Central-Carroll High School Symphonic Band

Carroll County Schools Presents:

The Central-Carroll High School Symphonic Band Carrollton, Georgia

Neil Ruby and Courtney Neidhardt, Directors Jared Griffis, Principal Scott Cowart, Superintendent of Carroll County Schools

Georgia Music Educators Association In-Service Conference University of Georgia JanFest Southeastern United States Band Clinic

Central-Carroll High School Symphonic Band Neil Ruby, Conductor

Program Dawns Triumph (2021)......................................................... Christopher Kyle Green *World Premiere

Breaking Point (2019)........................................................................ Brian Balmages

Galop (1971).............................................................................. Dmitri Shostakovich

Transcribed by Donald Hunsberger Courtney Neidhardt, Conductor The range and depth of musical talent within Central-Carroll High School has produced one of the state’s finest band programs. Our student musicians have shown the talent and commitment to earn and maintain an outstanding reputation as they “Strive for Excellence” in each performance. The Central Carroll Bands have earned superior ratings at every Georgia Music Educators event and the Marching Pride has earned 51 Grand Championships, in the past 23 years. The Central-Carroll Symphonic Band has been three time champions of the Smoky Mountain Music Festival and have performed on two occasions at the Grand National Adjudicators Invitational. They were the featured ensemble at the 2019 Reinhardt University Honor Band Clinic and were chosen to play at the 2021 JanFest at the University of Georgia, Southeastern United States Band Clinic, and the Georgia Music Educators Association In-Service Conference. Students from Central-Carroll H.S. are selected each year to the GMEA District Seven Honor Band and GMEA All-State Band. The Central band program is also proud to have had representatives selected to perform in the Brevard Music Camp, Julliard Music Camp, Atlanta Youth Symphony, Emory Youth Symphony, Metropolitan Atlanta Youth Wind Ensemble, and the Georgia Governor’s Honors Program. The CC Bands are two-time recipients of the Exemplary Performance Award from the Georgia Music Educators Association, the Certificate of Merit from the National Band Association on three occasions. The Central Bands have performed for millions of people all over the world, including the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, on two occasions. The band has also traveled and performed in Chicago, Illinois; Hollywood, California; New York, New York; New Orleans, Louisiana; Nassau, Bahamas; San Francisco, California; Orlando, Florida; London, England; and Brisbane, Australia. The Marching Pride most recently performed as the Honor Band in the Waikiki Holiday Parade and Pearl Harbor Commemoration in Honolulu, Hawaii.

We would like to thank our parents, administration, and volunteers for the love and support you give our program every day. We love you!! Go PRIDE Go!!!

Central-Carroll High School Symphonic Band Neil Ruby Neil Ruby is in his 23rd year as the Director of Bands and Fines Art Chairman at Central - Carroll High School, in Carrollton, Georgia, earning consistent superior ratings at concert, jazz, and marching events. Mr. Ruby received a B.M. Degree in Music Education from the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, Georgia, and a M.M. Degree in Music Education from the Vandercook College of Music in Chicago, Illinois. He is a frequent performer, adjudicator and clinician for events throughout the Southeastern United States. Mr. Ruby is a former Georgia Music Educators Association State Band Chair and served four terms as the GMEA District Seven Chairman and numerous other committees. He is a GMEA-Certified Head Adjudicator for the Large Group Performance Evaluations. Mr. Ruby has received the prestigious National Band Association Certificate of Merit for Music Excellence on three occasions. He is a two-time Teacher of the Year recipient in Carroll County and was chosen as the STAR teacher of Central High School one five occasions and twice as the STAR Teacher for the Carroll County School System. Mr. Ruby was also chosen as the Teacher of the Year by the Wal-Mart Foundation and the STAR 94 “Teachers Make a Difference” recipient as a Georgia Teacher of the Year. Mr. Ruby is an active member of numerous professional organizations including: Georgia Music Educators Association, National Association for Music Education, Phi Beta Mu, National Band Association, Professional Association of Georgia Educators, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and American School Band Directors Association.

Courtney Neidhardt Courtney Neidhardt is in her fourth year as Associate Director of Bands at Central-Carroll High School and Central Middle School in Carrollton, GA. Her responsibilities include assisting with all middle and high school band operations, conducting the CHS Concert Band, Basketball Band, and teaching beginning band. Originally from Sharpsburg, GA, Mrs. Neidhardt is an alumna of Kennesaw State University where she graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education. While at Kennesaw State, Mrs. Neidhardt performed as a member of the Kennesaw State University Wind Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, Wind Symphony, “The Marching Owls,” and a number of small ensembles. Mrs. Neidhardt has studied flute with both Todd Skitch and Christina Smith of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

Mrs. Neidhardt has served as a performer and flute clinician around the state, and her professional affiliations include the Georgia Music Educators Association, National Association for Music Education, Tau Beta Sigma, and the Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society. Mrs. Neidhardt happily resides in Newnan, GA with her husband, Patrick.

Kyle Green Kyle Green (b. 1996) has been an avid musician since beginning band in junior high school. Kyle began playing the trumpet in his middle school band and instantly found a desire to continue to learn anything and everything related to music. He spent countless hours studying scores while in middle school and eventually wrote his first note during his seventh-grade year. Through high school, Kyle picked up the clarinet and began to perform in community ensembles in his area. As he progressed through high school, his compositional work began to mature and was premiered by various university level and community level ensembles. During Kyle’s senior year of high school, he attended Woodland High School, Cartersville, GA; under the direction of Eric Willoughby.

Kyle attended Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA, where he obtained a B.A. in Music Theory. While in college, Kyle’s works have been premiered by the Kennesaw State University Wind Ensemble, other instrumental ensembles at Kennesaw State University, as well as The Dallas Wind Symphony. Mr. Green has been awarded the winner of the 2015 Dallas Wind Symphony Call for Fanfares, and the 2016 Kennesaw State University Composition Contest. In 2017, Kyle became part of the RWS Music Publishing Company family, where many of his works are now published. Since, Kyle has graduated from Kennesaw State University in 2018 and has begun his journey through a Master of Clinical Social Work program at Kennesaw State University to obtain licensure as a psychotherapist.

Symphonic Band Concert January 19th Program Notes Dawns Triumph Written specifically for a time when the entire world was faced with the most difficult of times, ‘DAWNS TRIUMPH’ was written in an effort to remind the people of the world to hold onto any glimmer of hope that tomorrow would bring light.

Current global events have proven that physical and mental health is of utmost importance, and that the world needs music.

An epic fanfare, ‘DAWNS TRIUMPH’ is the bringer of light and hope, as it includes sweeping woodwind flourishes, epic brass statements, and massive percussive flare. This is a refreshing concert opener that will set the stage for what is yet to come – the future of our music programs. As every day begins with a new dawn, we as humans have the ability to triumph our lives in any setting, pandemic or not! Allow yourself to bathe in the sound as the sun rises once again in the World Premiere of ‘DAWNS TRIUMPH’.

Breaking Point

From score notes...

This piece was never meant to be written. In fact, I was working on a different piece altogether (and was over halfway through it) when my entire interest, desire, and investment in “that” piece simply caved. I had been fighting with it for weeks and was making some progress, but everything about the piece felt so ordinary. There was a massive disconnect between that piece and my life, and I finally understood that this piece is the one I needed to write. The piece that I so desperately did NOT want to write. Perhaps my email to Daniel Hopkins, the commissioning director at Cumberland High School in Wisconsin, best conveys everything: “Now to throw everything on its end… I spent endless amounts of time working on [your piece] and was struggling with it a ton. The piece wasn’t going anywhere. It just felt like regular “band music” that I was trying to make fun, but I just didn’t feel anything behind it. The underlying story is that throughout the [writing of that] piece, my father has been extremely sick - suffering from liver and kidney failure. As I write this email, he is back in the hospital waiting to see if an obstruction clears that just occurred the other day. If it does clear, he may go home tomorrow or the next day. If not, he may not be with us by the end of the week. It’s been a mess. For over a month, he has been at the University of Maryland Medical Center being evaluated to see if he was strong enough for a liver and kidney transplant. It has been a rollercoaster. One day, everyone believes he is going to be listed the following day. Hours later, his heart levels tank and we’re not sure he is a candidate at all.

A day later he has an incredible heart scan putting us back on track. A week later we find out that his heart has not recovered as they had hoped, still no transplant. I canceled a conducting engagement in Ireland not knowing how much time we have together and hoping he would get a transplant. And with this new complication, I may be cancelling a trip to Oklahoma because I do not know if he will need surgery tomorrow or Monday - and if so, it is highly likely he will not survive it. He is a trumpet player. I am a trumpet player. And today I brought my 9-year-old son to the hospital so he could play his trumpet for my dad. Right now, I’m not sure if that is the last time he will see my father or not. Throughout this entire experience, I have reached my own breaking point. Over and over again. So I fall apart, put myself together, and am then broken all over again. And again.

This is the piece I have written for you: Breaking Point.

It is one of the most emotional and powerful pieces I have ever written. It has moments of untamed beauty and other moments of intense aggression. You told me a strength of your group is their ability to bring a ton of energy to their music. They are going to need it. Emotional energy. Raw energy. Anger. Rage. Hope. False hope. Desperation. It’s all there.”

This email was written on Saturday, March 2, 2019. On Sunday morning, I spoke with the doctors who told me that it appeared my father would be able to avoid the surgery for his obstruction. So I decided I would fly to Oklahoma at my father’s request (“Brian, stop cancelling everything because of me. I want you to keep doing everything. I’m fine.”). It seemed likely he would be discharged in a few days, although again - with a failing liver and kidneys, getting discharged was not really a blessing. Since I was only going to be gone for a couple of days, my dad wanted me to go. And so I did.

On the way to Oklahoma, I continued writing at a feverish pace, trying to keep up with all of the notes, emotions, phrases and textures running through my mind. I thought I finished the piece by noon on Monday, ahead of my band and Orchestra rehearsals at Oklahoma State University later that day.

That evening, my mother called me as did some of the doctors. The obstruction wound up not being any better at all. In fact,

That evening, my mother called me as did some of the doctors. The obstruction wound up not being any better at all. In fact, it was getting worse. It was that night that my dad called me and told me he was tired. Tired of being in the hospital. Tired of exploring a bunch of surgeries that he likely would not survive. Tired of subjecting himself to so much when it was still highly unlikely that he would ever be put on the transplant list due to his heart condition. I’ll never forget what he said and can still hear his voice. “Brian, it’s okay. I really am at peace. I’m ready for whatever comes next.”

Up until that point, I had such a mix of emotions, and it is easy to hear them throughout the piece. Sadness. Heartbreak. Anger (a lot of anger). Frustration. Overwhelming despair. The listener can hear passive dissonance and much more aggressive dissonance. Moments when you feel like you can catch your breath, but it is cut short because you suddenly want to scream.

Or cry. Or just sit there and do completely nothing despite the fact that a million people are trying to reach you. All of this finally boiled over into the loud, powerful chorale near the end of the piece (a variation of the chorale first introduced in the low brass near the beginning) that constantly moves between both tonalities and also spends time in its own harmonic world.

All of this was designed to reflect the chaos of getting pulled in different directions - hope versus despair. Constantly. And so, I began to scream (musically) for it all to stop and wrote the last powerful moments of instability, with everything leading to a unison concert F. That was the end of the piece.

Or so I thought.

Rewind to my dad’s phone call on Monday night. “Brian, it’s okay. I really am at peace. I’m ready for whatever comes next.”

Suddenly, I realized that the piece was not over. Not at all. I had to express that moment of peace. And that is why I extended the work with a soft Bach-style chorale. It is original (my dad always preferred my original music), but symbolizes that moment when I realized my dad did not want to fight anymore. He just wanted to be comfortable. As the chorale continues, phrases begin to lengthen. And then the silence enters. Those moments between phrases when you just don’t know what to say. And so you let the silence say it for you. The length of silence between phrases stretches as the chorale continues. Until everything is reduced to an octave in a single section. That is how the piece needed to end. No major chord. No minor chord.

Just an octave. I finished the piece on Tuesday while flying home early from Oklahoma to see my dad. I have never cried so much while writing a piece of music. I was a total disaster on the plane, but powered through and people around me kindly gave me some space. At the hospital on Tuesday, Dad, Mom, and I had a wonderful day. We talked about all kinds of things.

Laughed. Remembered. Hugged. Smiled. It was lovely. He was all irritated that he kept dropping his phone, so he asked me to buy him a new phone case with a better grip. I did and brought it Wednesday morning. He was unresponsive when I got there and would never wake up. The following day, just two days after I finished Breaking Point, my world shattered when my father passed away with my mom, me, and friends by his side.

My heartfelt thanks to Daniel Hopkins at Cumberland High School in Wisconsin. He understood my need to switch gears completely on this commission, and welcomed it with open arms. I will always miss my dad, but finally found my piece in the closing measures of this music.

- Brian Balmages

Galop Admirers of Shostakovich’s symphonies and concertos are likely unaware that the composer also wrote a substantial quantity of lighter music. In his early days, he composed incidental music and songs for many plays and even created full-fledged operas and film scores. Among them is the operetta Moscow, Cheryomushki which opened on January 24, 1959, to substantial success. Moscow, Cheryomushki (often shortened to Cheryomushki) is an operetta (light opera) in three acts, libretto by the team of Vladimir Mass and Mikhail Chervinsky, the leading Soviet humorists at that time. The satirical plot deals with a theme common to the people of Soviet Russia and the Cheryomushki District: affordable housing. This district became the location for a massive subsidized housing project in the 1950s. The operetta tells a story of a group of friends who have been granted new apartments in the Cheryomushki. Galop is representative of the light, humorous style of the operetta. With its fast moving and comical lines, Shostakovich captures the humor (and melancholy) of the libretto, expertly.

2020-2021 Central- Carroll High School Symphonic Band Players are listed in alphabetical order

Flutes

Alto Saxophones

Euphoniums

Mia Lovvorn Sarah Morgan

Jaden Garner* Jesus Ortega Bianka Vinci

Zach Adams* Brock McWhorter

Oboe

Tenor Saxophones

Lauren Putman

Scott Couch Andy Wilson

Kira Babbs Karla Moroles Aaron Roebuck

Scarlett Simon Marlee Williams*

Clarinets Madeline Brown Faithlyn Cantrell* Addison Denney Jenna Garner* Ada Lee Aubrey Lee Joseph Mazzola* McKenzie Myers Sage Smith* Keiaritie Thomas Bass Clarinets Mackayla Dunson* Lauren Gray

Bassoons Hannah Gibbs Olivia Gresham

Bari-Saxophone Mackenzie Dunson*

French Horns Kaden Brown* Katy Carnes* Makayla Parson Kaitlyn Tucker

Tubas

Percussion Trystan Chastain* Laney Duffey Lyndsey Jennings Sara Jennings Ellie Knott Bryson Mitchell Chip Murray Camp Yarbrough

Samantha Whritenour*

Trumpets Hannah Bowen

Cello / Piano Hannah Fuller

Katelyn Coppernoll Emma Eason

Bayleigh Heisey Lucas Kelly Killian Munro Chase Phillips Hannah Sanford*

*Senior Band Member

Trombones Cameron Carter Reagan Latham Ellie Robinson Bass Trombone Samuel Rivers CENTRAL OF CARROLL CO.