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/
Corsican Litany
Václav Nelhýbel
Václav Nelhýbel was a prolific Czech composer and conductor who studied composition and conducting at the Prague Conservatory of Music and musicology at Charles University and the University of Fribourg (Switzerland). He was the assistant conductor of the Czech Philharmonic and a composer and conductor of the Swiss National Radio. He co-founded and directed the Radio Free Europe in Munich and conducted the Vienna Philharmonic and Bavarian Symphony. He emigrated from the Czech Republic to the United States in 1957.
Fascinated with the American concert band, Nelhýbel wrote Corsican Litany to explore the possibilities of the ensemble. Corsican laments were split into two categories: laments for deaths from natural causes and voceru, songs of grief and vengeance for victims of murder. The voceru that inspired Nelhýbel’s Corsican Litany was first sung in 1775 at the funeral of a country doctor named Matju who had been murdered by his patient. This piece begins with the sound of tolling chimes to announce the beginning of mourning, weaves sonically through pain and loss, and ends with the chilling reminder that, despite the voceru belief that vengeance can heal, the tolling chime remains.
Note by Patty Saunders
To Old and New Places
Elena Specht
Elena Specht is a composer whose work often grows out of compelling stories and a strong sense of place. Her music has been performed by groups such as the U.S. Coast Guard Band and university wind ensembles. She currently works as a librarian with “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band.
To New and Old Places is written in three movements; each tied to a scene in a different young adult novel. In the first, based on Jeanne DuPrau’s The City of Ember, two young characters witness the sun rising for the very first time. The second, based on Caroline B. Cooney’s The Face on the Milk Carton, captures the bittersweet longing of a teenager imagining the life she might have had with her lost family. The final movement, from C.S. Lewis’s The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, carries the thrill of a voyage into uncharted seas.
Note by Elena Specht and Molly Allman
Into the Sun
Jodie Blackshaw
Jodie Blackshaw is an Australian composer and conductor who studied composition with Larry Sitsky at the Australian National University. Blackshaw founded the Female Band Composer database in 2017 and the ColourFULL Music website in 2018. She is a composer that takes a student-centered approach in her works, often including storylines, options for student decision-making, and program narratives that connect the piece with a larger story.
Into the Sun is a compilation of stories told about the passage to Australia from the points of view of free settlers in the 1800s, post-World War II immigrants, and refugees seeking asylum. Blackshaw includes real-life stories that correspond to each of the piece’s six sections in her program notes that describe the emotional highs and lows of leaving home to find a new one. The sections include the Arrival; A New Land, a New Life; Camps and Confusion; Acculturation: A Yearning for Home and All That is Familiar; Opportunity: With New-Found Enthusiasm; and Reflection: With a Feeling of Inner Peace of Calmness. Written to raise awareness of the plight of refugees, Blackshaw broadens her programmatic message communicating a desire for all people to love one another. Blackshaw’s Into the Sun emphasizes this importance and the responsibility to help refugees in times of need.
Note by Jodie Blackshaw and Patty Saunders
Viktor's Tale
John Williams
John Williams is one of the most celebrated and influential film composers of the modern era. An American composer from New York, Williams was the son of a jazz drummer and studied at UCLA, the Juilliard School, and Eastman. His career has included collaborations with director Steven Spielberg and George Lucas that has produced some of the most recognized music in cinematic history including Schindler’s List, Indiana Jones, and Star Wars. He has won numerous awards including five Academy Awards and twenty-five GRAMMY® awards. Williams remains active as a composer and conductor and continues to broaden his impact on modern film.
Viktor’s Tale is a composition for solo clarinet and orchestra that was developed from Williams’ score for the Steven Spielberg film The Terminal. Part drama and part comedy, the film follows the protagonist, Viktor Navorski, as he finds himself a man without a country, stuck in an airport terminal for days on end. Williams’ score brings to life this unfortunate circumstance and includes a musical portrait of Navorski’s warmth and friendliness through a dance-like piece for clarinet and ensemble.
Note by the United States Marine Band and Patty Saunders
Summit
Kevin Day
Kevin Day is a composer, jazz pianist, producer, and conductor who is known to juxtapose diverse musical traditions including contemporary classical, jazz, R&B, and soul with classical composition. His father was a prominent hip-hop producer, and his mother was a popular gospel singer. Day is one of eight founding members of the Nu Black Vanguard, a collective dedicated to the advancement of Black composers, and a graduate of Texas Christian University, the University of Georgia, and the University of Miami Frost School of Music. In 2024, Day joined the faculty at the University of California San Diego as a lecturer in theory and musicianship.
Day composed Summit in 2020 after being commissioned by the Indiana Bandmasters Association. The piece depicts a group of climbers as they journey up the face of a mountain. Along the way, they encounter many obstacles, including cliffs and chilling winds, but the team perseveres and makes their way to the top.
Note by Kevin Day and Jaden Brown
Variations on a Korean Folk Song
John Barnes Chance
A native of Texas, John Barnes Chance was an American composer and arranger who received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Texas, where he studied with Clifton Williams, Kent Kennan, and Paul Pisk. He performed as a percussionist with the Austin Symphony Orchestra and served as an arranger for the 4th Army Band in San Antonio and the 8th Army Band in Seoul, Korea. After leaving the Army, the Ford Foundation selected Chance to participate in the Young Composers Project. From 1960 through 1962, he was composer-in-residence for the Greensboro Ford Foundation Young Composers Project writing for the Greensboro, North Carolina public school system and Greensboro Senior High School, now Grimsley High School. Chance was a prolific composer for wind band with works including Incantation and Dance and Blue Lake Overture.
While stationed overseas in Seoul, Chance heard the popular Korean folk song “Arirang” which inspired Variations on a Korean Folk Song. A song of love and heartbreak, the theme is based on the ujo mode pentatonic scale and can be traced back to the 18th century. The tune was also used as a resistance anthem during the Japanese occupation of Korea when the singing of patriotic songs was criminalized. About the melody, Chance said, “The tune is not as simple as it sounds, and my fascination with it during the intervening years led to its eventual use as the theme for this set of variations.” The theme is followed by five variations that alternate between fast and slow tempos and use multiple time signatures and rhythmic patterns to alter the theme. Variations on A Korean Folk Song is a cornerstone work for band and received the Sousa/Ostwald Award from the American Bandmasters Association in 1966.
Note by Patty Saunders
Luke Ellard
Clarinetist, composer, educator, and new music collaborator Luke Ellard strives for art that continually reaches out, valuing a relational spirit, informed engagement, and unapologetic authenticity.
For Luke, collaboration is what gives music life. As a clarinetist, they have performed with members of Bang On a Can All Stars, Eighth Blackbird, International Contemporary Ensemble, Fifth House Ensemble, Arkansas Symphony, Winston-Salem Symphony, and Mallarmé Chamber Music. As a composer, their music has been performed and commissioned by ensembles such as North Texas Wind Symphony, HOCKET, New Trombone Collective, Barkada Quartet, among others. Their current performance projects center around their self-produced solo cross-genre/electronic band LE, performing with their new music quartet Sounding Board, and commissioning new exciting works for the clarinet.
Dr. Ellard serves on the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro as Assistant Professor of Clarinet, having previously served on faculty at the University of Oklahoma and Midwestern State University while teaching privately and performing in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Luke earned their Doctor of Musical Arts in Clarinet Performance with related studies in Contemporary Music and Music Entrepreneurship at the University of North Texas, studying under Kimberly Cole Luevano. Additionally, Luke has earned degrees from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (James Campbell & Eric Hoeprich), the University of Texas at Austin (Yevgeniy Sharlat, Dan Welcher, & Donald Grantham), and Louisiana Tech University (Lawrence Gibbs, Joe L. Alexander).
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.
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.
Jaden Brown
Jaden Brown is currently pursuing a master’s degree in instrumental conducting at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), where he studies with Dr. Jonathan Caldwell. At UNCG, he serves as the assistant conductor for the Concert Band and assists with other ensembles and undergraduate conducting courses.
Prior to his graduate studies, Jaden earned a bachelor’s degree in music education from Western Carolina University. During his time at WCU, he studied trumpet with Dr. P. Bradley Ulrich for three years and participated in the Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, and Trumpet Ensemble. He also performed for three seasons with the Pride of the Mountains Marching Band, serving as trumpet section leader for two of those years.
Jaden has spent the past two summers as an instrumental music fellow at the North Carolina Governor’s School, where he supported the development of talented high school musicians from across the state.
He is a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia and the National Association for Music Education. Outside of music, Jaden enjoys spending time outdoors, has a love for animals of all kinds, and hopes to one day have a family of pet ferrets.