Funding for tonight’s performance was provided, in part, by the John R. Locke Endowment for Excellence in Music. For more information on giving to the UNCG School of Music, please visit https://vpa.uncg.edu/music/giving/
Kalos Eidos
Carol Brittin Chambers
Carol Brittin Chambers is an American music educator and composer based in San Antonio, Texas. She frequently receives commissions to compose and arrange works for concert and marching band. Kalos Eidos—a Greek term meaning “beautiful form" or “beautiful shape”—was commissioned in 2019 by the Minnesota Band Director’s Association (MBDA) Band Literature Session Committee and Partners. It was also named the winner of the Women Band Directors International 2019 Composition Competition. Originally, Chambers planned to title the work, Kaleidoscope, but later chose Kalos Eidos, reflecting the Greek origin of the word. The piece is programmatic, intended to musically portray the characteristics of a kaleidoscope—a tube containing mirrors and colored glass or paper that form shifting patterns as it rotates. Chambers represents this concept by dividing the ensemble into chamber-like groups: upper woodwinds, upper brass, low-sounding instruments, and percussion. The ocean drum is used to mimic the sound of the turning kaleidoscope. The form includes three main episodes in a fast–slow–fast sequence where each is distinct yet unified by recurring colors and patterns. The ending mirrors the beginning in reverse: instead of building activity and complexity, the music gradually unwinds, slowing until the kaleidoscope stops spinning and comes to rest.
Note by Carol Brittin Chambers and Patty Saunders
Chamak
Reena Esmail
Reena Esmail’s music weaves together the traditions of Hindustani and Western classical music, drawing musicians from many perspectives into shared creative spaces. A multiple GRAMMY®-nominated composer of orchestral, chamber, and choral works, Esmail has written commissions for ensembles including the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the Seattle Symphony, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and the San Francisco Symphony. She served as the Los Angeles Master Chorale’s 2020–2025 Artist-in-Residence, and the Seattle Symphony’s 2020–2021 Composer-in-Residence and currently resides in Altadena, California. The title of the work, Chamak, means “spark” in Hindi and was inspired by a couplet from the Indian saint–poet Kabir: जैसे तिल में तेल है ज्यों चमक में आग तेरा साईँ तुझ में है तू जाग सके तो जाग The English translation reads: Just as a seed holds oil And a spark holds fire Your own spirit is inside of you If you can awaken it, you must. Chamak features a set of three Indian drums traditionally played while seated on the floor: the bayan, which is unpitched, and a pair of tuned tabla. The drums are performed using the fingers and, at times, the palm of the hand, allowing for a wide range of expressive sounds. The music draws on the concepts of raag, an aural tradition in Indian classical music of specific collections of pitches and characteristic melodic patterns. At one point in history, the Indian classical system is said to have included nearly 5,000 raags. Esmail describes the three movements of the work as explorations of different meanings of the chamak. The first movement, “Ember," presents a dark, smoky, lilting melody based on raag Bhimpalas. The second, “Luster,” is a warm, intimate journey in raag Hamsadhwani. The final movement, “Spark,” is a fiery, vibrant jaunt in raag Jog. Listeners familiar with these raags may notice that Hamsadhwani and Jog are treated in a somewhat mishra style meaning that certain melodic gestures extend slightly beyond the boundaries of their pure traditional forms. Esmail writes, “I hope this piece ignites a spark in two ways. As young creative people, just beginning to find their way in the world, I hope this piece is a reminder to follow that spark that lies within each of them. And more broadly, I hope that this piece sparks an interest in Indian classical music in the band world—these musical cultures have been separate for so many years, and I hope this piece sparks further connection between these two worlds.”
Note by Reena Esmail and Patty Saunders
Reflections
Carlos Simon
Reflections was commissioned by members of the Georgia State University graduate wind conducting studio and Symphonic Wind Ensemble in celebration of Dr. Robert J. Ambrose’s twenty years as director of bands. The work is inspired by a text by Courtney D. Ware centered on stillness, trust, and inward reflection. Rather than presenting a literal setting of the words, Carlos Simon translates these ideas into a musical language shaped by restraint, space, and gradual development. The piece unfolds through a series of contrasting textures that balance motion and stillness. More active, rhythmically-defined passages are set against moments of sustained sonority and reduced activity, creating a sense of suspension and release. Simon’s writing often allows individual lines to emerge from within the ensemble before receding back into the texture, reinforcing the introspective character of the work. The pacing between phrases is intentional, with an emphasis on continuity rather than abrupt contrast.
Note by Molly Allman
Resound
Nathan Daughtrey
Greensboro-based composer and keyboard percussionist, Nathan Daughtrey is driven by curiosity, relentlessly seeking ways to meld his lifelong passions. His varied career has taken him all over the world, appearing as a keyboard soloist in Australia, Asia, Eastern Europe, and throughout North America. Nathan has released two solo marimba albums, Spiral Passages and The Yuletide Marimba, the latter featuring his original arrangements of popular Christmas carols. Additionally, he has appeared on many other albums, including Emma Lou Diemer’s Pacific Ridge and currently serves as president of C. Alan Publications. Tasked with writing a piece for virtuosic solo clarinet, an occasional featured clarinet quartet, and band with active, grooving percussion parts, Daughtrey approached his work, Twitch, much like a Baroque solo concerto with elements of the concerto grosso, alternating between the tutti ensemble and solo sections. Twitch includes a variety of textures including solo clarinet with full ensemble, the clarinet section as a chamber group, and with the percussion section acting as a quintet echoing rhythmic motives heard across the work. Commissioned for performance at the 2016 Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, Twitch is a driving showpiece for solo clarinet and band, which marries syncopated, rhythmic excitement with lush, romantic lyricism.
Adapted from a program note by Nathan Daughtrey
Fields of Gold
Julie Giroux
Julie Giroux, a prolific American writer of orchestral, choral, chamber, and band works, began her career as a film and television orchestrator, composer, and conductor. Her writing credits include the soundtrack score for White Men Can’t Jump and the 1985 mini-series North and South. Giroux has also arranged for dozens of celebrities including Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, and Harry Connick, Jr. Giroux’s works for band include seven symphonies including Symphony no. 6, “The Blue Marble,” that includes a self-produced short film. Giroux has received numerous awards, including an Emmy Award in 1992 in the category of Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Direction. To date, Giroux has over 100 film, television, and video game credits. Fields of Gold is a programmatic work that tells the early story of the superhero, Superman, and Giroux’s interpretation of him: standing surrounded by fields of gold early in his life as a farmer, a son, and an honest man of quality and just worth. The work tells the story of an alien child sent to Earth, the last survivor of a doomed planet and civilization. It is a story that has been capturing imaginations since its first publication in Actions Comics #1 from 1938. Raised by farmers with love, taught to be fair, humble, hardworking, and to never tell a lie, the child grows into the son they could never have and the superhero everyone can admire. The piece opens with a child’s journey from Krypton to Earth. The piece then introduces the Kents and rural America followed by two events in Superman’s life when he uses his powers for good and comes to terms with who he is and who he is to become. This work celebrates heroism as both an inner strength of character and the outward actions it inspires.
Note by Julie Giroux and Patty Saunders
Aurora Borealis
Rossano Galante
Born in Buffalo, New York, Rossano Galante received a Bachelor of Arts degree in trumpet performance from SUNY Buffalo in 1992. Galante would go on to study at the University of Southern California’s film scoring program with Jerry Goldsmith. In 1999, Galante moved to California to pursue a career in composition and film orchestration. Since then, he has worked with two-time Oscar-nominated composer Marco Beltrami, Christophe Beck, Brian Tyler, Christopher Lennertz, and Wolfram de Marco and has over fifty-three published compositions including Aurora Borealis. In nature, the aurora borealis, or northern lights, are colorful, dancing displays produced by the collision of atmospheric atoms and molecule particles. Galante depicts these colors through a theme that transforms across changing time signatures and shifting orchestration. The theme returns after a lyrical middle section to recap the excitement that concludes with brass fanfare.
Adapted from a program note by C. Alan Publications
Catherine Keen Hock
Dr. Catherine Keen Hock exemplifies the innovative spirit of the contemporary classical musician. Living in Greensboro, North Carolina, Cat (as she is called by her friends) performs and teaches throughout the southeastern United States. Cat is an avid supporter of new music, especially chamber music, and frequently collaborates with local composers and new music ensembles. Cat is a founding member of the award-winning reed ensemble Quintet Sirocco, formed in 2010 by fellow graduate students at UNC Greensboro in an effort to continue advancing this exciting new genre of chamber music. As an ensemble, Quintet Sirocco’s mission encompasses commissioning and performing new music, creating innovative performance experiences for diverse audiences, and presenting educational performances throughout North Carolina. In 2007, Cat was a founding member of the Obsidian Clarinet Quartet, premiering two original compositions at the 2008 conference for the International Clarinet Association, ClarinetFest, in Kansas City. Cat is a member of the Piedmont Wind Symphony, the bass clarinetist for the Fayetteville Symphony and Salisbury Symphony Orchestra, plays clarinet/bass clarinet with WireTap New Music Ensemble (Durham, NC), and serves on the woodwind faculty at the Music Academy of North Carolina. Cat also enjoys sharing her love of music history as program essayist for the Eastern Music Festival. Cat completed a Doctor of Musical Arts degree (DMA) in clarinet performance at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2012 where she was a graduate teaching assistant for the clarinet studio and jazz studies program. Her degree includes a cognate in jazz studies, and she also completed a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Historical Musicology during her doctoral studies. Cat’s dissertation, “The Pivotal Role of Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time in the Establishment of the Clarinet-Piano Quartet Genre” reflects her passion for contemporary chamber music and examines the historical and socio-economic factors that have contributed to its current prominence within the classical music culture. While at UNCG, she was a member of the Wind Ensemble (performing at CBDNA in Austin, Texas in 2009), University Symphony Orchestra, Casella Sinfonietta and Jazz Ensemble II. Cat also earned a MM in Clarinet Performance from UNCG in 2007 and a BA with Honors in Music Performance with a minor in International Studies from Wake Forest University in 2005. At Wake Forest, Cat was a William L. Poteat Scholar, winner of the Concerto Competition and Giles-Harris Competition for Performance, and a drum major for the Spirit of the Old Gold and Black Marching Band. Also while at Wake Forest, Cat spent a magical semester in Venice, Italy, where she studied at the Conservatorio di Musica Benedetto Marcello and traveled Europe experiencing performances by the world’s leading orchestras and opera companies. She studied clarinet with Kelly Burke, Anthony Taylor, Edwin Riley, Eileen Young and Michael Waddell. In recent years, Cat has discovered a love of North Carolina’s state tree, the long leaf pine, after planting several acres of seedlings with her younger brother on their family farm in Four Oaks. When she isn’t back home on the farm, Cat enjoys attending sporting events, exploring the tastes of North Carolina’s craft breweries with her husband Noah (a professional violist), and experiencing a view of the world through the eyes of her brilliantly curious daughter, Clara.
Molly Allman
Molly Allman is pursuing her Master of Music degree in instrumental conducting at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), where she studies with Dr. Jonathan Caldwell and serves as a music education graduate teaching assistant. In this role, she supports the mission of the UNCG School of Music through teaching and service to the music education area. Prior to her graduate studies, Molly taught band and choir for three years in the North Carolina public schools.
Molly is a member of Sigma Alpha Iota and the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and she previously served as president of the North Carolina state affiliate of NAfME Collegiate. In that role, she traveled to Washington, D.C. in 2019 to meet with legislative representatives and advocate for the importance of arts funding in schools.
Molly aspires to build a career in higher education, where she hopes to mentor the next generation of musicians. Outside of academics, Molly enjoys exploring new music, engaging in community service, watching Red Sox baseball, and spending time with her family and pets.
Patty Saunders
Patty Saunders is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts in instrumental conducting at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) where she studies with Jonathan Caldwell. At UNCG, she conducts the Concert Band and assists with all other aspects of the UNCG Bands.
Prior to coming to UNCG, Patty completed a master’s degree in instrumental conducting from the University of Cincinnati – College Conservatory of Music (CCM) with Kevin Holzman where she conducted the Wind Symphony, Wind Ensemble, Chamber Winds, and Brass Choir and was involved in ensemble recordings. She also holds undergraduate degrees in saxophone performance and psychology from the University of Kentucky and in biochemistry from Virginia Tech. She spent many years serving in her community working with non-profit music organizations as well as collaborating with groups including the Lexington Philharmonic and University of Kentucky choirs. Passionate about connecting with audiences, she seeks to be intentional about representation and accessibility in her programming while creating a positive ensemble culture.
Patty is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the College Band Directors National Association. She strives to learn a new word every day, loves hiking with her family and dog, Ginger, and takes her coffee black, with no room for cream or sugar.