proudly presents the 2020-2021 Student Ensemble Series “Snow of an Aynu Village” William Kinne, conductor Stephen Meyer, guest conductor with Sarah Baker, graduate conductor Shannon Spark, graduate conductor Steven Quintana, graduate conductor Friday, October 2, 2020 7:30 p.m., Online livestream: nau.edu/music/events Program NAU Symphonic Band Brass Choir A Western Fanfare (1997) Eric Ewazen (b. 1954) Shannon Spark, graduate conductor “March” from The Love for Three Oranges (1921) Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953) Shannon Spark, graduate conductor Emma Catherine (2004) Omar Thomas (b. 1984) Stephan Lamer and Kathryn Reichdan, euphoniums James Stanton and Taigen Williams, tubas Two Pieces from Lieutenant Kijé (1934) Sergei Prokofiev I. Wedding of Kijé (1891–1953) II. Troika Stephen Meyer, conductor NAU Percussion Ensemble Institutionalized (2016) Josh Gottry (b. 1974) Liam Burns, Noah Chesterman, Noah Garza, and Justin Lea, percussion ~ Intermission ~ NAU Symphonic Band “Blue” Fortress (1989) Frank Ticheli (b. 1958) Steven Quintana, graduate conductor Snow of an Aynu Village (2007) Hirokazu Fukushima (b. 1971) Sarah Baker, graduate conductor Albanian Dance (2005) Shelley Hanson (b. 1951) Stephen Meyer, guest conductor NAU Symphonic Band “Gold” Fortress (1989) Frank Ticheli (b. 1958) Steven Quintana, graduate conductor Snow of an Aynu Village (2007) Hirokazu Fukushima (b. 1971) Sarah Baker, graduate conductor Albanian Dance (2005) Shelley Hanson (b. 1951) Stephen Meyer, guest conductor NAU Symphonic Band Personnel Flute: Alto Saxophone: Euphonium: Cecilia Polichetti* Devin Talbot* Stephan Lamer* Madison Young-Cruz Adrian Guillen Kathryn Reichdan Adam Favot Patrick Rubalcava Julia Edelson Ian Helfrich Bass Trombone: Abigail Clarke Khyel Munios Krow Leavitt Megan Carpenter Tenor Saxophone: Stephen Strohmeyer Cameron Washington Christopher Hover Tuba: Donovan Siers James Stanton* Oboe: Taigen Williams Jordyn Tuley Baritone Saxophone: Chandler Yost Madison Burril Joseph Pajkos Einin Wilson Aryel Laughlin DeAna Torres Calista Yost Timpani: Horn: Liam Burns* Clarinet: Sam Corbett* Andrew Schmidt* Joseph Powell Percussion: Andrew Wright Alyssa Roudebush Fabian Lopez* Kaia Guscott Samantha Roberts Oscar Casas Grace Wiersma Linn Montgomery Richard Rios Olivia Trujillo Abraham Arteaga Luis Centeno Trumpet: Noah Chesterman Casey Castaneda Nathan Bastidas* Noah Garza Hanna Ballman Kelsey Hilgart David Pantoja Bass Clarinet: Joshua Moore Krista Tiffin Jacub Decker Maelan Fitzsimons Trombone: Bassoon: Colton Bell* Brianna Stronks* Michael Thompson Tim Valentine Tyler Humphrey Blake Duty * denotes principal Program Notes ERIC EWAZEN (b. 1954) A Western Fanfare (1997) Ewazen was born in 1954 in Cleveland, OH. Receiving a BM at the Eastman School of Music and MM and DMA degrees from The Juilliard School, his teachers include Milton Babbitt, Samuel Adler, Warren Benson, Joseph Schwantner, and Gunther Schuller. He is a recipient of numerous composition awards and prizes. His works have been commissioned and performed by many soloists, chamber ensembles, and orchestras in the U.S. and overseas. He has been a faculty member at Juilliard since 1980. A Western Fanfare for Brass Quintet is dedicated to the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California, which commissioned the work in honor of their fiftieth anniversary celebrations. The fanfare is a bright, bold and uplifting work, reflecting the beauty and excitement of Santa Barbara’s famous music festival. Although it begins and ends with sonorous low brass and high trumpet flourishes, the middle section of the work is a lilting waltz. Program notes by Eric Ewazen SERGEI PROKOFIEV (1891–1953) “March” from The Love for Three Oranges (1921) Two Pieces from Lieutenant Kijé (1934) Composed in 1921, Sergei Prokofiev’s satirical opera, The Love for Three Oranges involves a crown prince who is seriously ill, and the only cure the doctors can suggest is laughter. The comical efforts of a sorceress to invade the palace is the source of laughter that cures the prince. Through her powers, the sorceress succeeds in having the prince fall in love with three oranges. The prince goes in search of his loves. In two of the oranges lie dead princesses, but in the third, the princess is alive but unconscious. She is revived at the end of the opera when cold water is poured upon her. Unfortunately, the opera is rarely performed but the “March” has become quite popular and was used as theme music for the radio serial The FBI in Peace and War. In 1933, Prokofiev was commissioned to write music for Alexander Feinzimmer’s filmLieutenant Kijé. Prokofiev would later have great success as a film composer, most notably with his monumental scores for Alexander Nevsky (1938) and Ivan the Terrible (1944). While the film Lieutenant Kijé was successful when it opened in Russia in March 1934, Prokofiev was less than satisfied with his innovative first attempt writing a film score. However, at the invitation of the Moscow Radio Orchestra, he began to assemble all of the short fragmentary musical cues from the Kijé film score into a delightfully wry and witty suite. The Wedding of Kijé opens with a wedding-toast fanfare, followed a sardonic polka-style wedding dance from the solo trumpet while the Troika depicts a rather frenzied ride in a traditional Russian three-horse sleigh. Program notes by Stephen Meyer (2020) OMAR THOMAS (b. 1984) Emma Catherine (2004) The music of Omar Thomas has been described as “elegant, beautiful, sophisticated, intense, and crystal clear in emotional intent.” Born to Guyanese parents in Brooklyn, NY, in 1984, Omar moved to Boston in 2006 to pursue a Master of Music in Jazz Composition at the New England Conservatory of Music after studying Music Education at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA. He is the protégé of lauded composers and educators Ken Schaphorst and Frank Carlberg, and has studied under multiple Grammy-winning composer and bandleader Maria Schneider. Emma Catherine was composed as a gift to my trombone professor at James Madison University, Dr. Andrew Lankford, and for his wife, Dr. Heather Lankford, as they were expecting the birth of their first child, Emma Catherine Lankford. When spoken naturally, the syllables “Emma Catherine” fall into a rhythmic pattern of two shorter notes followed by two longer notes. This became the primary rhythmic motive of the piece. At the premiere of the piece in the spring of 2004, Emma had just been born, and was able to hear the lullaby written in her honor. Program notes by Omar Thomas FRANK TICHELI Fortress (1989) Fortress was composed in 1988 and received its premiere performance by the Batawagama Youth Camp Band in Iron County, MI, Donald Schleicher, conductor, on June 25, 1988. In the work, the tritone is the most important harmonic interval throughout. Alteration between major triads a tritone apart occurs throughout the piece. Additionally, there are three important motives that recur throughout the work, each receiving emphasis at different times. The main idea, a dotted eighth-note followed by a sixteenth-note rhythm, returns often and is passed around to differing sections. The call motif, a triplet figure followed by a half note, utilizes the tritone at the end of the figure. And the legato theme, which combines slurred patterns and a wide contrasting dynamic shape, occurring over a four-measure phrase. Program notes by Frank Ticheli HIROKAZU FUKUSHIMA (b. 1971) Snow of an Aynu Village (2007) Fukushima graduated from Maebashi-Minami High School and earned a bachelor’s degree from Tokyo College of Music, along with a Certificate Diploma in Music. Currently, Fukushima is active as a composer and arranger of music for band and orchestra. He was nominated for the Asahi Composition Prize for his work Harvest Waves, and gained that prize in 1999 for his work, Chant for Dosozin. He also won the Japan Bandmasters Association Shitaya Prize for his Ryujo no Mai in 2001. He is director of wind band composition at the National Cultural Festival held in Gumma in 2001. Snow of an Aynu Village “represents people in an Aynu village living strongly and worshipping gods in snow,” according to the work’s score. The piece was written on a commission from a junior high school on Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s main islands. The southern part of this island has historically been home to the Aynu people, a group with its own language that has recently been recognized as an indigenous ethnicity in Japan. The Aynu are now still concentrated in southern Hokkaido, with some pockets in the nearby parts of Russia and the Kuril Islands, among other places. Program notes by Brain Co., Ltd. SHELLEY HANSON (b. 1951) Albanian Dance (2005) Eastern Europe has had a long tradition of brass bands, some of which also include clarinets and, since the twentieth century, saxophones. Although the instruments now commonly used by concert bands look somewhat different than some of the instruments used by Eastern European bands, this setting of the popular Albanian tune “Shota” seeks to recreate the festive mood of a raucous village dance, where just such a folk band would have provided the music. Present throughout the piece is the rhythmic pattern of long-long-short, which is a very common folkdance rhythm in many cultures. Program notes by Shelley Hanson Artist Profiles WILLIAM KINNE conducts the Symphonic Band, Lumberjack Marching Band, Jacks Pep Band, and teaches courses in conducting and music education. Prior to his appointment at NAU, Kinne studied at University of Colorado Boulder where he co-directed the Campus Band, assisted with athletic bands, and designed drill for the “Golden Buffalo” marching band. From 2009 through 2011, he was a graduate instructor for the University of Michigan Marching Band. Kinne has directed high school bands in New Hampshire, Minnesota, and Florida and enjoys working with bands of all ages. Recent research interests include the wind and theater music of Charles Ives and a wind ensemble transcription of Dmitri Shostakovich’s cartoon operetta, The Tale of the Silly Little Mouse.