Illinois Wesleyan University School of Music presents

Wind Ensemble &

Symphonic Winds

Sey Ahn, Conductor Brad Regier, Conductor

Friday, February 19, 2021 7:45PM

Westbrook Auditorium Presser Hall

IWU Wind Ensemble Winner of the 2016-17 American Prize in Band/Wind Ensemble, the Illinois Wesleyan Wind Ensemble was founded in 1979 and is comprised of the top wind and percussion students at the university who perform the finest wind band literature. The ensemble has worked with and sponsored commissions from Pulitzer Prize winning composers such as William Bolcom, John Corigliano, Karel Husa, Jennifer Higdon, Michael Schelle, and Joseph Schwantner. In addition, the Ensemble has also had the opportunity to work with the renowned Dutch composer Louis Andreissen. The IWU Wind Ensemble annual Solo Competition allows student winners to perform as a soloist with the Ensemble. The Ensemble performs several concerts throughout the year and tours regularly. The group has appeared at the College Band Directors National Association Conference and the Illinois Music Educators Association Conference.

IWU Symphonic Winds Symphonic Winds is a concert band open to all university students. The ensemble performs large ensemble works and is specifically focused on providing members with a variety of quality repertoire, unique/untraditional repertoire, and non-traditional collaborations. Concerts for the Symphonic Winds are held on campus at a variety of venues and usually in tandem with other ensembles in the School of Music. The ensemble is specifically geared to serve non-music majors who enjoy playing and improving their skills, and music education students on secondary instruments who wish to become familiar with more repertoire and other instruments than their primary.

Sey Ahn

A 2015 fellow of the American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival, Sey Ahn is currently the Director of Symphony Orchestra and Wind Ensemble at Illinois Wesleyan University. Ahn has served as the Guest Conductor in Residence at Diamond Bar High School for over ten years, whose Symphony Orchestra has won numerous national accolades. Ahn is a frequent Evaluator and Clinician at the annual Music for All Festival held in Indianapolis. She has also been the Assistant Conductor of the Music for All Honor Orchestra of America since 2012. Ahn previously held the position of Music Director and Professor of Conducting at the University of

California Santa Barbara. Ahn has worked extensively with young musicians in many youth orchestras around the country. She has been invited as a guest conductor of All-State Festivals in states such as Missouri, Louisiana, Kansas, Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Tennessee, Iowa, and Kentucky. Ahn has led orchestral performances in Walt Disney Concert Hall and Royce Hall in Los Angeles, Benedict Music Tent in Aspen, Hilbert Theater in Indianapolis and Alice Tully Hall in New York. Sey Ahn earned a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance from Northwestern University, where she studied piano with Alan Chow and James Giles, and started her conducting studies with Victor Yampolsky. She earned two Master of Music degrees, in piano and orchestral conducting, from the University of Southern California, where she studied piano with Norman Krieger, and conducting with Larry Livingston, She earned a Doctorate in orchestral conducting at the University of Kentucky, where she studied with John Nardolillo, and served as Assistant Conductor to the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra and University of Kentucky Opera Theatre.

Brad Regier

Bradley J. Regier is Assistant Professor of Music Education at Illinois Wesleyan University. At IWU, he teaches courses in music education, supervises student teachers, conducts the Symphonic Winds, and provides oversight to the music education program. Previously he taught instrumental and general music courses in Chase County, Kansas and Cairo, Egypt, and continues to clinic bands and percussion ensembles throughout the Midwest.

An active music education researcher, Dr. Regier has been selected to present at state, national, and international conferences including the International Society for Music Education Conference in Helsinki, Finland (2020), the National Association for Music Education National Conference in Kissimmee, Florida (2020), and the Symposium for Music Teacher Education in Greensboro, North Carolina (2019). His research interests include music teacher self-efficacy, instrumental teaching strategies, and preservice teacher preparation. He is published in the Journal of Research in Music Education, International Journal of Music Education, Journal of Music Teacher Education, Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, Missouri Journal of Research in Music Education, and the Missouri School Music Magazine. Beginning in the fall of 2020, Dr. Regier will serve on the editorial board of Contributions of Music Education. Dr. Regier received degrees in music education from the University of Missouri-Columbia (PhD), the University of Oklahoma (MME), and Kansas State University (BME).

Program

Lux Aurumque Eric Whitacre

(b. 1970) Old Wine in New Bottles Gordon Jacob The Wraggle Taggle Gipsies (1895-1984) The Three Ravens Begone, Dull Care The Planets Gustav Holst Jupiter (1874-1934) Mars Pictures at an Exhibition Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881)

Program Notes Lux Aurumque Eric Whitacre

Lux Aurumque, began its life as an acapella choral work Whitacre wrote in the fall of 2000. When the Texas Music Educators Association and a consortium of bands commissioned Whitacre to adapt it for symphonic winds, he rewrote the climax that included the grand ‘Bliss’ theme from his opera Paradise Lost. Lux Aurumque received its premiere at the 2005 conference of the Texas Music Educator Association, and is dedicated with deep admiration for Whitacre’s dear friend, Gary Green. (Note by Eric Whitacre, edited by Meghan Griffin) Duration: 5 minutes Old Wine in New Bottles Gordon Jacob

Gordon Jacob composed Old Wine in New Bottles (1959) when he was 64 years old for the St. Bees Festival of Music. This suite is for woodwind, trumpets, and horns. Each movement is based on an Old English folk song, and the free modern treatment of the familiar tunes gives rise to its title. The Raggle Taggle Gypsies, The Three Ravens, and Begone Dull Care formed the basis of three well-contrasted movements. The final Early One Morning blended discreet sentiment, wit, and high spirit with felicitous craftsmanship in a manner which recalled that of a Haydn finale.

(Note by Marc Decker, edited by Meghan Griffin) Duration: 12 minutes The Planets Gustav Holst Mars & Jupiter

Holst’s orchestral suite, The Planets, was written as a result of his interests in the astrological characters of the seven then-known planets in our solar system (he didn’t include Earth and Pluto had yet to be discovered). These characters differ from their mythological personalities.

He completed Mars, The Bringer of War, the opening movement, in a rural cottage during August of 1914 before the outbreak of World War I. Mars, The Bringer of War, emphasizes brass and low brass in 5/4 rhythm. Blatant dissonance and the unconventional meter suggest the influence of Stravinsky. "The most ferocious piece of music in existence" evokes a battle scene of immense proportion. Holst directed that it be played slightly faster than a regular march, giving it a mechanized and inhuman character.

Led by a frenetic upward flourish in the woodwinds, the ensemble roars to life in uninhibited high spirits at the start of Jupiter. The music is bold and lusty, bursting with irresistible energy and a melodic style reminiscent of English folk dances. The great, beautiful tune of the central section made such an impression that Holst later recast it for choir to the words “I vow to thee, my country.” (Note by David Cole, edited by Meghan Griffin) Duration: 15 minutes Pictures at an Exhibition Modest Mussorgsky

Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky composed Pictures at an Exhibition in 1874. The work is a tribute to his friend and colleague Viktor Hartmann, an artist who died one year earlier. Vladimir Stasov, an art critic who was a mutual friend and enthusiastic supporter of both the artist and composer, assembled a commemorative exhibit in St. Petersburg, and Mussorgsky’s frequent visits to the gallery were inspirational.

Judging from Mussorgsky’s tribute to Hartmann, music that possesses a dramatic and sweeping quality on a scale far greater than the artwork itself, the relationship between Mussorgsky and Hartmann must have been deep and powerful.

The music begins with a Promenade, a noble theme that represents the composer moving through the gallery, and that returns as transition material between several of the movements. According to Stasov, Mussorgsky depicted himself “roving through the exhibition, now leisurely, now briskly in order to come close to a picture that had attracted his attention, and at times sadly, thinking of his departed friend.” As the Promenade theme returns at various points during the work, it takes on different emotional qualities, reflecting the evolving feelings of the composer as he makes his way through the exhibit. (Note by Colonel Michael Colburn, edited by Meghan Griffin) Duration: 30 minutes

Personnel FLUTE Valeria Viteri-Pflucker Lauren Johnson Leah Matlin Nicki Purpura Megan Frederick Clarissa King OBOE/ENGLISH HORN Annika Altekruse CLARINET Braylee Parry Colby Powers Kevin Pankam Shireen Hassan BASSOON Kate McHugh SAXAPHONE Hope Yeoman Shireen Hassan HORN Abby Buechel Claire Umeki Jessica Sheetz

TRUMPET Alex Huebner Ryan Mack Amanda Scheller James Stein Kade Murray TROMBONE Lena Smith Jakobe Rabor Hailey Bond Matthew Sweeney EUPHONIUM Lindsay Ring Leanna Horton Maren Torri TUBA Dylan Propheter Tom Cassidy Mathew Janiak Ben Knupp Joel Reedy PERCUSSION Star Commanday Jonah Klima STRING BASS Meghan Griffin

Upcoming Concerts and Recitals February

26 Illinois Wesleyan Symphony Orchestra Concert; 7:45; virtual

March 4 General Recital; 4:00pm; virtual 21 Tuba and Euphonium Studio Recital; virtual April 3 Cosi Fan Tutte performance; virtual 7 Student Composition Concert; virtual 11 Illinois Wesleyan Winds Concert; 7:45pm; virtual 12 Illinois Wesleyan Jazz Ensemble Concert; virtual 16 Illinois Wesleyan Symphony Orchestra Concert; 7:45pm; virtual 18 Spring Choral Concert; virtual

Link to performances available at

www.iwu.edu/music/events

Thank you for joining us for this performance!

Ensemble Staff Meghan Griffin, Librarian

IWU Wind Ensemble

@iwuwindensemble

@iwuwindensemble

For more information about the IWU Wind Ensemble, email windens@iwu.edu.