Wednesday October 4th
1 P.M.
Kopleff Recital Hall
Clutch. (2019)
Andrew David Perkins (b.1978)
PROGRAM NOTES
"I have visceral childhood memories of going to the Belle Isle Indycar races in Detroit with my Dad. The smell of high-octane racing fuel, burning rubber, domestic beer, feeling the scorching-hot summer sun bouncing off the asphalt. The pitch-bending sounds of the Formula One cars screaming past us at insane speeds, the roar of the crowd at the checkered flag. Wildly dangerous, every boundary being tested, all for a chance at the winner’s circle.
This competitive spirit inspired me to write a fanfare that pushes the boundaries of tempo, range, & technical demand, and gives the conductor, performers, and listener a nice adrenaline rush too. I also wanted to push myself to write the most exciting, wildly chaotic music that I could imagine.
Fast. Loud. And a little bit reckless."
- Perkins
More About the Composer
Conductor, composer, two-time ASCAP Plus Award recipient & GRAMMY® nominated music educator Andrew David Perkins (b.1978) holds a specialist certificate in Orchestration from the Berklee College of Music, a Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Michigan State University. Nominated for The National Band Association Revelli Award & Merrill Jones Award, The American Prize (Professional Composition Division) and the Ravel International Composition Prize, Perkins' music has been performed by musicians from the Royal College of Music, London, Michigan State University, Bowling Green State University, The Interlochen World Youth Wind Symphony, Western Michigan University, Drexel University, Florida Central University, and more. A regular guest clinician nationally and abroad, he especially enjoys writing music for developing musicians, and is the winner of the 2018 National Band Association/Alfred Publishing Young Band Composition Award.
Mr. Perkins has served as an adjunct professor of Film Scoring at Madonna University in Livonia, Michigan and is currently the Director of Instrumental Music and Music Technology at Fenton High School & Andrew G. Schmidt Middle School in Fenton, Michigan. He additionally serves as the Music Director and Conductor of the Fenton Community Orchestra. Mr. Perkins is a member of the American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and his music is exclusively published through APOLLO STUDIOS Music Publishing.
Perkins' mentors include W. Dennis Fralick, Timothy Lentz, Larry Livingston, John T. Madden, John Whitwell, Jonathan Reed, Colleen Conway, & Eric Gould. He resides in Michigan with the love of his life whom he married in 2010, and their daughters.
Southern Songbook (2011)
Scott McAllister (b. 1969)
II. To the Pines
III. Wilt
IV. Cage Match
PROGRAM NOTES
Music from the Southern Songbook II is a multi-movement work inspired by the composer's childhood memories of growing up in the South. The first movement, Full Pull, emulates the mechanical precision and power of a tractor pull. A “full pull” means when a tractor or other vehicle pulls a given amount of weight to the finish line.
The second movement, In the Pines, is inspired by the Southern folk song In the Pines that the composer used in his clarinet concerto X. Many other artists have also used this tune, including Kurt Cobain and Muddy Waters. This movement is in variation form and portrays the story of a mother who found her son’s head deep in the piney woods near a railroad track, but never found his body.
Wilt, the third movement, is inspired by the oak wilt disease that has devastated many of the great live oaks in the South. Once the tree gets the fungus, it shuts its root system down and by doing so kills itself. An optional pedal steel guitar is used in this movement and the Hank Williams (senior) song I’m So Lonesome I could Cry was a particular influence on this movement.
The last movement Cage Match is inspired by the old WWF [World Wrestling Federation] wrestling league in the 1970s and early eighties. The legacy of Rick Flare (Nature Boy) and Dusty Rhodes in a match where a cage is placed over the ring was one of the earliest memories of the composer. The beginning fanfare emulates the over-the-top, flamboyant entrance that Rick Flare would do before a match. Dusty Rhodes was known for his ending blow, the Bionic Elbow move, which the composer uses the first four notes from the old seventies television series, The Six Million Dollar Man to portray musically.
- Program Note by composer
MEET THE COMPOSER
Scott McAllister (b. 1969, Vero Beach, Fla.) is an American composer and educator.
Mr. McAllister completed his doctorate in composition at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, and his undergraduate degrees in performance and composition from The Florida State University.
McAllister has received numerous commissions, performances, and awards throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. He has also been featured at the Aspen, Chautauqua, and The Prague/American Institute Summer Festivals. McAllister has received awards, performances, and/or commissions from ASCAP, The American Composers Orchestra, The Rascher Quartet, I Musici de Montreal, Charles Neidich, The Verdehr Trio, Jacksonville Symphony, Da Camera, The Ladislav Kubik Competition, The United States New Music Ensemble, The President's Own Marine Band, The Florida Arts Council, and The Florida Bandmaster's Association. Scott McAllister is professor of composition at Baylor University.
Harvest Hymn (1932)
Percy Grainger (1882-1961)
trans. Joseph Kreines (b.1936)
Meeka Smith, graduate assistant conductor
PROGRAM NOTES
This work was composed 1905-32 for orchestra with a piano version in 1936. This short work features a simple tune, richly harmonized with stately chords and decorated counter-melodies. This transcription uses both orchestra and piano versions as its basis.
- Program Note by arranger
Percy Grainger began work on Harvest Hymn in 1905 in London, but did not complete it until 1932 while in Sweden. The piece was originally scored “elastically” by the composer for instrumental ensemble and subsequently arranged for various media. The short work features a simple tune, richly harmonized with stately chords and decorated counter-melodies. This transcription by Joesph Kreines is based on the piano solo version made in 1936, with some scoring details taken from the original setting.
- Program Note from Douglas Anderson School of the Arts Wind Symphony concert program, 14 December 2016
MORE ABOUT GRAINGER
George Percy Grainger (8 July 1882, Brighton, Victoria, Australia – 20 February 1961, White Plains, N.Y.) was an Australian-born composer, pianist and champion of the saxophone and the concert band, who worked under the stage name of Percy Aldridge Grainger.
Grainger was an innovative musician who anticipated many forms of twentieth century music well before they became established by other composers. As early as 1899 he was working with "beatless music", using metric successions (including such sequences as 2/4, 2½/4, 3/4, 2½/4).
Shine (2017)
Julie Giroux (b. 1961)
NOTE FROM THE COMPOSER
SHINE is a programmatic work that centers around the prohibition era. Back wood stills and liquor running jalopies are a part of our American heritage. Many a legitimate distillery have a history in bootlegging and NASCAR of course was born out of moonshine running souped up cars. America is a country of immigrants and every immigrant who comes here brings their music and instruments with them. What we call bluegrass music today represents that Irish and Scottish fok music “sound.” The folk music of the American hill people, the Appalachians, Smoky Mountains stretching from the south to the north gave birth to not only our bluegrass but to several instruments as well. Banjos, fiddles, dulcimers autoharps, jaw or jews harp, the jug, mandolins, guitars and several other instruments became our folk instruments; some instruments that existed before, some we invented. There is only one problem... none of those instruments are normal instrumentation for symphonic bands.
I wanted to capture the imagination of an audience with as much bluegrass flavor as I could without having to score for the actual instruments. Double reeds, muted brass, combinations of low winds with other instruments all captured a lot of that visceral essence. Using washboards and special mallets in the percussion helped too. The 16th notes followed by dotted eighth rhythms and vice versa so prevalent in Scottish and Irish music is also the backbone of bluegrass music.
Moonshine is a big part of our countries past and many today still earn a living making and selling legal and illegal white lighting. I will admit I sampled many different types and flavors of moonshine while I was composing this work. Some I bought in a store, some well, not exactly. My opinion of moonshine has not changed. I still don't care for it. When I close my eyes and listen to Moonshine I can see those stills far back in the woods, hear those tires spinning out in gravel as they tear down country roads and I can feel the burn of moonshine not just down my throat but in my soul. I hope as you listen to this back road American heartbeat, you can see it, live it too.
MEET JULIE GIROUX
Julie Ann Giroux was born in Fairhaven, Massachusetts on December 12, 1961. She graduated from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge LA in 1984. She started playing piano at 3 years of age and began composing at the age of 8 and has been composing ever since. Her first published work for concert band, published by Southern Music Company was composed at the age of 13.
Julie began composing commercially in 1984. She was hired by Oscar winning composer Bill Conti as an orchestrator, her first project with Conti being “North & South” the mini-series. With over 100 film, television and video game credits, Giroux collaborated with dozens of film composers, producers, and celebrities including Samuel Goldwyn, Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Madonna, Liza Minnelli, Celene Dion, Paula Abdul, Michael Jackson, Paul Newman, Harry Connick Jr. and many others. Projects she has worked on have been nominated for Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Golden Globe awards. She has won individual Emmy Awards in the field of “Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Direction”. When She won her first Emmy Award, she was the first woman and the youngest person to ever win that award. She has won it three times.
Giroux has also published a large category of classical works with emphasis on original compositions for Wind Band which are published by Musica Propria and distributed internationally. She is greatly sought after as a composer and recently completing her 5th Symphony “Sun, Rain & Wind” which premiered in June, 2018. Her music has been recorded and reviewed internationally receiving top reviews and her music has been performed at major music festivals the world over.
Giroux has been a true force in a male dominated field and has accrued many previously male only awards. She is a member of ASCAP, The Film Musicians Fund, Kappa Kappa PSI, Tau Beta Sigma and a member of the American Bandmasters Association. She is a recipient of the Distinguished Service to Music Medal Award, Emmy Awards and was the first female composer inducted into the American Bandmasters Association in 2009.
ADAM F. DALTON
CONDUCTOR
Dr. Dalton is a native of Virginia, where he attended James Madison University and earned a Bachelor of Music in Music Education. After graduating, he moved to Atlanta, GA, where he taught high school at Milton High School, an extensive 5A program in Georgia. He then accepted a Graduate Teaching Assistantship at The University of Alabama, where he received his Master of Arts in Music Education and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Instrumental Conducting. Dr. Dalton performed with The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps for three years earning two world championships and a gold medal in individual and ensemble. He also marched in various independent winter guards in the southeast, consistently making finals at Winter Guard International. His designing and teaching experience includes the 2008 World Champion Phantom Regiment, The Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps, The Cadets, Troopers, and Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps. He is featured on the WGI video, Toss, and served as a clinician and performer for the first everSpinfest Clinic, an annual educational event sponsored by WGI. Dr. Dalton maintains a busy schedule as a designer, consultant, and adjudicator for marching bands and indoor groups nationally and internationally.
Dr. Adam Dalton was the Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Music at Marshall University. He oversaw all aspects of a comprehensive band program, including concert bands, the Marching Thunder, and basketball pep bands. He also conducted the Marshall Wind Symphony, taught courses in music education and conducting, and served as the recruitment director for the music department. Before this position, Dr. Dalton served as Director of Athletic Bands at Marshall for five years.
Dr. Dalton worked with every ensemble at The University of Alabama and was a featured conductor for the 2013 All-State Festival performance with The Alabama Wind Ensemble. His high school band received superior ratings at the Large Group Performance Association. As a percussionist, Dr. Dalton performed with the Alabama Wind Ensemble for four years, including their ten-day tour of Italy in 2012. He is a founding member of the Alabama Winds, a community band based in Birmingham, AL. He has also participated in the Alabama Wind Ensemble recording project, The Glass Bead, available on Albany Records.
Meeka Smith
GRADUATE ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR
Meeka Smith is currently pursuing the Master of Music in Wind Band Conducting degree at Georgia State University under the guidance of Robert J. Ambrose. As a Graduate Teaching Assistant for the University Bands, she conducts and coaches a variety of ensembles, assists with undergraduate conducting instruction, and supports the operations of a large, comprehensive band program.
Prior to her move to Georgia, Ms. Smith served as a band director in the Mountain Home (AR) School District, where she conducted the junior high band, taught beginning woodwind classes and assisted with all aspects of the high school band program. Along with her official duties, she assisted with the guard programs and trained marching band student conductors.
Meeka graduated Cum Laude from Arkansas Tech University with the Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education. Her primary teachers were Dan Belongia and Karen Futterer. During her tenure at Arkansas Tech, Meeka served as a student conductor for various ensembles, was as an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant, and served on local and district-wide executive boards of the Tau Beta Sigma music fraternity.