The Symphonic Band and University Band at Stephen F. Austin State University will perform works by Henry Fillmore, Karl King, W. Francis McBeth and other great composers when the student ensembles perform at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 22, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus.
Among the works to be performed by the University Band will be “Three London Sketches” by Dr. David Campo, associate director of bands at SFA. Graduate student Brandon Beavers will conduct the piece, which was inspired by Campo’s recent visit to some of his favorite attractions in London – Tower Bridge, Saint Paul’s Cathedral and Trafalgar Square.
University Band will open the concert with Roland Barrett’s “Burn.” Originally written as a brass and percussion fanfare for the prestigious Dallas Wind Symphony, “Burn” features “relentlessly driving rhythms, bold contemporary harmonies, and powerful moments of elevated dynamic impact,” according to Campo, who is also director of the University Band.
The second piece will be Brant Karrick’s “Songs of Old Kentucky,” also conducted by Beavers. “Songs of Old Kentucky” was written for the Kentucky Music Educators Association District IX All-District Band and was premiered in 2006, according to Campo.
“The piece opens with a moving rendition of ‘John Riley,’ with ‘Poor Wayfaring Stranger,’ and closes with an exhilarating barn dance that is sure to get your toes tapping,” Campo said.
University Band will conclude its portion of the concert with Henry Fillmore’s “The Klaxon.” Written for the 1930 Cincinnati Automobile Show, this spectacular march has become a standard in band repertoires.
Symphonic Band will open the second half of the concert with Francis McBeth’s “Chant and Jubilo,” conducted by graduate student Gary Jones. “Chant and Jubilo,” a masterwork of the wind band literature, was composed in 1963 for the Four States Bandmasters Convention in Texarkana, according to Dr. Tamey Anglley, assistant director of bands at SFA and director of the Symphonic Band.
“The melodic material in the ‘Chant’ is derived from a ninth-century Greek hymn, and the piece is in two connected movements,” Anglley said.
The second piece will be a beautiful setting of “Amazing Grace” by Frank Ticheli. This piece was commissioned originally in honor of John Harvey Whitwell by his son and former SFA Director of Bands John Whitwell. This performance by SFA’s Symphonic Band will be dedicated to band members who passed away this year – Caleb Gibbs, Erin Valenta, Yessenia Ramirez and Gage Hollingsworth.
The Symphonic Band will perform another Ticheli piece, “Vesuvius.”
“Based on the volcano Mount Vesuvius, Ticheli composed this piece as a wild and passionate dance that represents the final days of the doomed city of Pompeii,” Anglley explained.
Symphonic Band will conclude the concert with Karl King’s “Rough Riders March.” Written in 1943, “Rough Riders” was part of a set of marches written for school bands in the 1940s.
Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.
