THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE
Rodney Dorsey, Director
Drew Hardy-Moore, Graduate Associate Conductor
Friday, September 26, 2025
Seven-thirty in the Evening
Ruby Diamond Concert Hall
Livestream: wfsu.org/fsumusic
Toccata and Fugue in D minor
PROGRAM
The Eyes of the World Are Upon You
Year of the Dragon
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
tr. Donald Hunsberger (1932–2023)
Jennifer Jolley (b. 1981)
Phillip Sparke
I. Toccata (b. 1951)
II. Interlude
III. Finale
INTERMISSION
Modern Legacy
Gala Flagello
I. Partita (b. 1994)
III. Concertino
Drew Hardy-Moore, Graduate Associate Conductor
Who Puts His Trust In God Most Just
Symphony No. 2 (2003)
Johann Sebastian Bach
tr. James E. Croft (1934–2012)
Frank Ticheli (b. 1958)
Please refrain from talking, entering, or exiting while performers are playing. Food and drink are prohibited in all concert halls. Please turn off cell phones and all other electronic devices. Please refrain from putting feet on seats and seat backs. Children who become disruptive should be taken out of the performance hall so they do not disturb the musicians and other audience members.
Rodney Dorsey is Professor of Music at the Florida State University College of Music where he conducts the FSU Wind Orchestra and guides the graduate wind conducting program.
Dorsey comes to FSU from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where he conducted the IU Wind Ensemble and taught graduate conducting courses. Prior to his tenure at the Jacobs School, Dorsey served on the faculties of the University of Oregon, University of Michigan, DePaul University and Northwestern University. He also gained extensive experience teaching in the public schools of Florida and Georgia.
Dorsey studied conducting with Mallory Thompson, John P. Paynter, and James Croft. He was a clarinet student of Fred Ormand and Frank Kowalsky.
During his conducting career, Dorsey has led performances at several prominent events including the American Bandmasters Association Convention, College Band Directors National Conference North/Northwest Regional Conference, and the Bands of America National Festival. He is active as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator in the United States. International engagements include Hungary, Canada, and Bulgaria.
Dorsey’s commitment to community has been demonstrated by his participation on the board of directors for Music for All and the Midwest Clinic. He currently serves as the president of the Midwest Clinic. Other professional memberships include the College Band Directors National Association, National Association for Music Education, Florida Bandmasters Association, Kappa Kappa Psi, Tau Beta Sigma (honorary), Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. Dorsey is also an elected member of the American Bandmasters Association. Most recently Dorsey was named a Yamaha Master Educator.
Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565
“The Toccata and Fugue in D minor strikes like a thunderbolt; it is full of daring and fire,” wrote Bach biographer Albert Schweitzer (J. S. Bach, trans. Ernest Newman, 1911, vol. 1, p. 237). Composed sometime between 1704 and 1750, this iconic score has inspired generations of listeners, from eighteenth-century churchgoers to modern-day filmmakers.
Donald Hunsberger’s masterful transcription preserves Bach’s architecture while drawing on the vibrant spectrum of timbres produced by a wind ensemble. The color palette of woodwinds, brass, and percussion evokes the grandeur of a cathedral organ, yet with an extra degree of sensitivity to melodic shape that only fifty-six individual musicians—each shaping phrases and articulations—can bring to life.
Toccata and Fugue in D minor sets a tone of bold energy and timeless artistry, inviting listeners to experience one of Bach’s most enduring works through a fresh, resonant lens.
Jolley: The Eyes of the World Are Upon You (2017)
Composer Jennifer Jolley is known for music that responds to the world around her. Her works often find their starting point in socio-political events, using the concert hall as a space for reflection and empathy. She is Associate Professor of Music Theory and Composition in the Department of Music, Multimedia, Theatre, and Dance at Lehman College in the Bronx, where she mentors a new generation of composers and advocates for new music across genres.
The Eyes of the World Are Upon You takes its title from the motto of the University of Texas and commemorates the 1966 UT Tower shootings. The commission coincided with the fiftieth anniversary of that tragedy and the passage of a Texas campus-carry law. These circumstances, the composer writes, “chilled” her and shaped the work’s emotional landscape. Jolley sought to create “a celebration of life: to those who died that day, but also to those who survived.”
The piece begins and ends with a somber, extended English horn solo that frames the music and offers listeners moments of quiet reflection. Between these meditative bookends, the ensemble moves between stark, piercing sonorities and luminous stillness. Fragmented motives rise and recede, evoking the persistence of memory and the strength of community. Through these shifting textures and carefully layered timbres, Jolley invites listeners to honor memory while affirming endurance—transforming a dark history into hope.
Sparke: Year of the Dragon (1984)
British composer Philip Sparke has long been celebrated for bringing a vivid, symphonic voice to the wind and brass-band world. Written in 1984 for the Cory Band of Wales, Year of the Dragon was originally conceived for all-brass ensemble, quickly becoming a cornerstone of the brass-band repertoire.
This performance carries special meaning for the College of Music as we celebrate 125 years of music at FSU. While an undergraduate at FSU, conductor Rodney Dorsey performed Year of the Dragon under the baton of James E. Croft, the university’s Director of Bands from 1981 to 2003. By programming the work alongside Frank Ticheli’s Symphony No. 2 and Dr. Croft’s own arrangement of Who Puts His Trust in God Most Just, the University Wind Ensemble celebrates Croft’s lasting influence and the formative experiences he provided generations of musicians.
The three movements highlight Sparke’s gift for contrast and instrumental color:
I. Toccata ignites the work with brilliant brass fanfares and kinetic rhythms.
II. Interlude offers a serene, almost mystical counterweight, featuring extended solos and luminous textures.
III. Finale bursts forth with exuberant dance energy and intricate counterpoint, building to a jubilant conclusion.
With its blend of virtuosity and lyricism, Year of the Dragon not only showcases Sparke’s music, but also connects FSU’s present to a treasured chapter in its musical past.
Flagello: Modern Legacy (2025)
Composer Gala Flagello describes Modern Legacy as “a rollicking exploration of the lineage of conventions and their enduring ability to inspire generations of contemporary concoctions.” Written for chamber winds, the three-movement work playfully reimagines classics of the genre.
I. Partita, heard as the opening movement, spins a fragment of Mozart’s Gran Partita through a kaleidoscope of classical and contemporary exchanges, recruiting every instrument family into its whimsical cause.
II. Serenade (not performed this evening) nods to Dvořák’s Serenade for Winds, with innovative harmonies, a leap-laden cantabile melody, and a trio section full of surprises.
III. Concertino, the finale and the second movement performed tonight, transforms traces of Stravinsky’s Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments into fearless rhythmic surges and striking harmonic contrasts.
Modern Legacy can be heard in its entirety on Friday, October 24 at 7:00 p.m. in Opperman Music Hall during “Kaleidoscope: Innovation in the Arts and Humanities,” part of FSU Discovery Days, a week-long celebration of research, creativity, and discovery.
Bach: Who Puts His Trust in God Most Just (1750/1978)
This serene chorale prelude by Johann Sebastian Bach exemplifies the clarity and devotion of his sacred music. In 1978, Dr. James E. Croft (Director of Bands at Florida State University from 1981 to 2003) crafted this elegant wind-band setting, preserving Bach’s noble counterpoint while allowing each wind voice to sing with lyrical warmth.
As part of tonght’s 125 Years of Music celebration, we pay tribute to Dr. Croft’s enduring legacy. After early success as a public-school director in Iowa and Wisconsin and as Director of Bands at the University of South Florida, Croft elevated FSU’s wind program to national prominence. Under his leadership the FSU Wind Orchestra performed at major conferences worldwide, and he earned distinction as president of both the National Band Association and the College Band Directors National Association, among numerous honors recognizing his artistry and influence.
Croft often encouraged instrumentalists to sing during rehearsals to deepen their listening and intonation skills—a philosophy reflected in this striking work, in which he unites vocal and instrumental music-making in a single, reverent gesture, enriching Bach’s harmonies and capturing the spirit of Croft’s lifelong commitment to expressive, holistic music-making (Mills, 2010).
By presenting Bach’s timeless chorale through Croft’s transcription, the University Wind Orchestra honors not only a master composer but also a cherished teacher and leader whose vision continues to shape the university’s musical life.
– Mills, A. W. (2010). The life and career of James Edwin Croft (Doctoral dissertation).
Ticheli: Symphony No. 2 (2003)
Frank Ticheli’s Symphony No. 2 was commissioned in 2003 by a consortium of James E. Croft’s doctoral students, conducting students, and friends as a surprise tribute upon his retirement as FSU’s Director of Bands. Ticheli recalled that the project began “as a kind of a secret.” When asked whom he might most like to commission, Croft named Ticheli, never suspecting that his answer would set the plan in motion. Ticheli was “thrilled and honored,” noting Croft’s early support of his music (Mills, 2010).
Each of the symphony’s three movements evokes a different kind of celestial light.
I. Shooting Stars flashes with kinetic brilliance. White-note clusters streak across the score as E-flat clarinet and low brass animate a dazzling, dancelike energy that ends in an explosive burst.
II. Dreams Under a New Moon unfolds as a soulful nocturne. A blues-tinged clarinet melody and chant-like themes drift through mysterious and hopeful dream episodes, rising to a majestic climax before settling into a peaceful coda.
III. Apollo Unleashed, the exuberant finale, draws on the blazing power of the sun god. Galloping rhythms and bright sonorities drive its outward energy, while Bach’s chorale Who Puts His Trust in God Most Just (BWV 433)—a favorite of Croft and one he arranged for winds—emerges as a spiritual anchor. Its noble strains first weave beneath the kinetic textures and return triumphantly in the coda.
By fusing cosmic imagery with American rhythmic vitality and a chorale beloved by its dedicatee, Symphony No. 2 closes the program as a radiant musical thank-you to James E. Croft, celebrating his artistry and the inspiration he imparted to generations of musicians.
– Mills, A. W. (2010). The life and career of James Edwin Croft (Doctoral dissertation).
University Wind Orchestra Personnel
Rodney Dorsey, Conductor
Drew Hardy-Moore, Graduate Associate Conductor
Piccolo
Kathryn Lang
Flute
Nikkie Galindo*
Jordi Banitt
Shelby Werneth
Claire “Parky” Park
Kendall Smith
Oboe
Sarah Ward*
Andrew Swift*(+ English horn)
Jordan Miller
Bassoon
Hannah Farmer
Dakota Jeter (+ Contra)
Elizabeth Novak
E-flat Clarinet
Steven Higbee
B-flat Clarinet
Jenna Eschner*
Daniel Kim*
Charlotte MacDonald
Xavier Williams
Jaxon Stewart
Zhu Zhiyao
Taylin Hamilton
Hali Alex
Dawson Huynh
Bass Clarinet
Harper Golden
Saxophone
Matthew James*
Micah Mazzella
Zach Matthews
Ash Stewart
Trumpet/Cornet
Sharavan Duvvuri
Jeremiah Gonzalez
Avery Hoerman
Johniel Najera*
Wayne Pearcy
Joshua Puente
Noah Solomon
Horn
Allison Hoffman
Jeason Lopez
Eric On*
Gio Pereira*
Kate Warren
Clare Ottesen
Trombone
Grant Keel
Aryn Nester
Sarah Castillo
Brent Creekmore, bass
Euphonium
Anthony Gonzalez*
Cayden Miller*
Tuba
Yoni Zegeye
Colin Teague
String Bass
Caleb Duden
Piano
Fernando Garcia
Harp
Noa Michaels
Percussion
Nick Bahr
Matthew Korloch
Will McCoy
Mackenzie Selimi*
Jessica Weinberg
* Principal/Co-principal
