 French composer Camille Saint-Saens commemorated his visit to Algeria with a suite that includes a military march, in honor of the French garrison there. “As with most military marches of the 19th century, the trumpet is treated as an heroic fanfare instrument, so the trumpets have a prominent role in this one, especially at the end,” conductor Paul Cummings noted.

 In the 20th century another French composer, Claude Debussy, became fascinated with the legend of a lost city off the French coast, and its submerged cathedral that was said to rise above sea level once a century. Its bells would ring before it slipped back into the ocean depths.

 Debussy’s piece The Engulfed Cathedral is a popular piano prelude, but the orchestral version, Cummings said, is hardly ever performed. Humboldt Symphony provides the rare opportunity to hear the fullness of its mysterious beginning and especially its ecstatic middle, before the sea covers the cathedral again. 

 The orchestra also plays instrumental highlights from a suite Bizet based on his opera about the tempestuous gypsy Carmen—a preview of a fuller treatment ahead in the Humboldt Symphony’s May concert. 

The Humboldt Symphony performs for one afternoon only at the earlier time of 2 p.m. on Sunday April 3 in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8, $5 seniors and children, free to HSU students with ID, from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door.  Directed by Paul Cummings, produced by HSU Music department.

Media: Times-Standard Urge, Humboldt State Now.

Humboldt Symphony: Conductor's Notes

Notes edited from an interview with conductor Paul Cummings:

March Militaire Francaise by Camille Saint-Saëns

This is the military march from Saint-Saëns' Suite Algerian. As with most military marches of the 19th century, the trumpet is treated as an heroic fanfare instrument, proclaiming the battle is about to begin, or victory is won. So the trumpets have a very prominent role, especially at the end of the piece.





Courtly Dances from Gloriana by Benjamin Britten
This is from the opera that Britten wrote about England’s Queen Elizabeth I, for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. Because of its connection with the first Elizabeth, it uses musical structures from her time in the 17th century. So the music sounds like late Renaissance in style, and in keeping with that, Britten uses consorts of instruments. So you’ll hear a string sound, then a brass sound, then a woodwind sound, in the way Renaissance composers use recorders, then Sackbuts, then viols.


The Engulfed Cathedral by Claude Debussy. 

Debussy wrote this piece for piano, in a book of preludes. Though the piano piece is one of Debussy’s most popular and most played, the orchestral version is hardly ever done.

 It’s very slow, and as close to program music as Debussy ever gets. It follows the legend about a cathedral submerged in the sea that once a century emerges out of the water and comes to life when the church bells are heard again. So the music is calm and sort of mysterious at the beginning, then it depicts the cathedral slowly rising, building to the climax when we hear the bells, and then the cathedral sinks back into the water. So musically it has a classic arc shape, a rise to a climax and then a fall back to the beginning point—beginning and ending softly but with a huge climax in the middle.

Movements from Carmen Suite #2 by Georges Bizet

Bizet wrote two orchestral suites culled from his opera Carmen. This was a common practice of getting the music into the concert hall without the elaborate and expensive staging of an entire opera.  This suite has some of the opera's most familiar melodies, such as the Habanera and the Toreador Song.  We'll do some of this second suite for this concert, and the entire suite in our concert in May.


Saturday, April 02, 2016

Satie to Arcata with HSU Guitar Ensemble

HSU Guitar Ensemble proceeds from 20th century France to contemporary Arcata and five pieces by student composers, in its spring concert on Saturday April 2 in Fulkerson Recital Hall. 

 Erik Satie’s signature Gymnopedie No. 1 for solo piano is given a unique ensemble treatment by 10 guitarists and a bassist. Guitarists Andrew Heavelin and Leo Plummer combine on the Debussy favorite, “Claire de Lune,” and are joined by Adrien Bouissou, Kenneth Bozanich and bassist Ryan Woempner for “Golliwog’s Cakewalk” from Debussy Children’s Corner suite. 

 The concert’s second half is devoted to work born in Arcata from a collaboration of guitarists and student composers.

 “Many of the composition students have not written for guitar before, or they had limited experience,” said Guitar Ensemble director Nicholas Lambson, “and the guitar students had not worked with non-guitarist composers before. Working together this semester, we have five brand new, and very different, works for guitar.” 

 The composers are Kenneth Bozanich, Sabrina Fisher, Charlie McClung, Kyle McInnis and Aidan Sanborn-Petterson.

 Guitarists performing in this concert are Adrien Boussiou, Kenneth Bozanich, Evan Dowdakin, Sabrina Fisher, Andrew Heavelin, Jonathan Hernandez, Sean Laughlin, Rodrigo Nunez, Leo Plummer, Sador Rangel and Hawk Silverdragon. 

The HSU Guitar Ensemble performs on Saturday April 2 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8, $5 seniors and children, free to HSU students with ID, from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. Directed by Nicholas Lambson, produced by HSU Music department.

Media: Times-Standard Urge, North Coast Journal The Set List, Humboldt State Now.

Guitar Ensemble: The Program

Gymnopedie No.1 by Erik Satie 
 Adrien Boussiou and Sabrina Fisher - Guitar 1
 Andrew Heavelin, Rodrigo Nunez, Hawk Silverdragon, - Guitar 2
Evan Dowdakin, Sean Laughlin Leo Plummer - Guitar 3
Jonathan Hernandez, Sador Rangel - Guitar 4
Kenneth Bozanich - Bass



Claire de Lune by Claude Debussy

 Andrew Heavelin and Leo Plummer

From Twelve Preludes, Op.11 by Alexander Scriabin
 No.4 performed by Sador Rangel and Evan Dowdakin
 No.17 by Kenneth Bozanich, Evan Dowdakin

Pavane pour une infante défunte (Pavane for a Dead Princess) by Maurice Ravel 
 Andrew Heavelin, Kenneth Bozanich, Adrien Bouissou, Leo Plummer

Golliwogg’s Cakewalk by Claude Debussy
Adrien Bouissou, Andrew Heavelin, Leo Plummer, Kenneth Bozanich. Ryan Woempner, bass

Intermission



Verisimilitude by Charlie McClung
 Adrien Bouissou, Hawk SilverDragon, Andrew Heavelin

 Nowhere Rock by Sabrina Fisher
 Sabrina Fisher, Kenneth Bozanich

Suite for Jazz Trio by Kyle McInnis
 Andrew Henderson, trumpet Leo Plummer, guitar Ryan Woempner, bass

Small Feeling by Aidan Sanborn-Petterson
 Sador Rangel, Evan Dowdakin, Jonathan Hernandez

 The Jester by Kenneth Bozanich 
 Leo Plummer, Andrew Heavelin, Kenneth Bozanich, Adrien Bouissou, guitars. Ryan Woempner, bass

Friday, April 01, 2016

Composers include Kyle McInnis, Kenneth Bozanich, Michael Barrett Donovan, Aiden Sanborn-Petterson and Sabrina Fisher.

Get It Fresh at HSU Composers Concert

A piece for full orchestra evoking a lost Aztec city, and variations for symphonic band based on hip hop tunes highlight the spring HSU Composers Concert of new works on Friday April 1 in Fulkerson Recital Hall. 

 An orchestra of student and faculty players conducted by Rachel Samet performs Confluence by the Lake of the Moon by Kenneth Bozanich, inspired by descriptions of Tenochtitlán, a vast Aztec city linked by lakes in ancient Mexico. Kyle McInnis used contemporary hip-hop within a structure based on variations by 20th century composer John Barnes Chance for his concert band work, Variations on a Theme by the Wu-Tang Clan. 

Charlie McClung was inspired by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki’s Thenody for the Victims of Hiroshima to write Requiem for A Lost Forest for string quartet, commemorating a wildfire that destroyed part of Stanislaus National Forest near his childhood home. 

 Sabrina Fisher, Aidan Sanborn-Petterson and McClung wrote pieces for multiple guitars, while Sandee Castaneda wrote for solo cello and Fisher for marimba. Sanborn-Petterson’s Everyday Pondering Song Suite is a piece for voice and piano about the mysteries of ordinary life. The evening ends with a work of “slight morbid humor” by Michael Barrett Donovan called Home on the Range.

 Graduating seniors Kenneth Bozanich, Michael Donovan and Kyle McInnis are participating in their last HSU Composers Concert. 

The Composers Concert is performed on Friday April 1 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8, $5 seniors and children, free to HSU students with ID, from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door.  Directed by Brian Post, produced by HSU Music department.

Media: Times-Standard Urge, North Coast Journal, Humboldt State Now.

Composers Concert: Program and Composers' Notes

Descriptions of each piece is by its composer.

Variations on a Theme by the Wu-Tang Clan by  Kyle McInnis
I – Tiger Style
II – Shaolin Style
 III – Wu-Tang Style

Performed by symphonic band

"The inspiration for this piece comes from a multitude of musical influences both old and new. The form upon which the piece is constructed is hundreds of years old, but the thematic material is far more modern. It all started as a crazy idea back in October, when I was searching for a new large ensemble composition to start. I had quickly settled on a Symphonic Band instrumentation, and knew that I wanted to create something in the same style as Variations on a Korean Folk Song by John Barnes Chance, but with more accessible source material. After racking my brain for a while, I realized that I had all the source material I needed in my hip hop records. Months of frenzied transcribing, sketching, and orchestrating has all culminated in this set of continuous variations."

 Confluence by the Lake of the Moon by K.C. Bozanich

Performed by orchestra conducted by Rachel Samet

"The title of the piece was inspired by a Native American Studies course that I'm currently enrolled in. In the opening chapters of assigned reading, the book: American Holocaust, David E. Stannard describes the beauty of what once was the Aztec city of Tenochtitlán:

"It's gone now, drained and desiccated in the aftermath of the Spanish conquest, but once there was an interconnected complex of lakes high up in the valley of Mexico that was as long and as wide as the city of London is today. Surrounding these waters, known collectively as the Lake of the Moon, were scores of towns and cities whose population, combined with that of the outlying communities of central Mexico, totaled about 25,000,000 men, women, and children. Tenochititlán overflowed with gorgeous gardens, arboretums, and aviaries. On any given day as many as 200,000 small boats moved back and forth on the Lake of the Moon, pursuing the interests of commerce, political intrigue, and simple pleasure...” 

 With that in mind, imagine yourself as an outsider for the first time laying eyes upon the majestic city of Tenochtitlán. Perhaps on the hillside somewhere by the Lake of the Moon, overlooking the boats of commerce travel from one side to the other. This is a spectacle that the human eye can no longer see. It is now a place that can only be constructed by music and the human imagination." 

Nowhere Rock by Sabrina Fisher 
Performed by Kenneth Bozanich, Guitar
 Sabrina Fisher, Guitar

 "Nowhere Rock" was inspired by a series of films I watched last December. It is intended to elaborate on the feeling of an unfamiliar new world, while presenting familiar ideas in contrasting ways. It represents the cycle of feelings experienced when settling in a new place: hesitancy, excitement, fear and acceptance."

Small Feeling by Aidan Sanborn-Petterson
Performed by Jonathan Hernandez, Guitar
Evan Dowdakin, Guitar
Sador Rangel, Guitar

"A vacation cannot always be taken when a vacation is needed. Small Feeling was written with this statement in mind, and served as the best compromise I could surmise. At times a shift from the dense, and intellectual to the visceral is all that is needed to embody the very spirit of this so needed vacation. This piece is exactly that; deceptively simple, and thoroughly relaxing. It is a break from complexity and the burden of thought, a dream destination in a few minutes of music."

Verisimilitude by  Charlie McClung
Performed by  Adrien Bouissou, Guitar I
 Hawk SilverDragon, Guitar II
 Andrew Heavelin, Guitar III

"Verisimilitude: the quality of seaming real; or a fancy way of saying legit. When I was told that we needed to write a piece featuring guitar, I was a little hesitant because I knew nothing of guitar, and I wasn’t sure how to even start writing a piece for one. So I wrote a piece for three guitars. The idea for this piece came from a minimalist piece for piano called Piano Phase by Steve Reich. I really liked his approach so I used it as a building block. I took an Amaj7 #11 chord flipped it upside down, and just phased that arpeggio in the guitars, with the second guitar playing a simple single line melody over top the oscillating sixteenths."

Requiem for a Lost Forest by Charlie McClung 
Performed by Michael Donovan, Violin
 Thomas Starkey-Owens, Violin
Hanah Rolf, Viola
 Gabrielle Wood, Cello

"In 2013 a wildfire tore through my hometown and decimated over 300,000 acres of the Stanislaus National Forest. The fire destroyed several groves that I have grown up hiking through and camping in. This piece is for all of the lost memories caused by that fire. The way that I wrote it was inspired by the music of Penderecki, and his Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima. Requiem for a Lost Forest is comprised of three sections, the Sunrise in the Mountains, the Conquest, and Threnody. Each representing a stage of the fire with each section featuring some interpretive graphic notation, giving the performers the freedom to play what they feel is right for the moment."

Untitled by Sandee Castaneda 
Performed by Santiago-Cello

"The stylistic techniques used were inspired by Bright Sheng’s "Seven tunes heard in China". In this piece I tried to avoid tonality, by simply not thinking about what key I was in and what pitches I could or couldn't use. I listened to Bach's cello suites and tried to emulate some of the intervallic movement that Bach so perfectly used. This piece is my attempt to begin understanding cello and how to compose for the instrument."

The Paper King by Sabrina Fisher
Performed by Michael Fabian, Marimba

 "The Paper King was composed as a score to the beginning of a cute animated short film. It reflects the film's overall whimsical and light humor, while subtle dissonant chords represent occasional conflict. It is centered around a brief ascending theme that relates to one of the main characters in the short film. The unmetered section in the middle of the piece outlines the confusion felt by the character, but resolves back to familiarity with the restatement of the theme."

Everyday Pondering Song Suite by Aidan Sanborn-Petterson
Song of Sky and Cosmos
Song of Ground
Song of Higher Ground
Song of Home

Performed by Skyler McCormick, Alto
John Chernoff, Piano

"This piece says it all in the name. The lyrics are about the simple things that I do in my life, in regards to the people and the world around me. A 12 tone row is used in every song (most clearly stated at the very beginning of the first song), sometimes sparingly and sometimes heavily, yet playing a massively different role in each. This row in a sense symbolizes myself; a constant. No matter what happens, or how I feel, I cannot escape being Aidan. However being oneself does not always feel the same day by day. The music itself embodies this change in emotion, and the way we perceive almost anything. The Lyrics on the other hand represent the flipside. Despite these drastic revolutions of mind and soul, we still go about many of the same things we would have before. We still eat the things we eat, enjoy the things we enjoy, carry the weight we carry, and love the people we love. Down to it’s very core the E.P. Suite is about being human."

Home on the Range-The Short and Tragic Tale of #E445 by Michael Barrett Donovan 
Performed by Alberto Rodrigues, Tenor - #E445
and other performers

"Tonight the audience shall witness a reduced arrangement of a short piece for jazz orchestra, tenor, and stage (In a complete performance, Alberto will be in character and interact with props) - prepare yourself for mild morbid humor and a severely ruined appetite."