I think of this piece as a fantasy, with a very short, heroic brass fanfare wedged in the center of a larger, more ornamented musical frame. I began sketches for Astrarium in June 2014 while on a residency at MacDowell Colony, an arts colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire. In the studios at MacDowell, it has become customary for artists to sign their names on planks of wood, keeping a log of each studio’s history of visiting artists. Coincidentally, I came across Joseph Schwantner’s name in my studio, dated 1978, and discovered that he had composed a song cycle in the same room more than 35 years earlier. I couldn’t help but use a small quote from his piece in mine; thus, the opening vocal phrase of Schwantner’s cycle Wild Angels of the Open Hills makes a subtle appearance as an oboe solo in Astrarium, and is later used as the subject for a fugue section just after the fanfare.
The title refers to a complex astronomical clock invented by Giovanni de’ Dondi in the 14th century, one of the earliest contraptions resembling mechanisms of modern clocks. The more I thought about connecting my own musical ideas to an earlier time and place –- perhaps to Schwantner three-and-a-half decades ago, or to myself playing bassoon in Nikk Pilato’s wind ensemble as a freshman in high school -– the more the sonic imagery of clockwork became central to the piece.
Astrarium was composed for the Emory University Wind Ensemble, at the request of my friend and former teacher, Nikk Pilato. The piece was commissioned as a concert opener for the premiere of Joseph Schwantner’s Concerto for Wind Orchestra. - Peter Van Zandt Lane
Aaron Copland’s only full-length opera (The 90-minute Second Hurricane of 1937 was written for student performance). The Tender Land was begun in 1952 and completed in 1954, with a libretto by Erik Johns (using the pen name Horace Everett). Although containing some of Copland’s most lyrical and heart-felt music, the opera took time to establishing its place in the repertoire. In 1958 Copland extracted a three-movement orchestral suite, using music from the introduction to Act II and the love duet, the square dance from Act II, and the vocal quintet from the end of Act I. The composer conducted the first performance of the suite in April 1959 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the later recalled: “the reviews were far better than any they had been for the opera.”
The promise of living with hope and thanksgiving, is born of our loving our friends and our labor.
The promise of growing with faith and with knowing, is born of our sharing our love with our neighbor.
The promise of loving, the promise of growing, is born of our singing in joy and thanksgiving.
For many a year we’ve know these fields, and know all the work that makes them yield.
We’re ready to work, we’re ready to lend a hand. By working together we'll bring in the blessings of harvest.
We plant each row with seeds of grain, and Providence sends us the sun and the rain.
By lending a hand, by lending an arm, bring out the blessings of the harvest.
Give thanks there was sunshine, give thanks there was rain, give thanks we have hands to deliver the grain.
O let us be joyful, O let us be grateful to the Lord for his blessing.
The promise of living, the promise of growing, the promise of ending is labor and sharing and loving.
La Procession du Roccio, op. 9 (1912), “the procession of the dew,” was the work that catapulted Joaquin Turina to success. Its debut performance in Madrid in 1913 was received so well that he decided to return to Spain, where he rose to the top of the Spanish musical world, eventually becoming Professor of Composition at the Madrid Royal Conservatory.
La Procession is divided into two distinct sections. It opens with a depiction of the celebration honoring the Virgin Maria in Triana (a colorful neighborhood in Seville), which features stylized gypsy dances and a general mood of festivity. This leads, without break, into the procession itself. Here the character of the music changes. As the procession moves slowly through the streets, the sound of bells, the tap of drums and strains of church music reflect the solemnity of its religious origin. Finally, the music grows to a brilliant climax, including themes derived from the opening fanfare, along with a brief quotation from the Spanish national anthem. – Program Notes by Immaculata Symphony
My Clarinet Concerto (2022) has three contrasting yet closely related movements and was composed during a painful time. The thematic materials emerged as emotional reactions to the death of a dear friend, and to the terminal illness of a close family member. The nostalgic first movement begins with a sweetly mellifluous opening melody contrasted by a playful secondary theme. The youthful, innocent quality found in the first movement transforms in the short second movement to a more immediate emotional space colored by sadness and loss. The final movement transforms the material from the opening movement into an insistent dance full of dark, agitated energy.
The Clarinet Concerto was originally a Sonata for Clarinet and Piano written for clarinetist Benjamin Fingland in 2015. In 2022, I arranged the sonata into a Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra for clarinetist YaoGuang Zhai. In 2022, I created the wind ensemble version of my concerto for clarinetist Douglas Moore-Monroe and the East Carolina University Symphonic Wind Ensemble in a consortium spear-headed by William Staub, director of bands at ECU. Franklin D. Hansen provided invaluable assistance with the orchestration for wind ensemble, and with the score/part preparation. The concerto was premiered by Douglas Moore-Monroe and the East Carolina University Symphonic Wind Ensemble conducted by William Staub at the North Carolina Music Educators Association In-Service Convention on November 7, 2022. - Amanda Harberg
The phenomenal twenty years ago of STAR WARS and its two companion films, RETURN OF THE JEDI and THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, renewed interest in movies as huge spectacles. Although set in futuristic terms for we earth-bound travelers, the three films are in many ways actually historical in nature. Frequently described as “the morality plays of film,” the stories in the TRILOGY share a common theme of the primary struggle between good and evil and the eventual success of love conquering all.
Dr. Tonya Mitchell-Spradlin is Director of Wind Band Studies and Assistant Professor of Music at Penn State University. In addition to conducting the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, overseeing the graduate wind conducting program, teaching courses in wind band literature and wind conducting, she oversees all aspects of the concert bands at Penn State. Her appointment at PSU follows three years as Assistant Director of Bands and Associate Director of Athletic Bands at the University of South Carolina. Prior to her time at UofSC, Mitchell-Spradlin taught at Valdosta State University as Director of Athletic Bands, and was Director of Bands at Chamblee High School in Chamblee, Georgia for four years.
Mitchell-Spradlin has a diverse background as a conductor, clinician, adjudicator, educator, and speaker. She is a Conn Selmer educator and frequent guest conductor with performances with several regional honor bands, Allstate bands, summer camps and clinics, and residencies at public schools and collegiate institutions. She is active in the teaching of conducting having served as clinician for the UMKC Conducting Symposium and the President’s Own Marine Band Conductor Training Program.
As a presenter, Mitchell-Spradlin speaks often about programming, forming a connection with musicians, building culture, musical leadership, and inclusivity in the band medium. She has shared musical and pedagogical ideas on several music podcasts including Everything Band, Conn Selmer’s Backstage with Dr. Tim, The Bandroom, and the Ictus Podcast. Presentations include invited sessions at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, College Music Society, the College Band Directors National Association, SCMEA, KMEA, NYSBDA, and keynote presenter for the NAfME Northwest conference. Her international speaking engagements include presenting the keynote for the Maryborough Music Conference in Australia and a session on Joan Tower’s Fanfares for the Uncommon Woman for the International Society for the Advancement and Promotion of Wind Band Society (IGEB) in Oberwölz, Austria.
A proponent for advancing the wind ensemble medium, she led the consortium and premiere of Aaron Perrine’s Beneath a Canvas of Green for wind ensemble and percussion quartet which was also the source of her doctoral dissertation. Additionally, she is active in a number of premieres and consortiums for new music.
Under her direction, the Penn State Symphonic Wind Ensemble has received several honors including a performance at the prestigious Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh, PA as part of Penn State’s President’s Concert as well as an invitation to perform at the College Band Directors National Association Eastern Region Conference in Ithaca, New York. The ensemble has recorded The Hardscrabble by Sarah Gen Burghart Rice for wind ensemble and 12+ double reeds for release on Neuma Records as well as Evan Ziporyn’s Impulse Control – concerto for drumset and wind ensemble for release on Parma Records.
Mitchell-Spradlin served as the National Vice President of Professional Relations for Tau Beta Sigma: National Honorary Band Sorority for two years. She serves on the National Band Association Selective Music List Committee, the College Band Directors National Association Diversity Committee, and also holds memberships in the College Band Directors National Association, College Music Society, PMEA, National Association for Music Education, Black Women Band Directors Association, and Women Band Directors International.
Dr. Anthony J. Costa is associate professor of clarinet at Penn State and clarinetist with the Pennsylvania Quintet, the Prestige Clarinet Quartet, and the Chihara Trio.
Dedicated to his role as artist-teacher, Costa taught clarinet and music courses at Otterbein College, Ashland University, and the College of Mount St. Joseph in Ohio before joining the faculty at Penn State. For two years he was a collaborative artist with Chamber Music America’s “Rural Residency Program” and worked with communities in Mississippi County, Arkansas, as a performer and music educator.
In demand as an orchestral clarinetist, Costa served as utility clarinetist/bass clarinetist with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra and Dayton Opera Orchestra from 1999 to 2011, and has performed as principal clarinetist of the Penn’s Woods Music Festival Orchestra since 2009. Additionally, he has performed with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Columbus (OH) Symphony Orchestra, Akron Symphony Orchestra, Canton Symphony Orchestra, Lancaster (OH) Festival Orchestra, Erie Chamber Orchestra, Erie Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Wheeling (WVA) Symphony Orchestra. He has performed with such artists as “The Three Tenors” (Pavarotti, Domingo, and Carreras), Midori, Sarah Chang, “The Big Voodoo Daddy,” and Ray Charles. Recent solo performances have included the Bruch “Double Concerto” with violist Timothy Deighton with the Music at Penn’s Woods Festival Orchestra in State College, PA; Scott McAllister’s “Concerto X” and Michael Daugherty’s “Brooklyn Bridge” with the Penn State Wind Ensemble; and the Artie Shaw “Clarinet Concerto” with the Nittany Valley Symphony Orchestra.
Costa is a devoted chamber musician and has performed across the United States as a member of the Pennsylvania Quintet, the Prestige Clarinet Quartet, the PC2 Trio, and the Razbia Ensemble. He has been featured as a soloist and chamber musician at the 2007 and 2011 International Double Reed Society conference, the International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest (in 1998, 2006, 2008, 2011-2019), and the Oklahoma Clarinet Symposium (in 2005 and 2008). A champion of contemporary music, Costa has collaborated with such renowned composers as John Corigliano, Gunther Schuller, John Harbison, Paul Chihara, and Osvaldo Golijov. Having recorded the works of composer Rick Sowash on recent releases (Eroica and Sanctuary at 3AM), Costa can frequently be heard on classical radio stations across the United States. With the Chihara Trio (Timothy Deighton, viola, and Enrico Elisi, piano), Costa presented newly commissioned works by several composers (including Paul Chihara, from whom the trio took its name), and presented a recital at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in March 2010. In the summer of 2010, Costa taught and performed in Alaska at the Fairbanks Summer Music Festival. Committed to mentoring young clarinetists, Costa’s students have participated in such esteemed festivals as Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute, the Interlochen Arts Camp, the Brevard Summer Music Festival, the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, and the Pennsylvania Governor’s School. His students have been finalists in the International Clarinet Association’s High School Competition and the Columbus Symphony Orchestra’s Concerto Competition and have performed as members of the Columbus, Cleveland, and Central Pennsylvania Youth Orchestras.
Costa attended the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and received a bachelor of music degree in music education and clarinet performance. He received his master of music degree in clarinet performance from Temple University in Philadelphia and his doctorate of musical arts degree from The Ohio State University. His teachers have included Carmine Campione, Anthony Gigliotti, Ronald Auffman, and James Pyne.
Dr. Costa is an artist-clinician for the Buffet-Crampon Corporation, and plays Buffet Tradition clarinets and a Prestige 1193 bass clarinet. He lives in State College, PA, with his wife, oboist Robyn Dixon Costa, and daughter Zoey.
Katie Newmiller is a master's student in the Wind Band Conducting studio with Dr. Tonya Mitchell-Spradlin. As a graduate student, she works with the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Blue Band, Pride of the Lions, and is co-director of the Concert Band. She studies flute with Dr. Naomi Seidman and performs with the Penn State Flute Choir.
Ms. Newmiller is a Virginia native where she attended school in Harrisonburg at James Madison University. She received her bachelor's degree in music with a concentration in education and flute. Newmiller was a member of the Symphonic Band, Concert Band, Flute Choir, Pep Band, Steel Drum Band, and Marching Royal Dukes. She was a member of the Gamma Iota chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota and received the Sword of Honor. After graduating, she taught in Loudoun County Public Schools for over 10 years.
She is a member of Collegiate Band Directors National Association, National Bandmaster’s Association, Women’s Band Directors International, and National Association for Music Education.