Monday, March 2
1:00 PM
Kopleff Recital Hall
T. Devin Reid, principal conductor Rachel Breaux, graduate assistant conductor Julianna Pinero, graduate assistant conductor
Sensus Vitae (2013)
Nathan Daughtrey | B. 1975
Nathan Daughtrey's unique sound comes from his mixed background in composition and keyboard percussion performance. As a performing artist and clinician for Yamaha, he's performed in Austrailia, Asia, much of Eastern Europe, and North America. His passion for composing came around through his background in percussion, and after playing in one too many pieces where he was a bored percussionist in the back, he took it upon himself to write his own music.
Sensus Vitae, or "the meaning of life," is a bright and colorful 4-minute fanfare and chorale that grabs you from the opening cascades of woodwinds and keyboard percussion. Written for the Wake Forest University Wind Ensemble, the work cleverly (and subtly) weaves the school's fight song into the texture.
- Program Note for Sensus Vitae
Summerland (1937/2013)
William Grant Still | 1895-1978
arr. Dane Teter
FUN FACT!
Still was the first American composer to have an opera produced by the New York City Opera. He is also sometimes referred to as the "Dean of Afro-American Composers", as his music and music presence were important for African Americans at the time.
He was the first African-American to conduct a major American symphony orchestra.
SUMMERLAND (1937) was originally the second of Three Visions (1936) for piano, but was recast by the composer for different instrumentation. Lazy and relaxed, it evokes a quiet, warm afternoon, or alternately is a portrait of promised beauty in the afterlife.
- Program Note from University of North Texas Wind Ensemble concert program, 16 February 2016
SERENADE (1961)
I. Pastoral IV. Intermezzo
Vincent Persichetti | 1915-1987
Persichetti grew up as a child prodigy, playing piano and organ and was supporting himself by age 11. He stayed in Philadelphia his whole life, and took full advantage of the schools there.
At age 20, he was simultaneously the head of the music department at Combs College, a conducting major with Fritz Reiner at the Curtis Institute, and a piano and composition student at the Philadelphia Conservatory.
- windliterature.org
SERENADE was one of the many pieces he composed, adn this serenade in particular is number 11 in a series of 15 serenades written for various solo, chamber, and full ensemble performances.
The first, “Pastoral,” puts a breezy melody over slowly undulating accompaniments.
The “Intermezzo” is dominated by ascending and descending triads over graceful harmonies.
First Suite in F
Thom Ritter George | B. 1942
Conducted by Rachel Breaux
THOM RITTER GEORGE, another all-American composer and arranger, also had an early start to his music career. He started composing at age 10, and he conducted his first orchestral concert at merely 17 years old! He's won a plethora of awards, composed over 350 pieces, and was a member of Phi Mu Alpha as well as Phi Kappa Psi and ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers).
I. Sea Chantey II. Song of Bells III. Country Dance IV. Rumba Rumba
First Suite in F was written for the fiftieth anniversary of the United States Navy Band, and the premiere was in the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, conducted by Lieutenant Commander Ned Muffley. The composer writes:
As you might expect, the musical ideas contain allusions to the Navy and the music-making of the Navy Band. The first movement, Sea Chantey, is not based on any particular sea chantey. Rather, it catches the flavor of the genre -- confident, humorous, and upbeat. The various sea motives are used in a contrapuntal manner, climbing over one another to see which can ‘outdo’ the other. The second movement, Song of the Bells, is wistful in character, perhaps symbolizing the loneliness and grandeur of the sea. On purpose, I reserved the bell (chime) tones for the ending. The third movement, Country Dance, serves as an intermezzo. It has a simple, melodious, and natural character. The final movement, Rumba Rumba, shows Navy men having fun in a South American port. Here auxiliary South American percussion instruments are used to add to the local flavor.
- Program Note from Baylor University Concert Band concert program, 2 May 2021 SOURCE
UNIDAD EN RITMO
Michele Fernández (b. 1967)
Conducted by Julianna Pinero
ABOUT THE COMPOSER | Michele Fernández is an active guest clinician, performer, and composer, taught for 30 years and was an active oboeist in Miami before retiring to focus on writing and being a clinician.
UNIDAD EN RITMO is written in the "Afro-Latin Jazz", and pays homage to the struggles that both ethnic backgrounds had to and continue to face, while displaying their interconnected relationship to each other's music. "The intent of this original composition is not to add African rhythms in their purest form to Spanish-styled melodies reminiscent of my own ancestral heritage, rather, to pay respect to the result of organic progression, through time, of th ehumble cultures thrown together on a small island, and which contributed to the developement of these very specific Afro-Cuban forms into what they are... today"
- Fernández, Program Note
LUX AURUMQUE
ERIC WHITACRE (b.1970)
ERIC WHITACRE is a Grammy Award-winning modern composer whose music is beyond popular among any music program in North America. It's hard to step into a band or choir program that hasn't played or sung his music, or at least have it in their library or have heard of him. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School, his works are performed all over the world, and he revolutionized technology to create "Virtual Choirs", which has been a series that has united over 100,000 singers from over 145 countries.
LUX AURUMQUE (meaning "Light and Gold" in Latin) is a piece commissioned by the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay and dedicated to Dr. Jo Michael Sheibe. This piece is the band arrangement of his own choir song of the same name, from a poem by Edward Esch.
ORIGINAL POEM - LATIN
Lux, Calida gravisque pura velut aurum Et canunt angeli molliter modo natum.
TRANSLATED POEM - ENGLISH
Light, warm and heavy as pure gold and angels sing softly to the new-born babe.
Edward Esch, b.1970 (Translated to Latin by Charles Anthony Silvestri)
COSMOPOLITAN AMERICA (1904)
HELEN MAY BUTLER | 1867-1957
ARRANGED BY JAMES LAMB
Conducted by Julianna Pinero
Composed by renowned bandleader Helen May Butler, Cosmopolitan America was written for the 1904 St Louis World's Fair and was selected as the official march for Theodore Roosevelt's presidential campaign. Butler was a virtuoso in her own right and her ensembles had a well-earned reputation for musical excellence. Butler directed the premier band of professional female musicians, and she was frequently referred to as the Female Sousa.
- Program Note from publisher
T. Devin Reid
Interim Associate Director of Bands
Director of Athletic Bands
Devin Reid is currently an active musician and educator throughout the southeast. A native of Fayetteville, NC, Mr. Reid is a 2005 recipient of the North Carolina Teaching Fellows Scholarship. He holds a Master of Music in Wind Band Conducting from Georgia State University and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Mr. Reid currently serves as the Interim Associate Director of Bands and Interim Director of Athletic Bands at Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA, and previously served GSU as the Assistant Director of Bands and Undergraduate Director for the School of Music. At Georgia State he co-teaches the Panther Marching Band, conducts the Basketball Band, conducts the Wind Orchestra, teaches undergraduate and graduate level conducting and band literature courses, and supervises student teachers in the field among other duties and courses. Under his leadership, the GSU Concert Band has grown to become the largest instrumental concert ensemble at the university. With Mr. Reid’s direction, the GSU Panther Band performed in 2019 as part of the Pepsi Super Bowl LIII Halftime Show, been accepted as a CBDNA Southern Region top marching band in 2020, and performed in the 2022 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, CA. Preceding to his appointment at Georgia State, Mr. Reid taught public school in Georgia and North Carolina and served as Graduate Assistant for the Georgia State University Bands. While teaching at James Kenan High School (NC), Mr. Reid grew the program from 0% to 10% of the school population in just three years. His ensembles performed at numerous events in and out of the community including the NC Muscadine Festival, NC PAS Day of Percussion and the Virginia International Music Festival.
Mr. Reid has presented clinics and workshops at the North Carolina Music Educators Conference, Georgia Music Educators Conference, Tennessee Music Educators Conference, South Carolina Music Educators Conference, Florida Music Educators Conference, American String Teachers Association National Conference and the Georgia State University Bands of Distinction Honor Clinic. He is a recurrent guest conductor at the International Euphonium and Tuba Festival. He is also an active concert band and marching band clinician and adjudicator throughout Georgia, Virginia and North Carolina.
As a performer, Mr. Reid is an actively sought-after musician. He was the percussionist for the popular brass quintet and Delos recording artist “Da Capo Brass”. Their debut album “From The Beginning” stormed the iTunes classical charts at #8 in January 2012. He has also been a member of the regionally acclaimed bluegrass band, “T.R. and the Boys” as baritone vocalist and mandolin player. They have three releases, and their most recent album; “Lonesome” features one of his original songs as the title track. He is a member of the National Association for Music Education, College Band Directors National Association and is an endorser for Sabian Cymbals.
Julianna Pinero
Graduate Teaching Assistant & Wind Band Conducting Student
Julianna Pinero is an alumna of Georgia State University where she earned the Bachelor of Music degree with a concentration in Instrumental Music Education. At Georgia State, Ms. Pinero was a member of several ensembles including the University Orchestra, Panther Band, Panther Basketball Band, Concert Band, and Choral Union. She is a 2019 graduate of Mill Creek High School where she performed in various ensembles.
Ms. Pinero’s teaching experience includes pre-school instrument with Jumpstart Education, strings instruction at Drew Charter School in Atlanta, student teaching in Gwinnett County, and marching band instruction at Cambridge High School in Milton, GA and North Gwinnett High School in Suwanee, GA. In addition, she has served as a visual educators for the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps in Denver, Colorado.
Julianna was selected as a Conducting Fellow for the Atlanta Summer Conducting Institute hosted by Georgia State University in both 2023 and 2024.
Rachel Breaux
Graduate Teaching Assistant & Wind Band Conducting Student
Rachel Breaux, a native of Temple, GA, is pursuing the Masters of Music degree in Wind Band Conducting. She is a recent graduate of the University of West Georgia where she earned the Masters of Music degree in Flute Performance. While at UWG, Rachel took advantage of conducting opportunities with the Wind Ensemble under the direction of Dr. Joshua Byrd. She also holds a Bachelors of Music degree in Music Education from West Georgia. As a performer, Rachel has studied privately with Elisa Lyle, Candance Keach, and Dr. Tammy Evans, and actively runs a private and sectional studio consisting of students within Carroll, Paulding, Fayette, and Coweta counties. She also participates in marching band instructional staff, flute sectional clinics, beginning and advanced conducting graduate teaching assistant instruction, theatre orchestra pits, and local church orchestras; including the Tabernacle Baptist Church, Roopville Baptist Church, Douglasville Baptist Church, and East Newnan Baptist Church. On the side, Rachel specializes in social media and marketing for local organizations and honor bands. Her professional affiliations include the Georgia Music Educators Association, National Association for Music Education, and the National Band Association. She currently resides in Temple, GA with her 5-year old forever puppy, Oscar.