by Sylvia Bierschenk
NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS – The Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band of the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music will present a joint concert, “British Band Classics,” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 8, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus.
The program features works by composers who are British or have significant ties to the United Kingdom, explained Brett A. Richardson, SFA assistant director of bands.
Under Richardson’s baton, the Symphonic Band will open the concert with Percy Grainger’s “Theme from Green Bushes,” a well-known theme that is also found in the final movement of the composer’s “Lincolnshire Posey.”
Corey Daniel, graduate assistant from Lafayette, La., will then lead the band in performing Ralph Vaughan Williams’ folk-influenced “Linden Lea.”
“We will close our portion of the program with an exciting arrangement of Thomas Allen’s late 19th century galop ‘Whip and Spur,'” Richardson said.
The Wind Symphony will open the second half of the program with “Flourish for Band” by Ralph Vaughan Williams, conducted by Michelle King, graduate assistant from Henderson.
David W. Campo, SFA Associate Director of Bands, will then take the podium and conduct Gustav Holst’s “Hammersmith: Prelude and Scherzo for Band,” which was named for a district of London and commissioned by the British Broadcasting Corporation Military Band in 1930.
The final piece on the program is Gordon Jacob’s three-movement “An Original Suite.” “Written in 1924, it has become a staple of the wind band literature and harks back to the roots of wind band music, a true British band classic,” said Campo.
The concert is a joint presentation of the SFA College of Fine Arts and School of Music. Tickets are $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and $2 for students. For tickets or more information, go to www.finearts.sfasu.edu or call (936) 468-6407 or (888) 240-ARTS.
