Opera Workshop's Frantic Musical Chairs for Lovers in “Speed Dating Tonight!”

 Steampunk Girl, Panic Attack, Lives at Home and Love Me, Love My Cats! are a few of the characters enacting a frantic contemporary mating ritual in the comic opera Speed Dating Tonight! performed by the HSU Opera Workshop for four performances beginning Thursday March 24 in Gist Hall Theatre. 

 It’s musical chairs for lovers as 15 hopefuls in a bar introduce themselves (some truthfully, some not) with a five minute time limit, and the plot thickens along with the comedy. “Laughing together is a wonderful way to explore the culture of the modern dating world,” said director Elisabeth Harrington. 

 This is the California premiere (and 25th production) of this one-hour opera by American composer Michael Ching, who allows directors flexibility in various aspects of the show. “So no two productions will be the same,” Harrington said. “The characters are fresh and modern, and very diverse. I think audiences will respond to the humanity of the piece--humanity in all its awkwardness as we seek a suitable match!” 

 The Opera Workshop performs Speed Dating Tonight! Thursday through Saturday, March 24-26 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday March 27 at 2 p.m. in Gist Hall Theatre at HSU. Tickets are $10 general, $5 seniors and children, $3 HSU students with ID, from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. Directed by Elisabeth Harrington, produced by HSU Music Department.

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

Speed Dating Tonight: Notes and Bio

Notes by director Elisabeth Harrington:

"I chose Speed Dating Tonight! because it is very modern and relevant--the text expresses fears and feelings many people seem to have about the "dating game." Also, it is a comedy! Laughing together is a wonderful way to explore the culture and "isms" of the modern dating world.

Opera Workshop rehearsal

The action takes place in a bar where all 15 daters have gathered to interact with one another (5 minutes at time!) on speed dates. As each character introduces themselves through a brief aria, we gain an understanding of the many ways we present ourselves to the world. Some are truthful and accurate, and some are not.

 I think most people will recognize a character trait that they possess themselves, at least to some extent. Some of the "daters" are: Steampunk Girl, Lives at Home, Feeling Awkward, Talkative Girl, Love me, love my Cats!, Combat Photographer, I like this bar! and Panic Attack.

 There are 19 cast members: 15 daters, 3 people who work in the bar (Bartender, Waitress and Busboy) and Kaylee, the coordinator for the Speed Dating event. All but one of the performers are current HSU students;one is a community member. Some sing more than others, but almost everyone is stage the entire time.

 The characters are fresh and modern, and very diverse. Directors have (almost) complete discretion to place the daters' interactions in whatever order bet fits the casts' strengths. This flexibility is crucial , and also ensures that no two productions will be the same. (Just like no two people are the same!)

HSU student Noah Sims at Opera Workshop rehearsal

Since the premiere in 2013, there have been 24 different productions of "Speed Dating Tonight!" largely on university campuses. This will be the California premiere!

 I think audiences will respond to the humanity of the piece--humanity in all its awkwardness as we seek a suitable match! It's something almost everyone can relate to on some level. The casual atmosphere of the show will also appeal to younger audiences.

It is definitely an ensemble show, and features several large ensemble numbers. Each cast member also has one or more extended solo moments (also making the show a good choice for developing the skills of young singer-actors-a definite requirement when I'm choosing repertoire.).The whole show takes place in just around an hour. This, too, is crucial, since we have 9 short weeks of rehearsal each spring semester before the performances (with only 4 hours weekly, unlike the bigger musicals like "Kiss Me Kate!" which rehearsed every night.)"


Composer Michael Ching

Michael Ching is a composer, conductor and arts administrator.  In addition to Speed Dating Tonight!, his opera compositions include an a cappella version of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Corps of Discovery, King of the Clouds and Buosco's Ghost.  His most recent opera, which just premiered, is Alice Ryley.

A performance of Ching's piano concerto is included in the 25th anniversary commemorative recording of the San Jose Chamber Orchestra.  Ching was Artistic Director of Opera Memphis from 1992 to 2010, and is now Music Director of Nickel City Opera, the regional opera of Buffalo and western New York.  He currently lives in Ames, Iowa.

More detailed biographies are here and here.  Here is Michael Ching's blog.

Speed Dating Tonight! is currently his most popular opera.  It premiered at the Janiec Opera of the Brevard Music Center in 2013, conceived by director Dean Anthony, with lyrics and music by Michael Ching.

"With traditional opening and closing numbers, the middle section of the opera is a group of one-to-two-minute “dater arias” which can be put together according to the number of singers available. The order, key, and, in many cases even the gender, of the daters is flexible.

"Some are moving, some are funny. Some are caricatures, some are sincere. There are twenty-five dater arias and duets from which every producer will choose the ones they want to include."

Guest Cellist Reveals Powerful, Prolific and Unknown Composer

 Cellist Elizabeth Grunin performs two works by 20th century composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg in an intimate Guest Artist lecture and recital on Saturday March 26 in Fulkerson Recital Hall. 

 “Mieczyslaw Weinberg is a name hardly known in the classical music world. However his works and life story certainly demand recognition,” said Dr. Grunin. “We will be become acquainted with this incredible composer and his life as well as explore his abilities at combining the traditions of classical and baroque composers with modern, 20th century harmony, exhibited in his works for unaccompanied cello.” 

 Elizabeth Grunin was last heard at HSU almost exactly a year ago, when she performed with the Lancaster Trio. She is a founding member of that ensemble. Born in Ukraine, she grew up in Sacramento, performing there and in the Bay Area. She currently teaches at several Midwestern universities.

 Composer Weinberg, writes music journalist Martin Anderson, “was one of the 20th century’s most powerful and prolific composers, and one of its least well known, certainly outside of his adoptive Russia.” After fleeing the Nazi invasion of Poland, Weinberg became close friends with the famous Russian composer Shostakovich, who called Weinberg “one of the most outstanding composers of the present day.” 

 Dr. Grunin will perform Weinberg’s Sonata No. 1 for Violoncello and Prelude 21 for Cello. The audience for this lecture-recital will be seated on the Fulkerson Recital Hall stage with Dr. Grunin for a more intimate musical experience. 

Cellist Elizabeth Grunin performs on Saturday March 26 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $10 general/$5 seniors, children and students, from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door.This Guest Artist Series concert is produced by the HSU Music Department.

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

Elizabeth Grunin Lecture Recital: Notes and Program

Mieczyslaw Weinberg is a name hardly known in the classical music world. However his works and life story certainly demand recognition. Weinberg escaped Nazi-invaded Poland, became best friends with one of the greatest composers of the 20th century, and never stopped composing even when all that was required from him was cartoon music. We will be become acquainted with this incredible composer and his life as well as explore his abilities at combining the traditions of classical and baroque composers with modern, 20th century harmony, exhibited in his works for unaccompanied cello.”--Elizabeth Grunin 

More information about the composer:
Weinberg site by Anton Uzunov (contains additional links)
Martin Anderson at Classical.net

Program

 Prelude 21 of 24 Preludes for Solo Cello

Sonata No. 1 for Violoncello Solo Op. 72
Adagio
Allegretto
Allegro

Guest Artist Biography

Dr. Elizabeth Grunin began studying cello at the Special Music School in Kharkov, Ukraine. In 1992, her family moved to Sacramento, California where she continued her musical studies. Elizabeth was an active member of the musical community in Sacramento, performing in numerous orchestras including the Camellia Symphony, the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra, Merced Symphony Orchestra, and North Bay Opera. In 2008, Elizabeth entered the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she completed both her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in the studio of Jennifer Culp.

Dr. Grunin has participated in such summer music programs as the Zephyr Chamber Festival in Italy, the Classical Music Festival in Austria, and the Kornberg Music Festival in Germany. She moved to Lincoln, Nebraska to pursue her Doctorate degree at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, in the studio of Dr. Karen Becker which she completed in 2015.

Currently, Dr. Grunin is adjunct faculty at Nebraska-Wesleyan University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and, Wayne State College and is a coach at the Navarro River String Camp in California. She holds a full-time position with the Lincoln Symphony and is a founding member of the Lancaster Trio.

Premieres and Classics with HSU Symphonic Band & Jazz Orchestra 

New work—including an overture by composer and North Coast resident Michael Kibbe—plus band classics and an anniversary tribute characterize the shared concert of the HSU Symphonic Band and the Jazz Orchestra on Saturday February 27 in Fulkerson Recital Hall. 

 Composer and musician Michael Kibbe relocated from Los Angeles to the North Coast a few years ago, and has become a prominent member of the local music scene. He wrote The Poseidon Overture specifically for the HSU Symphonic Band, and will perform on oboe for the world premiere of this piece. 

 Symphonic Band also performs Chester by American composer William Schuman, and several movements of Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Grainger. Both pieces are high on any list of wind band classics, said director Paul Cummings. Chester evokes the American Revolution, and Lincolnshire Posy is based on authentic folk melodies from Yorkshire, England. 

 The Band plays the final movement of Aaron Copland’s lyrical The Promise of Living, also based on folk music sources. Xerxes by contemporary composer John Mackey is a concert march that exemplifies Mackey’s signature use of rock music and jazz fusion as well as classical styles. “The instrumentation favors percussion,” Cummings said. 

 For their half of the program, the Jazz Orchestra performs several originals by current and recent HSU students: “Positive Sweat” by student Kyle McInnis, “Jibber Jabber” by alum Ryan Woempner, and “Omar” by alum Dan Fair.

 The Orchestra also honors the 50th anniversary of the New York based Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Big Band with a Thad Jones tune, “Big Dipper.” 

 This band “played its first Monday night at the Village Vanguard in February of 1966,” said Jazz Orchestra director Dan Aldag. “It’s been playing there every Monday night ever since.”

 HSU Symphonic Band and HSU Jazz Orchestra perform on Saturday February 27 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 and Dan Aldag, produced by HSU Music Department.

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

Jazz Orchestra & Symphonic Band Concert Notes

 Jazz Orchestra

On the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Big Band, from the current band’s web site (which also has information on events celebrating the band’s 50th anniversary of performing Monday nights at the Village Vanguard in Greenwich Village, New York City):

"Thad Jones, who was featured in the Count Basie Orchestra, and Los Angeles based drummer Mel Lewis from the Stan Kenton Orchestra, started the band in 1966 with some of the top studio musicians in New York City. The beautiful melodies and unique arrangements of Thad Jones enchanted audiences worldwide.

The mixture of the music from diverse backgrounds created their innovative sound and the band was quickly recognized as a world-class big band. In 1978, Thad Jones moved to Denmark but the band continued as Mel Lewis and The Jazz Orchestra. In addition to the masterpieces by Thad, they actively employed new and original compositions and arrangements by Bob Brookmeyer, Jim McNeely and others. Those new arrangements were complex and avant-garde, but they stayed true to their fundamental band sound and swing. Their excellent artistry sustained and grew their high reputation.

 By changing its name to the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, the orchestra created its own identity after losing both of its leaders. The ensemble cultivated its rich history while commissioning new music that made them the prototype of innovative big band music. 2016 marks 50 years of continued performances of Monday Night Live at the world’s premiere jazz club, The Village Vanguard."



Symphonic Band

The Poseidon Overture by Michael Kibbe. World Premiere Performance.

"The Poseidon Overture was written one year ago specifically for the HSU Concert Band. It is playable by either a small or a large group. This will be the premiere performance, and I will be joining the group on oboe." --Michael Kibbe

Michael Kibbe, composer, has a total creative output is over 240 concert works, including two string quartets, 13 wind quintets, a large variety of mixed chamber music for winds, strings, brass, harp, keyboardsand percussion. His catalogue includes works for band, orchestra and concertos.  Kibbeʼs compositions have been performed throughout the United States, Mexico, Europe, Israel and China.

 He plays most of the standard woodwind instruments, and has done live performing and recording work for over 40 years, in addition to having been active as a music copyist for film, TV and live performance. For 17 years he was oboist and arranger with the Los Angeles based North Wind Quintet, which did hundreds of school programs and toured Mexico 3 times. He currently resides in far northern California, and plays in the Eureka Symphony, a wind quintet and other groups. MK February 11, 2015.  Michael Kibbe.com


The following notes on the rest of the concert are from an interview with Symphonic Band Director Paul Cummings.

The Promise of Living by Aaron Copland

 This is the final movement of a suite extracted from Copland’s opera The Tender Land. When composers write a big piece—an opera or ballet or a Mass—in a genre with epic dimensions, it can be hard to get performances. They would frequently extract a suite from it, as Copland did in 1958. He originally wrote “The Promise of Living” for orchestra, and Kenneth Singleton transcribed it for band.

 This is a very slow and lyrical, with a melody that gets moved around to various instrumental groupings. It has a very simple, sparse opening and gradually gets bigger, so the overall effect is of growing out of nothing. It keeps getting bigger until the climax near the end, but in the last few bars it kind of unwinds again.

Xerxes: A Concert March by John Mackey

 John Mackey is a young composer—in his early 40s—who is known for combining elements of rock with symphonic music. So you can detect a heavy metal type of sound at times, and at other times he’ll write a very tuneful melody, reminiscent of another kind of rock, like the Eagles or Paul McCartney. Other times it will be a fusion, with elements of jazz, rock and classical. This piece very much exemplifies that quality of John Mackey.  The instrumentation favors percussion, so it’s a lot of fun for drummers to play this music in a symphonic band setting.

Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Grainger

 Each movement of this piece is based on a folk song that Grainger gathered in the field in the early 20th century as an ethnomusicologist. I don’t know if he ever accepted that title but he really was a pioneer among composers interested in folk music. Grainger tried to record the most authentic version of these songs, even if the singer he found was more of a storyteller than a singer. He makes a point of trying to preserve that authenticity in his composition, so the music had to conform to the original song’s unusual parameters such as mixed meter, and dramatic changes that are sudden and almost alarming to the modern ear, all in the interest of telling a story.

 This would be in the top five of any list of the greatest music ever written for wind band—this is one of the classics. If listeners are not aware of it, it’s not because it’s not a great piece. It’s because it is very hard to play, and so it is not done very often. We’re doing three movements of this six movement work in this February concert, and we will attempt to do more in our next concert in April.

Chester: Overture for Band by William Schuman 

 This is another classic for wind band—near the top of any list. It evokes the period of the American Revolution by means of a famous patriotic hymn of the period, called “Chester.” Schuman was an American composer who wrote this in the mid 1950s.

 It opens with this very beautiful hymn, which Schuman presents in alternating brass and woodwinds. This very slow, rather solemn setting, but just as we think all is peace and beauty it suddenly erupts with musket fire, by percussion instruments mainly, and we move into a set of variations on the “Chester” hymn but at a much faster tempo. Things really get exciting. Schuman continues to play the woodwinds against the brass—that’s one of his signature traits.

 This music was fairly avant-garde for the 1950s—it uses bitonality and quite a bit of dissonance. For example the opening musket shots after the hymn are a tone cluster—all 12 notes of the chromatic scale sounded at once. So it’s as if you went up and sat on a piano keyboard—that’s the sort of sonority that we get at the beginning of the fast section. It’s a beautifully constructed piece by a master craftsman—it stands right up there with his best works for band.

 It’s also significant as one of the first pieces that a major composer wrote for wind band. At this point in the 1950s, well-respected composers were writing for orchestra or piano or chamber music but not for band. Bands were playing mostly transcriptions of pieces written for orchestra or other ensembles or solo instruments. Most of the original music for bands was limited to marches.

 So some conductors and professors of music began joining a chorus of voices calling for band music by prominent composers. They approached a number of composers, including Schuman, usually with a commission of some sort. When they responded with new compositions, suddenly the repertoire became a lot more diverse, a lot more interesting, a lot more challenging. And while it’s never going to be the equal of the repertoire for orchestra, it got a whole lot better—beginning in the 1950s.

 More on Schuman and this piece.

Marimbas, African Drums and More in HSU Percussion Showcase 

Three HSU ensembles bring the sounds of drums and marimbas to Fulkerson Recital Hall—along with gongs, tin cans and random radio music—in a Percussion Showcase on Sunday February 21. 

 The HSU Percussion Ensemble plays these unconventional instruments in Credo in US, a mind-expanding modern work by experimental composer John Cage. He wrote it in New York in 1942, shortly after his western sojourn during which he befriended North Coast artist Morris Graves. 

This piece also calls for an electronic doorbell buzzer, pre-recorded music and a piano, prefiguring what came to be known as the Cage style. “This is a highly influential work,” notes Percussion Ensemble director Eugene Novotney, “both in its scope and its imaginative nature.” 

 The Showcase moves from the futuristic directly to the deeply traditional with the next two ensembles, the HSU Marimba Band and West African Drumming Ensemble. 

 The Marimba Band performs two works inspired by traditional tribal music from Ghana, and a third piece adapted from a Zimbabwe melody. A marimba quartet performs “Omphalo Centric Lecture” by Australian composer Nigel Westlake. “This virtuosic piece is both captivating and mesmerizing, and it explores the beauty of the sound of the marimba in its full range and capacity,” Notvotney said.

The West African Drumming Ensemble performs a suite of the complex and highly rhythmic traditional drumming from that region, using only indigenous instruments. Joe Bishop, an HSU alum who has studied this music in West Africa, is the main drummer and directs the group. 

 Proceeds from this concert benefit the Humboldt Stage Calypso Band steelpan renovation and tuning project, a fund dedicated to refurbishing equipment for the future. 

 “The Calypso Band’s steelpans are in desperate need of tuning, painting, repair and refinishing,” said director Eugene Nototney. To enable this work this fund was created in the band’s 25th anniversary year and has made “significant progress towards our goal. But in this, the 30th anniversary year, “there is still much work to be done.” 

 HSU Percussion Showcase is presented on Sunday February 21 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 and Joe Bishop, produced by HSU Music Department.

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

Percussion Showcase: Program Notes

The featured work on the program is one of John Cage’s most innovative and revolutionary works from the 1940’s entitled, Credo in US.

This highly experimental work calls for one percussionists playing gongs, tom-tom, and tin cans, with another playing tom-tom, and tin cans, and an electronic doorbell “buzzer”. A third performer plays piano and tom-tom, while the forth performer plays pre-recorded classical music over a sound system, while mixing in random music and sounds generated by tuning-in to local radio stations. This fascinating work stands as one of the first examples in modern music where electronic and pre-recorded sounds are mixed with live performance, and is a highly influential work, both in its scope and in its imaginative nature.

 The HSU Marimba Band will follow, and they will be featuring a set of music inspired by the Marimba traditions of Africa. Two of the works that the band will present are arrangements created by Valerie Naranjo of traditional Gyil music of the Dagara and Lobi peoples of Ghana, West Africa. The third piece that the band will play is an adaptation of a traditional Shone Mbira melody from Zimbabwe.

 Also performing will be a marimba quartet playing a truly virtuosic marimba piece by the Australian composer Nigel Westlake entitled, Omphalo Centric Lecture. Both captivating and mesmerizing, it explores the beauty of the sound of the marimba in its full range and capacity.

 The show will end with a West African Drumming Ensemble, led by HSU student teacher, Joe Bishop. This group will be performing a suite of traditional Mandeng Drumming from West Africa using all indigenous instruments (Djembe, DunDun, & Balafon) and featuring driving rhythms and a dynamic rhythmic interplay.

 All proceeds from this special concert will be donated to the Humboldt State Calypso Band Steelpan Renovation & Tuning Project. The Calypso Band is now in its 30th season and its steelpans are in desperate need of tuning, painting, repair, and refinishing. The Humboldt State Calypso Band Benefit is a project that was initiated in 2010-2011, the band’s 25th anniversary year, with a goal of significantly repairing and improving the overall condition of the instruments used in the Calypso Band.

Thanks to contributions from parents, alumni, faculty, the HSU Music Department, the College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences, the HSU President's Office, and members of the community, we have made significant progress toward our goal. There is still much work to be done. We need your contributions to Keep the Humboldt State Calypso Band thriving for years to come!

--Eugene Novotney

How Can They Keep From Singing? University Singers and Humboldt Chorale’s Holiday Concert 

With a seasonal flavor and a diverse menu of songs, the University Singers and Humboldt Chorale present their shared winter concert on Sunday December 13 at Fulkerson Recital Hall.

 University Singers (pictured above) perform “a very jubilant setting of the hymn ‘How Can I Keep From Singing?’” said director Rachel Samet, “and a beautiful setting” of a Kentucky folk tune associated with Christmas, “Bright Morning Stars.”

 Their program also includes a Hebrew love song and a hymn by Baroque composer Georg Phillip Telemann based on Psalm 117, with string accompaniment. 

 Samet describes “Famine Song,” as “really powerful and expressive.” Composed by a quartet from Bloomington, Indiana called Vida, it was inspired by Sudanese basket weavers who endured famine.

 In keeping with the season, the Humboldt Chorale performs “December’s Keep” (Greg Gilpin’s arrangement of a Chopin prelude), “Ose Shalom,” the spiritual “Go Where I Send Thee” and Handel’s “Awake the Trumpet’s Lofty Sound.”

 The Chorale also performs the haunting “Ashokan Farewell,” best known from the Ken Burns PBS series The Civil War.

 “Our signature piece this concert is Randall Thompson’s well-known ‘Alleluia,” said Chorale director Elisabeth Harrington. “I wanted to challenge the group to the fullest with this a cappella piece.” 

The University Singers (an HSU group) and the Humboldt Chorale (students and community members) combine to sing "Tshotsholoza," often called the “second national anthem” of South Africa.

Humboldt Chorale and University Singers perform on Sunday December 13 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.

University Singers & Humboldt Chorale: Program and Notes

University Singers:

VIDA, authors of The Famine Song

My soul is awakened -- music by Brad Burrill, poetry by Ann Brontë
Bright morning star -- Kentucky Appalachian tune, arr. Fred Squatrito
 Erev Shel Shoshanim -- music by Josef Hadar, lyrics by Moshe Dor, arr. Jack Klebanow
 Laudate Jehovam, omnes gentes (Psalm 117) -- Georg Phillip Telemann
Famine Song -- words and music by VIDA, arr. Matthew Culloton
How Can I Keep from Singing? -- arr. Gwyneth Walker (b. 1947)

University Singers are: (Soprano) Justine Bivans, Hope Botelho, Olivia Bright, Ana Ceja,  Ana Cruz, Lisa Ko, Jordan Kramlich, Michelle Latner, Gabriela Pelayo, Stephanie Price ,Cora Rickert, Kellie Ventura, (Alto) Berenice Ceja, Kaitlynn Deville, Jessica Golden,  Michelle Hy, Kylie Jenkins, Bree Marroquin, Ashlyn Mather, Allie Merten, Catherine Rippetoe, Taylor Shughart, Kira Weiss, (Tenor)  Ken Bridges, David Cadena, Will English ,Nick Hart ,Andrew Heavelin, Rich Macey, Victor Guerrero ,Angel Phommasouk, Raul Yepez ,(Bass) Devin Alcantara, Ethan Frank, Matthew Nelson, John Pettlon, Alberto Rodriguez, Luke Smetana, Daniel Szylewicz.

Humboldt Chorale:

“Awake the Trumpet’s Lofty Sound” from Samson by Georg Frederic Handel
 Alleluia by Randall Thompson
 “Ose Shalom” Traditional Hebrew text; music by Jeff Klepper, arranged by Joshua Jacobson
 “December’s Keep” based on the Prelude in C minor, Opus 28, No. 20 by Frederic Chopin; words and arrangement by Greg Gilpin
 “Ashokan Farewell” from the Soundtrack of the PBS Series “The Civil War,” a film by Ken Burns; words by Grian McGregor, music by Jay Ungar, arranged by Carole Stephens
 “Go Where I Send Thee” Spiritual, paraphrased by Maurice Gardner & Walter Matthews

University Singers and Humboldt Chorale:

Tshotsholoza -- traditional South African freedom song, arr. Jeffery L. Ames

Notes

"Bright Morning Stars"  "appears in Ruth Crawford Seeger's "American Folk Songs for Christmas" (Doubleday, 1953), where she credits it to "AAFS 1379 A1." In other words, she got the song from the Archive of American Folksong at the Library of Congress...The source is identified as "Kentucky." The song also appears on the Folkways LP of the same title (American Folk Songs for Christmas, FC 7553)...,

 In 1968, Robin Christenson rediscovered the song in the Seeger book and arranged it for four voices. [Her group]sang it at the 1968 Fox Hollow Festival, where it was picked up by many other singers. It rapidly entered the common repertoire... Meantime, it had also been widely sung in Kentucky."
Source: mudcat.org

“How Can I Keep From Singing?” appears in several contemporary Quaker songbooks, but its origins appear to be in a hymn written by Rev. Robert W. Lowry, an American Baptist minister in the 19th century. It was modified by, among others, folksinger Pete Seeger, whose source identified it as a Quaker hymn. In this form it became a hit song of sorts when recorded by Irish singer Enya in 1991. The notes to that album (Shepherd’s Moons) compounded the mistake by identifying it as a Shaker hymn. Ironically, it was the Seeger version that the Quakers adopted for their songbooks. However, versions of it appear in hymnals of several denominations. See Robert Lee Hall at American Music Preservation.com for a detailed history.

Alleluia:"To many music lovers, the name Randall Thompson brings first to mind the lofty sounds of his most famous anthem, based on the single word "alleluia"--whether heard in church service, choral concert, or academic ceremony such as Harvard Commencement.

The work was commissioned by Serge Koussevitsky and the trustees of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the spring of 1940 for the opening exercises of the new Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood... The date for the opening was July 8. Thompson had been preoccupied with another commission, but from July 1 to July 5 he was able to turn to Koussevitsky's request. [Director]Woody had his large chorus ready to rehearse, but opening day approached and no music arrived. On July 8, with 45 minutes to go, it appeared. Woody got his first look at the score and reassured his charges, "Well, text at least is one thing we won't have to worry about."

 Thompson's other works include three symphonies, two string quartets, and a scattering of instrumental pieces. But his writing for voice spans his whole life, from The Five Odes of Horace,written in 1924, to Twelve Canticles, written a year before his death. The Harvard undergraduate who, in trying out for the Glee Club, was unaccountably turned down by Archibald T. "Doc" Davison concluded: "My life has been an attempt to strike back."
---Harvard Magazine

"Ashokan Farewell"

"It’s haunting and mournful and hopeful and beautiful. It’s called “Ashokan Farewell,” and it’s the de facto theme song for the Ken Burns miniseries The Civil War, which premiered 25 years ago this week [of Sept. 25, 2015].

 “Ashokan Farewell” was not, as both its tune and the miniseries that made it famous would seem to suggest, written in the 19th century. It was written instead at the tail end of the 20th. And it wasn’t a Southern waltz; it was created in the style of a Scottish lament—and in celebration of a town, and a reservoir, in upstate New York. By a guy from the Bronx.

In the early 1980s, Jay Ungar and his wife and fellow musician, Molly Mason, were running the Ashokan Camp, a summer arts school specializing in fiddle and dancing, at the Ashokan Field Campus of SUNY New Paltz. Ungar composed the tune—Mason would later give it its resonant name—to commemorate the conclusion of the 1982 session of the camp.

Ungar had traveled through Scotland earlier in the summer, he told me, and he wanted to compose a tune in the style of a Scottish lament—something that would capture the sense of sadness that the camp, and all the camaraderie and community and joy it represented to him, would be ending. The song, Ungar remembers, “sort of wrote itself...”

“In writing it,” he says, “I was in tears, but I didn’t know why, or what was happening.” There was a kind of “tingling feeling,” he remembers, as the song took shape in his mind and on his fiddle. But when the song was written down—when Ungar was satisfied that he had made the tune what he wanted it to be—he kept it to himself. He wasn’t sure how others would react to it

. But when he was finally ready to share the tune, he was pleasantly surprised: It seemed to affect others as deeply as it had affected him. And so Ungar and Mason—and their group, Fiddle Fever—recorded the song, including it as part of their 1983 album Waltz of the Wind. The inclusion meant that the song would need a name. Mason suggested “Ashokan Farewell.” Ungar liked that. It was simple, but elegantly evocative.
--Atlantic September 25, 2015


Tshotsholoza
" A South African song sung in a variety of settings and for a variety of reasons. The song began as an old miner's song, sung by those who toiled in the diamond and gold mines of South Africa. As with many types of a folk music, there are many different versions and variations of the song that have developed over time so it is impossible to say exactly what the meaning of the song is, however, the general idea is of freedom (perhaps at the end of the work day or from the hard labor entirely) and speaks about a train coming and taking them away.

 The version of the song presented in this arrangement draws text from both Zulu and Ndebele dialects and is translated as: "Go forward, go forward on those mountains; the train is coming from South Africa. You are running away on those mountains; the train is coming from South Africa."

 The song became a rallying cry for freedom as the apartheid system of government was brought to an end and Nelson Mandela was released from prison. Since then it has seen even more widespread use in popular culture and has served as musical "battle cry" for South African sports teams from rugby to soccer. The song received particular notoriety in 2010 when it was prominently featured in the World Cup games hosted in South Africa."
Diversity website

Jazz Orchestra All Billy Strayhorn Tribute

 HSU Jazz Orchestra honors Billy Strayhorn, Duke Ellington Orchestra arranger and composer, celebrating the centennial of his birth with an all-Strayhorn program, including a never before-performed arrangement, on Saturday December 12 at Fulkerson Recital Hall. 

Strayhorn was a classically trained musician from Pittsburgh who composed, co-composed or arranged much of Ellington’s music for nearly 30 years. His best-known tune is “Take the ‘A’ Train,” Ellington’s theme song.

"Strayhorn didn't receive nearly the acclaim and fame that Ellington did,” Jazz Orchestra director Dan Aldag said. “Strayhorn was a shy, quiet man who was happy to remain in the shadows, in part because staying out of the public eye allowed him to live openly as a gay man at a time when most gay men were deeply closeted.” 

“We're playing everything exactly as Strayhorn wrote it,” Aldag notes. “Parts were either copied from the original Ellington band parts or painstakingly transcribed from Ellington recordings.” 

So in addition to “Take the ‘A’ Train” and other famous pieces, the Jazz Orchestra plays Strayhorn tunes that the Ellington band never recorded.

Even the familiar “Lush Life” is performed in an early and unrecorded arrangement. “I believe our performance will be the first done with a vocalist—Olivia Bright—singing Strayhorn’s remarkable lyrics,” Aldag said. 

The concert includes the last two pieces that Strayhorn wrote for Ellington, before his death in 1967. In addition to vocalist Olivia Bright, performers featured on various tunes include pianist Max Marlowe, guitarist and vocalist Kenneth Bozanich, alto saxophonist Kyle McInnis, trombonist Craig Hull and trumpeter Andrew Henderson.

The HSU Jazz Orchestra performs on Saturday December 12 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.

Jazz Orchestra: Director's Notes

Notes by Dan Aldag

The Jazz Orchestra concert celebrates the centennial of Billy Strayhorn, who was born on Nov. 29th, 1915. Strayhorn is best known as the composer of the song "Lush Life" and "Take The 'A' Train", the Duke Ellington Orchestra's theme song, but Strayhorn composed or arranged a wealth of material for the Ellington band from 1939 until his death in 1967.

 The Ellington/Strayhorn relationship was an extraordinarily complex one. Ellington is almost universally recognized as the greatest jazz composer of all time, and he also employed a composer who was perhaps his equal for over half of his career.

Strayhorn didn't receive nearly the acclaim and fame that Ellington did, partly because it was Ellington's name in lights, partly because Ellington was given credit for some of Strayhorn's work, but also because the two men, as close as they were, had very different temperaments.

 Ellington was a charming, charismatic showman who basked in the public's attention. Strayhorn was a shy, quiet man who was happy to remain in the shadows, in part because staying out of the public eye allowed him to live openly as a gay man at a time when most gay men were deeply closeted.

 We're playing everything exactly as Strayhorn wrote it. Parts were either copied from the original Ellington band parts or painstakingly transcribed from Ellington recordings.

We'll play "Take The 'A' Train" and "Lush Life", of course, with the latter in an arrangement that Strayhorn may have written for the Ellington band the night he first met Ellington. The Ellington band never recorded it, though. It has been recorded recently as an instrumental, but I believe our performance will be the first done with a vocalist (Olivia Bright) singing Strayhorn's remarkable lyrics.

 We'll do one other vocal, with our usual guitarist, Kenneth Bozanich, putting down his instrument to sing "Flamingo" in the 1940 arrangement that first brought Strayhorn attention.

 We're performing two rare works that were written for the Ellington band but never recorded by them. "Tonk" is basically a short piano concerto Strayhorn designed to showcase Ellington's instrumental abilities. Our pianist, Max Marlowe, will take the soloist's role. "Pentonsilic", which dates to 1941, is a stunning 12-minute work that demonstrated that even at the start of his career, Strayhorn had a complete mastery of form and development.

 "Chelsea Bridge" is a lovely 3-minute tone poem inspired by a Whistler painting. "Midriff" is a zesty swinger with a very well-designed architecture underlying it.

In the Fifties and Sixties, Ellington and Strayhorn wrote a number of suites, album-length collections of short pieces unified around a single idea. We're playing Strayhorn pieces from two of those suites. "Half the Fun" comes from the Shakespeare-inspired Such Sweet Thunder, and "Isfahan" is part of the Far East Suite. The latter features the band's lead alto saxophonist, Kyle McInnis.

 Ellington and Strayhorn also collaborated on an arrangement of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, and we'll perform the "Overture" from that.

 The concert will include the last two pieces Strayhorn composed for the Ellington band, "The Intimacy of the Blues" and "Blood Count". "Intimacy..." is a small-group tune that will spotlight the band's lead horn players, McInnis, Craig Hull on trombone, and Andrew Henderson on trumpet. "Blood Count", composed while Strayhorn was in the final stages of the cancer that killed him, is a heart-wrenching, albeit mostly subdued, raging against the dying of the light that will once again feature McInnis.

The concert will end on a life-affirming note, however, with the joyous "Raincheck", first recorded by the Ellington band in 1941, and re-recorded by them on Strayhorn tribute album they recorded shortly after the composer's death, ...And His Mother Called Him Bill.--Dan Aldag

Additional links:
official Billy Strayhorn website
Strayhorn bio at Black Past.org
and at Pittsburgh History

AM Jazz Band Plays Blue Monk and More

The AM Jazz Band is playing arrangements of six jazz standards: "Ran Kan Kan" by Tito Puente; "Blue Monk" by Thelonious Monk; "Johnny Come Lately" by Billy Strayhorn; "Naima" by John Coltrane; "Cantaloupe Island" by Herbie Hancock; and "St. Louis Blues" by W.C. Handy.

The AM Jazz Band performs on Thursday December 10 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.

                                            Fall 2015 Madrigal Singers
A Madrigals Welcome, Mad River Transit's Christmas Lullaby

HSU Madrigal Singers go all a cappella and Mad River Transit jazz singers offer a contemporary Christmas Lullaby on Sunday December 6 in Fulkerson Recital Hall. 

 Within their traditional program of mostly English madrigals (plus one surprise), new director Rachel Samet has challenged the Madrigal Singers in two ways: with a completely unaccompanied program, and with a step beyond the usual four part harmonies, to a few selections in five parts.

 Among the songs are a Shaker tune, “Welcome, Welcome Every Guest,” and madrigals of varied mood, from a lament by John Bennett to a playful tune by John Farmer and a John Dowland love song. 

 The Madrigal Singers also pair a Renaissance song by Thomas Morley (“My bonny lass she smileth”) with a contemporary take by the famous contemporary master of parody, P.D.Q. Bach (“My bonny lass she smelleth.”) 

 Then the Mad River Transit singers take over with their program of jazz, blues and popular music. They   anticipate the holidays with “Christmas Lullaby” by contemporary musical theatre composer Jason Robert Brown, from his show Songs for a New World. 

 A traditional African-American spiritual (“Soon Ah Will Be Done”) is given what Samet describes as a “fresh and exciting arrangement” by Philip Kern. “Bim Bam” by Joao Gilberto provides a bossa nova beat. 

Except for an a cappella version of the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine,” MRT is accompanied by a rhythm section of piano, bass and drums.

This is the first concert with Rachel Samet as choirs director. “I’m very excited to be working with all these groups,” she said. “I’m impressed with what students have accomplished over a semester and excited for where they can go.” 

 Madrigal Singers and MRT perform on Sunday December 6 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.

This year’s Madrigal Dinner will be held in the Kate Buchanan Room at HSU on December 10 at 6 p.m. as an evening of fancy hors d’ouvres and song. Tickets are $10 general, $5 students.

Media: Mad River Union, North Coast Journal, Humboldt State Now, Eureka Times-Standard Urge

Madrigals & MRT: The Program

Madrigal Singers

Welcome, Welcome Every Guest:  from Southern Harmony (Shaker tune)
 Come again, sweet love doth now invite by John Dowland
 Fair Phyllis I saw sitting all alone by John Farmer
Weep, o mine eyes by John Bennett
My bonny lass she smileth  by Thomas Morley
My bonny lass she smelleth  by P.D.Q. Bach

Madrigal Singers: (Sopranos)Tonya Bills, Camille Borrowdale,  Ana Ceja,  Ana Cruz, Lisa Ko, (Altos) McKinlee Burkhardt, Jenna Donahue, Rayden Marcum, Renee Ramirez,  Rosemary Torres,  (Tenor) William English,  Victor Guerrero,  Kyler Hanson,  Dustin Kemp, David Vaughan,  (Bass) Luis Cardenas, Matthew Flint,  Joseph Mayer,  Edrees Nassir,  John Pettlon, Alberto Rodriguez, Jimmy Sanchez.

                                                 
Mad River Transit

Blue Skies by Irving Berlin, arr. Steve Zegree
 God Bless the Child  by Arthur Herzog, Jr. and Billie Holiday, arr. Steve Zegree
 Take the A Train by Billy Strayhorn, arr. Steve Zegree
Bim Bam by Joao Gilberto, arr. Kirby Shaw
Yellow Submarine by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, arr. Mark Brymer
Christmas Lullaby from Songs for a New World by Jason Robert Brown, arr. Mac Huff
 Soon Ah Will Be Done: traditional African-American spiritual, arr. Brian Tate Anything Goes by Cole Porter, arr. Philip Kern

Mad River Transit Singers: (Soprano) Olivia Bright, Michelle Latner, Kayla LeClair,  (Alto) McKinlee Burkhardt, Catherine Rippetoe, Skyler McCormick, (Tenor) David Cadena, Joshua Roa, Noah Sims,  (Bass) Mark Berman, Jimmy Sanchez, Corey Tamondong.

Calypso Band Greatest Hits Plus Marimba and We Got the Beat 

 A youth group’s return, a marimba classic and some of the Calypso Band’s greatest hits are featured in an all-percussion concert on Saturday December 5 at the Van Duzer Theatre. 

 We Got the Beat is a group of student percussionists (grades 2 through 7) from Fresno. They perform all over California, and last played at HSU in April 2012. “They bring energy, excitement, and a high level of musicianship,” said HSU percussion professor Eugene Novotney, “and will fill everyone’s hearts with the joy of music.” 

 The Humboldt State Marimba Band performs “Omphalo Centric Lecture,” a marimba quartet composed by Australian percussionist Nigel Westlake. Premiered in 1986, this piece is played regularly around the world. Describing it as “captivating” and “mesmerizing,” Novotney said “it explores the beauty of the sound of the marimba in its full range and capacity.” 

 The concert’s first half concludes with the World Percussion Group morphing into a 30-piece samba band playing Samba Maracutu from Northern Brazil, on instruments from the region.

The second half belongs to the Humboldt State Calypso Band, which gears up for its 30th anniversary this spring with some of its greatest hits from past shows, as well as new tunes never heard before at HSU. Included in the mix are three Panorama classics as well as the band’s signature high-energy Calypso dance music. 

 The all-percussion concert is Saturday December 5 at 8 p.m. in the Van Duzer Theatre at HSU. Tickets are $10 general, $3 students, seniors and children from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door.  Directed by Eugene Novotney and Howard Kaufman. “We Got the Beat,” directed by Brenda Myers, also plays a pre-concert set beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Media: Eureka Times-Standard Urge, Mad River Union, North Coast Journal, Humboldt State Now

Calypso Band & Percussion Concert Notes

Notes by Humboldt State percussion program director Eugene Novotney

The concert will start with a energizing set by the youth percussion group, We Got the Beat. We Got the Beat is a fun and interactive, hands-on, musical experience for young student musicians from 2nd to 7th grade based in Fresno, California.

 Led by percussionist Brenda Myers, "We Got the Beat" performs on a wide variety of percussion instruments and in many musical styles. They have performed throughout the state of California for events such as the California Music Educator’s Convention in Sacramento, the National Association of Music Merchants Trade Show in Anaheim, the Big Fresno Fair, and at the Oakland Day of Percussion with Pete Escovedo. They bring energy, excitement, and a high level of musicianship, and will fill everyone’s hearts with the joy of music.

In addition to starting the show, WGTB will be presenting a pre-concert set at 7:30pm as the crowd enters the theatre.

 The HSU Marimba Band will follow WGTB, and they will be featuring a truly virtuosic marimba piece entitled, Omphalo Centric Lecture, composed by the Australian composer Nigel Westlake. This piece is both captivating and mesmerizing, and it explores the beauty of the sound of the marimba in its full range and capacity.

 The first half of the show will conclude with the World Percussion Group, directed by Professor Howard Kaufman. The WPG will be presenting an authentic arrangement of Samba Maracatu from Northern Brasil on all traditional instruments. This arrangement is as good as it gets, and will feature a 30+ piece samba band playing authentic instruments from Brasil filling the room with pulsating sound.

The second half of the concert will showcase the festive island sounds of the Humboldt State Calypso Band. This fall, the Calypso Band is gearing up for their 30th anniversary by playing their “greatest hits” from the past 30 years of shows at HSU, as well as some new tunes never before heard at HSU.

The band will feature three Panorama compositions on this show - Ray Holman’s, “If We Really Want,” Boogsie Sharpe’s, “Misbehave,” and Andy Narell’s, “Coffee Street” - as well as a full mix of Calypso dance music. Many student steelpan soloists will be featured throughout the evening, and the Calypso Band’s performance is guaranteed to get you up on your feet!

The Humboldt State Calypso Band prides itself in maintaining an accurate and authentic connection to the roots of the steel band movement and the innovative musicians of Trinidad, the island on which this unique percussion phenomenon was born. The band is dedicated to the performance of traditional and contemporary music from the Caribbean, Africa, Brazil, and the United States.

 In addition to its regular performances at Humboldt State and throughout Northern California, the band has undertaken tours to San Francisco, Santa Cruz, San Jose, Santa Rosa, Sacramento, Stockton, Fresno, Oakland, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Eugene, OR and Seattle, WA. Founded in 1986 by the band’s director, Eugene Novotney, the Calypso Band is celebrating its 30th anniversary at Humboldt State this spring, and holds the distinction of being the first ensemble of its kind in the entire California State University System.

    The Force Awakens at Fulkerson Hall 

 It’s not the new movie, but it is the signature music: HSU Symphonic Band plays two movements of the Star Wars Suite on Friday December 4 at Fulkerson Recital Hall.

 Just weeks before The Force Awakens, fans can warm up with “Yoda’s Theme” and the main Star Wars theme. 

 “It’s hard to find a good arrangement of Star Wars,” said Symphonic Band director Paul Cummings. “But this is a very challenging and exciting version of John Williams’ film music, in the definitive arrangement for college wind band by Donald Hunsberger.” 

 “This is very well written music, using the forces of the wind band in effective ways,” Cummings said. 

 These two movements are a preview in another sense as well, since the Symphonic Band will perform the entire Star Wars Suite in its spring concert, and also take it on tour to northern California junior colleges and high schools in April. 

 The December 4 concert also features Illyrian Dances by Guy Woolfenden, who for several decades wrote incidental music for the Royal Shakespeare Company. The title is taken from the fantasy locale of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” a play written to be performed as part of England’s Christmas celebration. 

 “It’s very dramatic,” Cummings said, “with a lot of variety, by a very gifted melodic writer.” 

 The Band also performs two classic keyboard transcriptions: the six-movement William Byrd Suite (“very tuneful music by one of the great English composers of the period”) and a Fantasia by J.S. Bach, both from eras in which the modern wind band did not yet exist.

 “The Bach piece was written for organ,” Cummings said, “and a good wind band can sound like a pipe organ. It’s is a rare opportunity for our band students to perform a work by one of the greatest composers of western music.” 

 The HSU Symphonic Band performs on Friday December 4 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.

Media: Eureka Times-Standard Urge, Mad River Union, North Coast Journal, Humboldt State Now

Symphonic Band: Director's Notes

Notes edited from an interview with Paul Cummings, director.

Star Wars Suite:
Yoda's Theme
Main Star Wars Theme
by John Williams

We're doing a very challenging and exciting version of Star Wars by John Williams, the great film composer. It's hard to find a good arrangement of Star Wars--it's been hacked up and deranged by a multitude of people, but Donald Hunsberger has made the definitive arrangement for college wind bands.  That's the version we're going to do.

In this concert we'll play the final two movements, then the entire suite in the spring semester.  We're also going to take it on tour to various high schools and junior colleges in April.

The fourth movement is Yoda's Theme--very majestic music in keeping with the legendary trainer of the Jedi.  The last movement is the main Star Wars theme, representing the triumph of the Force. This is well-written music, using the forces of the wind band in very effective ways.

Hunsberger was the conductor of the Eastman Wind Ensemble from 1965 to 2001, and a professor at the Eastman School of Music.  This is one of several arrangements he did.  This version of Star Wars is definitely the most challenging one out there.  With the new Star Wars movie featuring some of the characters in the original coming out in just a few weeks, we decided to play it for this concert.

Illyrian Dances
by Guy Woolfenden

The composer was the main musical director for the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1963 until 1998.  He wrote all the incidental music for their productions.  When you're writing incidental music you become very good at your craft, just from the sheer volume of music you have to produce.  It has to fit the scenic and dramatic context as well. This particular piece is very dramatic in nature.

Shakespeare's Twelfth Night takes place in Illyria, which is basically an imaginary land.  "What excited me was the resonance of Illyria itself, and the romance of all faraway, make-believe places," the composer wrote. "Illyria is a never-never land, and the idea of inventing dances for such a place intrigued me."

The three movements of this piece are in fact dance forms: Rondo (which goes back to the medieval period), Aubade (a dawn or morning song) and then a Gigue (a lively dance that goes back to the Renaissance at least.)

There are some rhythmic challenges but Woolfenden is very much a British composer--he writes very tuneful music, a very gifted melodic writer.  He's a good orchestrator, he knows how to write for the instruments.  There's great variety in textures--some passages with the full band but more often alternation of many instruments with just a few, so you'll hear chamber music but also full ensemble playing.

Fantasia in G Major
by Johann Sebastian Bach
transcription by Richard Franko Goldman and Robert L. Leist

Bach didn't write band music.  The medium of the wind band--consisting as it does today of brass, woodwinds and percussion--did not exist in Bach's lifetime.  So band students don't get to play any Bach, unless we do arrangements like this.

Richard Franko Goldman had his own band in New York.  It was his father's band, and he was associate conductor beginning in 1937.  In 1956 he became conductor, and the Goldman Band of New York City played its last concert in 1984. It was a very famous band in and around New York.  Goldman was a great band leader and great arranger.  He commissioned and premiered a lot of band music.

This Fantasia is all one continuous movement.  A Fantasia is a through-composed form, meaning that it does not have a lot of sectional repetition.  Instead it just evolves over the course of the piece.  It's rather a free form, so the composer does not have to fit a prescribed structure.

This was an organ piece originally, so it works well for band.  A good wind band can sound like a pipe organ, so doing music originally written for organ makes a lot of sense.  The challenge is to keep the air flowing through the wind instrument so you do simulate the sound of a big church organ.

One reason we're doing this is to give our band students the opportunity to play music by J.S. Bach, one of the greatest composers of western music.

The William Byrd Suite
1.  Earl of Oxford March
2. Pavana
3. "Jhon come kisse me now"
4. The Mayden's Song
5. Wolsey's Wilde
6. The Bells

We performed a couple of these movements in October, and now we're doing all six. William Byrd was one of the foremost English composers of the Renaissance, known mostly for his sacred choral music.  But he did write secular music for a keyboard instrument of his time, the virginal, the English equivalent of the harpsichord.  These pieces were collected in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book but were forgotten until the 20th century, which is when Gordon Jacob rediscovered them.

Jacob selected these six out of some 70 Byrd pieces and arranged them for wind band. The Suite is now a classic in the wind band literature.  Like the work of most English composers, these pieces are very tuneful.