Mother Earth (2003/2006)
David Maslanka | 1943-2017
Praise be You, my Lord, for our sister, MOTHER EARTH Who nourishes us and teaches us, Bringing forth all kinds of fruits and colored flowers and herbs. - St. Francis of Assisi
Check this video by Tich Nhat Hanh, who wrote the text that inspired this piece.
Mother Earth was composed for the South Dearborn High School Band of Aurora, Indiana, Brian Silvey, conductor. The commission was for a three-minute fanfare piece. Each piece takes on a reason for being all its own, and Mother Earth is no exception. It became an urgent message from Our Mother to treat her more kindly! My reading at the time of writing this music was For a Future to be Possible by the Vietnamese monk and teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh. He believes that the only way forward is to be extremely alive and aware in our present moment, to become awake to the needs of our beloved planet, and to respond to it as a living entity. Music making allows us to come immediately awake. It is an instant connection to the powerful wellspring of our creativity, and opens our minds to the solution of any number of problems, including that of our damaged environment. My little piece does not solve the problem! But it is a living call to the wide-awake life, and it continues to be performed by young people around the world.
Program Note by David Maslanka
Peace Dancer (2017)
Jodie Blackshaw | B. 1971
“What makes you vulnerable makes you beautiful." - Brene Brown
Peace Dancer is inspired by the First Nations text of the same name by Roy Henry Vickers (Squamish Nation). In the words of the author: The story Peace Dancer is about a song and dance that is thousands of years old originating from the time of the flood. Songs have been composed for different Chiefs up and down the Pacific Northwest coast. The Chief who is chosen to do this sacred dance is recognized as a healer in each community, and the songs and dances are a reminder of the great flood and how the people lost their way and their love for all things in creation. During the dance there is a time when the dancer shakes the eagle down from their headdress to remind the people of the flood.
While this text affords many music-making opportunities, the composer chose to focus on one moment. We have really lost our way, we have not taught our children love and respect. This is achieved by dividing this short piece into "moments" of meditation, awakening, realization, and humility. It takes you, the audience, on an emotional journey, similar to realizing you have been in the wrong; maybe you have been unkind or acted in a way that does not become you. Once you realize the consequences of your actions, remorse and the understanding that there is a need to move forward with grace and humility follows. Thus is the lesson of Peace Dancer.
- Program Note from University of British Columbia Symphonic Wind Ensemble concert program, 18 November 2017
Perpetua (2019)
Peter Meechan | b. 1980
“Perpetua is the world I want to live in.”
Perpetua was written in between two other works that deal with dark subject matters, Close to the Sun (written for a friend whose brother's life was lost tragically early) and let this place (a work that bridges the Holocaust, the current rise in anti-Semitism, and the current lack of humanity in society), I wanted -- and personally needed -- Perpetua to be something that was joyful, hopeful, energetic, exciting, and fun. In that Close to the Sun and let this place were reflections of what I saw around me in my community, Perpetua is the world I want to live in.
In writing Perpetua I wanted to compose a piece of perpetual motion, that is challenging, exciting, and fun -- all brought together through a sense of joy.
Perpetua was commissioned by Foothills Concert Band (Calgary, AB, Canada) and their conductor, Anthony Reimer.
- Program Note by composer
Peter Meechan (b. 1980) is a Canadian-British composer whose music is widely performed and has been commissioned by leading orchestras, wind ensembles, and brass bands, including "The President’s Own" United States Marine Band, the Dallas Symphony, and Black Dyke Brass Band. His works have appeared on over 130 recordings and featured at major festivals like the Midwest Clinic and ABA Conference. Meechan has held composer residencies with the Black Dyke Brass Band and The Band of the Coldstream Guards.
Three Revelations from the Lotus Sutra (1984)
Alfred Reed | 1921-2005
III. Rejoicing
Three Revelations from the Lotus Sutra is an attempt to realize in music three different states of man’s soul in his quest for ultimate perfection. The Lotus Sutra is the teaching of human respect, self-perfection and world peace – in a word, humanism, leading mankind from division to unity, from discord to harmony, from conflict to peace.
Rejoicing (To Rejoice in the Beauty of Peace) depicts the realization that, while on earth, peace is not merely the absence of war, destruction, pain and suffering, but a thing of beauty in and of itself, and an occasion for heartfelt rejoicing on the part of all men everywhere, who share the same eternal quest as true brothers.
This suite was commissioned by, and is reverently dedicated to, Rissho Kosei-kai, on the occasion of the 77th birthday of its founder and president, the Reverent Nikkyo Niwano.
Rissho Kosei-kai, sponsor of the world-famous Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra, is an organization of Buddhist laymen devoted to the effort of perfecting man's personality on the basis of the true meaning of Buddhism. Rissho, originally Chinese characters, indicated the ideal of "Establishment of the True Law, or the teaching of the Lotus Sutra in this world." Ko means the mutual exchange of thought and the spiritual unity among different human beings. Kai means "society," and when used following a name, the preceding characters give the purpose of the society. Therefore, Rissho Koseu-kai means "a society of people of faith organized to realize a peaceful world by perfecting mankind and personality through the principle of spiritual unity among different peoples and based on the true meaning of Buddhism."
Central to the purpose of this movement is the body of doctrine assembled from the teachings of the Buddha called the Lotus Sutra, the Absolute Truth, termed the "Wonderful Law."
The first performance of the complete work took place in November 1984 by the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra, under the direction of Frederick Fennell.
- Program Note by composer
Adam F. Dalton
Dr. Adam Dalton is currently the Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Music at Marshall University where he oversees all aspects of a comprehensive band program including concert bands, the Marching Thunder, and basketball pep bands. He also conducts the Marshall Wind Symphony, teaches courses in music education and conducting, and serves as the recruitment director for the music department. Prior to his appointment as Director of Bands, Dr. Dalton served as Director of Athletic Bands at Marshall for five years.
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, a large 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, and currently serves as a caption head for the 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 both nationally and internationally.
Dr. Dalton worked with every ensemble while 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 Large Group Performance Association. As a percussionist, Dr. Dalton performed with the Alabama Wind Ensemble for four years including their 10 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.
Dr. Dalton’s professional affiliations include the Collegiate Band Director’s National Conference, the National Association for Music Education, the Collegiate Music Society, and the National Band Association.
Braeden Weyhrich
Graduate Assistant Conductor
Braeden Weyhrich has spent the last three years as the Director of Bands at Hinton Community School in northwest Iowa, where she taught the concert band, jazz band, and athletic bands for students in grades 5-12. Throughout the community, she was the Associate Conductor of the All-America Concert Band and was the Librarian for the Sioux City Municipal Band, in addition to playing woodwinds in both ensembles. As a member of the Iowa Bandmasters Association, she served on served on several district and state committees and was an active member of The Access Collective, a group comprised of Iowa band directors committed to promotion inclusion and connection through music.
Outside of teaching and conducting, Braeden loves playing in pit ensembles for musicals and finding ways to support female composers of the past and present.