Concert Band

Backlash - Katahj Copley

Rippling Watercolors - Brian Balmages

Blalock Canyon March - Steve Hodges

Rocketship! - Kevin Day

Rippling Watercolors

Brian Balmages

"Many often underestimate the extensive colors, harmonies, and emotional range that are often achievable in younger ensembles. It is in this spirit that the musical lines of Rippling Watercolors were born. This was not meant to be a lyrical piece for younger ensembles; rather, it was written as a fully expressive lyrical work that happens to be playable by younger ensembles. I believe there is a significant difference. No phrases were truncated, no ranges were “limited,” and no rhythms were watered down for the sake of playability. This piece just happens to be attainable by younger groups, yet the music exists exactly as it would even if I had written this for a college group."

"The title comes from a range of inspiration. I often get asked about my last name. As most can imagine, there are very few of us left in the world. At present, my wife and I are one of only two couples in the United States that can carry on our family name. My cousins Ben and Carrie on the west coast are the other couple, and they now have two beautiful girls. We all share a lot of beliefs – we encourage our children to be creative, spontaneous, and we enjoy watching where their imaginations take them. The idea for this piece came from a simple set of watercolors. When children get hold of these and use their imagination, the most amazing things can happen. Children can see things that adults never see. They open our minds while we help them grow and learn. With a little imagination, these watercolors can become a magnificent sunrise or sunset over the ocean, a gorgeous view from a mountaintop, or an image of a supernova in space. The smallest drop can change the pattern and create something entirely new, either with a brush or entirely within nature. It is my hope that Lily and Charlotte grow up with an infinite palette of watercolors, and that every drop creates a new, fantastic world."

Rocketship!

Kevin Day

This piece takes the listener on a journey through space. The rocketship encounters many obstacles and sights along the way evident throughout the changing styles of the music. From flowing galaxies to meteor dodging, this piece is excting.

Wind Ensemble

Khan! - Julie Giroux

Hung Aloft The Night - Anthony O'Toole

Lincolnshire Posy - Percy Grainger

Music from the Motion Picture: "How to Train Your Dragon" - arr. Sean O'Loughlin

Khan!

Julie Giroux

Genghis Khan (1165-1227)

Genghis Khan (more properly known as Chinggis Khan) was one of history’s most brutal, charismatic and successful warlords. He was a strategic genius. With his highly disciplined and effective army, Khan conquered more territory than any other conqueror creating an empire which continued to expand even after his death becoming the largest contiguous empire in history. Though many of his campaigns were in conquest of territory and riches, just as many were often a matter of retaliation.

His non-military feats included the introduction of a writing system which is still used in Inner Mongolia today (Uighur script), an empire and society which stressed religious tolerance and the Mongol nation which would not exist today if not for his campaigns.

Lincolnshire Posy

Percy Grainger

Movement 1 - Lisbon

Movement 2 - Horkstow Grange

Movement 6 - Lost Lady Found

Percy Grainger (1882-1961) was a piano prodigy turned composer who was known for his strange personal habits, his colorful prose, and his equally unusual music – his many admirers today still recognize that he possessed “the supreme virtue of never being dull.” Born in Australia, he began studying piano at an early age. He came to the U. S. at the outbreak of World War I and enlisted as an Army bandsman, becoming an American citizen in 1918. He went on to explore the frontiers of music with his idiosyncratic folk song settings, his lifelong advocacy for the saxophone, and his Free Music machines which predated electronic synthesizers. His many masterworks for winds include Lincolnshire Posy, Irish Tune from County Derry, Children’s March and Molly on the Shore.

Lincolnshire Posy is considered to be Grainger’s masterwork for wind band. It is based on folk songs that he and Lucy Broadwood collected in Lincolnshire in 1905-06. He intended it as a collection of “musical wildflowers” reflective not only of the songs but of the singers who sang them to Grainger and their personalities. Thus style plays a big role in each movement. Grainger uses every compositional device at his disposal to great effect: harmonies move unpredictably, meter is unstable or absent, countermelodies creep in and out of prominence, melodies go willfully in and out of phase, all in service of the singer’s implied interpretation of each folk tune. Grainger recorded each singer on wax cylinders, using those recordings as reference to faithfully recreate each tune. He began the process of assembling the various tunes into Lincolnshire Posy in 1937. It was premiered by the Pabst Blue Ribbon beer factory worker’s band in Milwaukee that same year on March 7. This premier was incomplete: as is often the case today, the PBR band was not up to the challenge of the harder movements.