Friday, October 14, 2016 • 8:00 p.m.

Wind Symphony Erica Neidlinger, conductor

DePaul Concert Hall 800 West Belden Avenue • Chicago Friday, October 14, 2016 • 8:00 p.m. DePaul Concert Hall Wind Symphony Erica Neidlinger, conductor

Program

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) Toccata Marziale (1924)

Eric Whitacre (b. 1970) October (2000)

Cindy McTee (b. 1953) Ballet for Band (2007) Introduction: On with the Dance Waltz: Light Fantastic Finale: Where Time Plays the Fiddle

Guy Woolfenden (1937-2016) French Impressions (1998) Parade Can Can Wind Symphony • October 14, 2016 Program Notes In programming the repertoire for this evening I discovered a common thread that I found interesting to explore. Each piece is the result of aesthetic inspiration (music, nature, dance, and visual art). These are a select few examples of affect inspiring art and transforming into something new.

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) Toccata Marziale (1924) Duration: 5 minutes As a young man it appeared that Ralph Vaughan Williams was destined to be a church musician. It was his contact with English folk music that transformed him as a composer. Many of his compositions incorporated folk music that had been forgotten, including his first work for wind band, English Folk Song Suite. However, Toccata Marziale instead draws from his church experience. A toccata (meaning “to touch”) is a virtuosic piece typically for keyboard. Vaughan Williams’ piece for band is inspired by the imitative nature of this form so commonly used by composers such as J.S. Bach. A highly contrapuntal and virtuosic work, Toccata Marziale remains notated in 3, yet makes endless departures of rhythm and meter as Vaughan Williams develops subjects in a fugue-like manner. His toccata, inspired by musical developments of the past, contributed to an entirely new approach to music for the wind band – one that demanded a far more serious approach than the lighter fare of the past.

Eric Whitacre (b. 1970) October (2000) Duration: 7 minutes Eric Whitacre is among the most popular composers of our time, with a broad range of compositions that elicit global appeal. Whitacre’s compositions began drawing attention while he was a student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He went on to study with and at Juilliard, and his range and depth of repertoire has evolved ever since. Although he has written for a wide variety of ensembles, he is most prolific in the choral realm.

October is a work inspired by nature, with October being Whitacre’s favorite month of the year. He captures the “soul” of the season through haunting melodies, conflicting tonalities (minor, mixolydian, and major), and a structure that seems to wander in search of redemption. The insecurity and frailty of the human condition is apparent. He writes:

Something about the crisp autumn air and the subtle changes in light always make me a little sentimental, and as I started to sketch I felt the same quiet beauty in the writing. The simple, pastoral melodies and the subsequent harmonies are inspired by the great English Romantics, as I felt this style was also perfectly suited to capture the natural and pastoral soul of the season. Wind Symphony • October 14, 2016 Program Notes Cindy McTee (b. 1953) Ballet for Band (2007) Duration:18 minutes Cindy McTee’s music has been hailed by critics and performed by professional ensembles all over the world. McTee was raised by musical parents - her father played trumpet and her mother played clarinet in a local dance band. As a child McTee was influenced by the jazz and popular music performed by this ensemble. At age six she began studying piano with a teacher who encouraged improvisation.

Like many of McTee’s pieces, Ballet for Band includes jazz idioms and motivic material that is playfully manipulated throughout the work. It both suspends time and advances time in a subconscious/conscious way, creating the opposition of mind and body, thought and feeling. Originally titled Symphony No. 1: Ballet for Orchestra, McTee adapted the score for band herself. The work is inspired by her “renewed interest in dance music” and her “kinesthetic/emotional awareness.” She writes:

Music is said to have come from dance – from the rhythmic impulses of men and women. Perhaps this explains my recent awareness of the inherent relationships between thought, emotion, and action – that the impulse to compose often begins as a rhythmical stirring and leads to a physical response – tensing muscles, gesturing with hands and arms, or quite literally, dancing.

I. Introduction: On with the Dance

Inspired by the opening theme of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, a 3-note motif outlining the interval of a minor third is developed and expanded to also include the interval of a major third.

II. Waltz: Light Fantastic

The second movement is a dance – in this case a quick waltz inspired by a memorable performance of Ravel’s La Valse… A rising half-step motif in the basses lightens the effect of the falling half-step motif heard in the previous movement.

III. Finale: Where Time Plays the Fiddle

Motifs consisting of minor and major thirds as well as jazz elements continue to permeate the textures of the final movement. Reference to Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring can be heard at several other points along the way. Material from the beginning of the piece returns, and a final statement of the opening motif provides closure. Wind Symphony • October 14, 2016 program notes Guy Woolfenden (1937-2016) French Impressions (1998) Duration: 11 minutes British composer, Guy Woolfenden, was a notable figure among English musicians. He served the Royal Shakespeare Company as Head of Music from 1963-1998, was Artistic Director of the Cambridge Festival from 1986- 1991, and in 1995 was a founder/director of the Stratford on Avon Music Festival. His compositions include many scores for the Royal Shakespeare Company as well as works for wind band, chamber ensembles, and orchestra.

French Impressions was inspired by the paintings of artist Georges Seurat (1859-1891). Seurat is most known for his innovative techniques such as chromo-luminarism and pointillism – both first revealed in his famous work, Sunday on La Grand Jatte. Woolfenden’s music, however, is not pointillistic but rather captures the French of the time and the overall tone of Seurat’s paintings. During the late 1800’s an artist in Paris was surrounded by the multitude of live performances that had become a part of society, and many were using these as inspiration for their work, especially the circus. By 1870 there were five circuses permanently in Paris that performed every night and were a spectacle to behold. In addition, cabaret acts drew nightly audiences but some were known to be more of a burlesque show.

Woolfenden’s first movement, Parade, draws inspirations from Bathers at Asnieres (1884) and Circus Sideshow (1888). Bathers was Seurat’s first major painting and preceded his work with pointillism. It is instead greatly influenced by impressionism while showing neoclassic traits. The bathers are working-class people relaxing on the bank of the river Seine. On the contrary, Circus Sideshow is pointillistic and has a much darker, almost ominous atmosphere. It depicts the free sideshow outside of the circus, intended to persuade the public to buy a ticket. The central figure is a mysterious trombonist who contributes to the sinister tone.

The second movement, Can Can, is inspired by the lively entertainment depicted in The Circus (1891) and Le Chahut (1890) – both pointillistic works. The Circus was Seurat’s last work and remains unfinished. It can be seen as a companion piece to Circus Sideshow, as if one has paid and entered the arena to view the spectacle. Le Chahut is spectacle of another sort, and raised controversy in its image of Parisian nightlife. The can can (a lively yet risqué dance for the time period) is being performed while a single onlooker seems to represent the leering public. The music captures both the animated spirit of the circus and the burlesque of the can can.

Notes by Erica Neidlinger. Wind Symphony • October 14, 2016

Biography Erica Neidlinger is Associate Professor and conductor of the Wind Symphony at DePaul University. Additional responsibilities include teaching conducting and instrumental music education courses. Dr. Neidlinger has conducted performances across the United States and in Europe. She has traveled to Singapore and Canada as an ensemble adjudicator and clinician and has been featured as a guest conductor and clinician in Latvia. Presentations at international conferences include the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles in Killarney, Ireland and the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic. She has also conducted honor bands and presented at many conferences across the United States.

Before her teaching at DePaul, Dr. Neidlinger served as Assistant Director of Bands at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where she conducted university concert ensembles and directed the marching band. She has been a member of the band and music education faculty at The Ohio State University and has also served as conductor of the Nebraska Wind Symphony. Under her direction the ensemble was selected to perform for the 2005 Association of Concert Bands National Convention and the 2007 Nebraska State Bandmasters Conference. Neidlinger completed her doctoral degree at the University of Minnesota under the supervision of Professor Craig Kirchhoff. In addition, she holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas and a Master’s degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Wind Symphony • October 14, 2016 Personnel

Flute Saxophone Bass Trombone Armand Assaiante Richard Brasseale Andy Chester Emily Bieker Jacob Delgado Adam Gough Ana Boulas Chun-Chi Huang Eliza Fisher Roy Miller Euphonium Charlie Jacobs Paul Roach Andy Chester Jennifer Klimek Peter Tears Somer Hornbuckle Carrie Little Ben Voigt Brian Mayo Jordan Mann James Wilder Zac Nye Rebecca Murray Megan Sellberg Horn Tuba Frejva Zackrison Barbara Dubravec Riley Lindsey Rebecca Hiigel Hsuan-Wei Weng Lin Oboe Kelly Kondry Dan Nowosad Reed Cawley Jacob Nelson Carl Colvin Miles O’Malley Timpani Ian Egeberg Sarah Weddle Trumpet Bassoon J.R. Buzzell Percussion Jenna Cole Brendan Donnelly Tommy Farnsworth Chris Hanson Connor Druhan Julian Merluzzi Rebecca Shepro Andrew Egizio Miyu Morita Kevin Thurman Mark Hale Evan Schirle Claire Hendrickson George Tantchev Clarinet Eric Huels Jeremy Warren Jesse Bruer Valerie Kolb Roy Cho Katelyn Mason Bass Ben Cruz Hailey Menkhus Mary Halm Cullen Daniels Nicholas Slaggert Michael Ippolito Michael Verbic Piano Louis Kim David Wagner Xizheng Wang Julia Larson Ian Marino Trombone Harp Geronimo Melendez Gil Bolster Catherine Litaker* Julia Miller Frankie Dobyns Julian Rymar Somer Hornbuckle *guest Michael Tran Henry Lineham Brian Mayo Zac Nye Michael Schober Caleb Shemwell Brendan Whalen Wind Symphony • October 14, 2016

Upcoming Events Saturday, October 15 • 8:00 p.m. Concert Hall DePaul Chamber Choir & Baroque Ensemble perform Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas

Sunday, October 23 • 2:00 p.m. Recital Hall Chicago Classical Guitar Society Evaluated Recital

Friday, October 28 • 7:30 p.m. Sunday, October 30 • 2:00 p.m. Concert Hall DePaul Opera Theatre presents Kurt Weil’s Street Scene

Tuesday, November 1 • 8:00 p.m. Recital Hall Jazz Combos

Wednesday, November 2 • 8:00 p.m. Recital Hall Jazz Combos

Wednesday, November 2 • 8:00 p.m. Concert Hall Faculty Recital: George Vatchnadze, piano

Thursday, November 3 • 6:30 p.m. Room 103 Career Workshop: “Awakening Your Business Brain: A Guide to Launching Your Music Career” Free for School of Music students and alumni; registration required. For more information please visit music.depaul.edu As a courtesy to those around you, please silence all cell phones and other electronic devices. Flash photography is not permitted. Thank you. Sign up for Music @ DePaul E-Notes! Receive bi-weekly updates in your inbox on performances taking place at the School of Music, as well as special offers and discounts to ticketed events! You can choose to unsubscribe from the list at any time. We have a strict privacy policy and will never sell or trade your email address.

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