Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Carnegie Preview

Carnegie Hall Preview Tuesday I March 5, 2019 I 7:30 pm Faye Spanos Concert Hall I Stockton, CA Harvey Benstein, Peter Witte I conductors

89th Performance I 2018-2019 Academic Year I Conservatory of Music I University of the Pacific

CONCERT PROGRAM

I MARCH 5, 2019 I 7:30 PM

Fantasia and Fugue in C Minor, BWV 537

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Transcribed by Ryan Nowlin Arr. Edward Elgar

Harvey Benstein, conductor

Andrew Boysen Jr. (b. 1968)

Song for Lyndsay Harvey Benstein, conductor

Michael Daugherty (b. 1954)

Vulcan III. Vulcan’s Forge

Jonathan Latta and Patrick Neff, snare drum Harvey Benstein, conductor

Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868)

Scherzo for Band

Ryan Abdelmalek, Peter Altamura, Thomas Hubel, Kevin Iwai, Hector Lange-Sanchez, Shane Ryan, and Kevin Swenson, trumpets Harvey Benstein, conductor

Frank Ticheli (b. 1958)

Blue Shades Scott Pastor, clarinet Peter Witte, conductor

SYMPHONIC WIND ENSEMBLE

Whether serving their primary mission as catalyst for the professional education of members, serving the community beyond our gates or supporting Tiger athletics, bands have always played a significant role in the life of the University of the Pacific, California’s first chartered institution of higher education (1851). The Symphonic Wind Ensemble (SWE) is an audition group of the finest wind and percussion players on campus and includes students from the various music specialties as well as many players from other majors. The SWE has gained a national reputation for creative programming, polished performance and a uniquely positive esprit de corps that serves as a lifelong influence on its members.

SWE has traveled extensively along the West Coast and recently performed concerts as invited headliners at the California All State Music Education Conference and the Western International Band Clinic in Seattle. The band recorded their second compact disc at the famed Skywalker Ranch Studios in 2013. This spring they will use the music from today’s Festival as the core repertoire for their upcoming release and in April they will premiere a work by Julie Giroux that was commissioned by band alumni and friends to celebrate the band’s great history and exciting future.

Flute Carrie Asai Diana Ayala Andrew Lu Ellie Rose Laila Mameesh Monica Mendoza Oboe Alelih Galvadores Bassoon Tristen Collinsworth Cassi Parker-Swenson Clarinet Michaela Aimone Kaycee Clark Eric Espinoza Scott Pastor Richard Shin Ravyn Stanford Rose Watson Molly Westlake Bass Clarinet Arturo Garcia

Saxophone Mitchell Beck Shelbey Evans Zachary Grenig Shannon Hall Kyle Lesh Matthew Loya Bryan Mah Ryan Porter James Scott Allie VanderMolen Trumpet Ryan Abdelmalek Peter Altamura Thomas Hubel Kevin Iwai Hector Lange-Sanchez Shane Ryan Kevin Swenson Horn Owen Bacchus Caitlin Jane Buse Heather Greenup Braydon Ross Rachel Ticas

Trombone Joshua Dunsford Rebecca Growcott Zahariah Nirenberg Emmon Tobias Bass Trombone Walter Stedman Euphonium Katie Christensen Nico Peruzzi Tuba Andrew Davis Adam Heredia Robert Huntington String Bass William Peralta Piano Jude Markel Percussion Kyle Bossert Tyler Golding Lok Man Vincent Lei Sean Mitchell Craig Robinson

SOLOISTS

Dr. Jonathan Latta currently performs throughout the Northern California region and Colorado. Prior to moving to California in 2014, he was Director of Percussion Studies for six years at Fort Lewis College teaching applied percussion, percussion ensemble, non-western music, orchestration, and jazz. He taught percussion at University of the Pacific from 2017-2018 while serving in his role as Assistant Dean. He holds a Bachelor’s of Music in Performance and Music Education from the University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music and a Master’s of Music in Performance from East Carolina University. In 2009 Jonathan finished his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from the University of Arizona School of Music.

Prior to returning school for his doctorate, Jonathan was a member of the United States Air Force Band of the Golden West. During his time with the band he performed in over 300 performances serving as percussion/timpani for the Concert Band, drum set for the Commanders Jazz Ensemble, marching percussion for the Ceremonial Band and drum set for the Golden West Dixie Ramblers. Performances included the 2003 Tournament of Roses Parade, the 2004 Sacramento Jazz Jubilee and the interment of former President Ronald W. Reagan. As a member of the percussion section and the jazz ensemble rhythm section he gave clinics to elementary through college-age students throughout the west coast.

Jonathan’s other performing experiences include the Music in the Mountains Festival Orchestra, Stockton Symphony, San Juan Symphony, North State Symphony, Long Bay Symphony, Tar River Symphony and the Texas Music Festival Orchestra. He has performed as a chamber musician in the Durango Chamber Music Festival, the Animas Music Festival, and at the Percussive Arts Society International Conference.

Patrick Neff is the Director of Bands and Orchestra at Rosemont High School in Sacramento, CA. He teaches Wind Ensemble, Concert Band, String Orchestra, Marching Band, and Percussion. Prior to Rosemont, Mr. Neff graduated from the University of the Pacific in 2015 with a Masters in Music Education, where he studied conducting with Dr. Eric Hammer and worked as a Graduate Assistant Director.

In 2013, he graduated from the University of Oregon with a Bachelors in Music Education (Cum Laude) where he studied percussion with Dr. Pius Cheung. He is on the board of California Music Educators Association Capitol Section as High School Band Representative and organizes the Capitol Section High School Honor Band.

Mr. Neff is a member of the Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society as well as the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. He is a percussionist, pianist, and composer. He was raised in Elk Grove, CA.

CONDUCTORS

Harvey Benstein is the Guest Conductor of the University of the Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble appointed through the Spring 2019 semester. Previous collegiate positions include: Director of Bands at Butler University, Indianapolis, IN; Director of Bands, McNeese State University, Lake Charles, LA; and Assistant Director of Bands, The Ohio State University. Benstein has taught in the public Schools of Michigan at Ann Arbor Huron and Grand Ledge High Schools and was the Director of Instrumental Music and Department Chairperson at Campolindo High School in Moraga, CA. He was the conductor and music director of the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra (1999-2007) and has been the conductor and music director of the community based Walnut Creek Concert Band since 1998.

Benstein has conducted in all media from symphony orchestra to jazz ensemble and is well versed in the orchestral and wind band repertoire. He has a long-established relationship with the United States Air Force Band of the Golden West (Travis, AFB) and was awarded an Honorary Lifetime Band Member Award for his civilian partnership and work with the band. He is in demand as a guest conductor and clinician throughout the United States, working with professional and amateur ensembles. He will return this summer to conduct at the Sitka (Alaska) Fine Arts Camp and will be in residence at Kansas State University in the spring of 2020.

Peter Witte serves as the dean of the Conservatory of Music and professor of music at the University of the Pacific. From 2008-2017, Mr. Witte served as dean of the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Prior to his appointment in Missouri, Mr. Witte served as chair of the Department of Music at Kennesaw State University in metropolitan Atlanta for nine years.

At KSU, Mr. Witte helped plan and open the Bailey Performance Center, hailed as “a beauty� by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and now home to annual residencies of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Witte led performances in Carnegie Hall with the National Wind Ensemble and with the Atlanta Wind Symphony, with whom he served as Music Director for seven years. He began his career as an orchestral horn player with ensembles including the Atlanta Opera, the Toledo Symphony, the Windsor Symphony, and in summer festivals in Grand Tetons, and in Graz, Austria. Presently he serves on the boards of the PRISM Quartet, the California Symphony, the Stockton Symphony Orchestra, and with the National Association of Schools of Music, where he is Associate Chair of the Commission on Accreditation and a visiting evaluator.

Mr. Witte earned Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in performance, and Master of Music in conducting degrees from the University of Michigan, where he studied horn with Louis Stout, Lowell Greer, and Bryan Kennedy; musicianship with Marianne Ploger; and conducting with H. Robert Reynolds, who remains a particularly close mentor.

PROGRAM NOTES

Fantasia and Fugue in C Minor BWV 537 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) arr. Edward Elgar, transcribed Ryan Nowlin The many great organ works of Bach have been transcribed for countless ensembles in the two and a half centuries since his death. In 1921, Edward Elgar took on this challenge and described his treatment in these words “I have orchestrated a Bach fugue in modern way – largish orchestra – you may not approve … Many have written Bach on the “pretty” scale and I wanted to show how gorgeous and great and brilliant he would have made himself sound if he had had our means.” Captain Ryan Nowlin, assistant conductor of “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band, has taken Elgar’s transcription and crafted this beautiful and colorful arrangement for the wind band.

Song for Lyndsay Andrew Boysen Jr. (b. 1968) Written for Jack Stamp and the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Symphony Band, Song for Lyndsay is a very personal work, with a great deal of meaning to me, but ideally, with some significance for Jack and his ensemble as well. The musical materials for the work are mostly derived from a short piano piece that I wrote for my wife, Lyndsay, in 2005.

Although the structure of the work is much more complex than its forerunner, Song for Lyndsay is still more than anything else a simple love song dedicated to Lyndsay and what she has meant in my life.

- Andrew Boysen

PROGRAM NOTES

Vulcan (2014) Michael Daugherty (b. 1954) III. Vulcan Forge Jonathan Latta and Patrick Neff, snare drum soloists Vulcan for Concert Band was commissioned jointly by Ann Arbor High School band directors, David Leach (Pioneer), Stephen Roberts (Huron) and Jason Smith (Skyline), in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the first Ann Arbor High School Band.

“Vulcan is my musical homage to Gene Roddenberry’s interstellar universe as depicted in the classic American television series Star Trek (1966-69). The title refers to the fiery planet Vulcan, the home world of the half-human, half-Vulcan Mr. Spock. As the rational science officer aboard the Starship Enterprise, commandeered by the hot-blooded Captain James T. Kirk, Mr. Spock grapples with the “fascinating” predicament of making decisions based on human emotion or Vulcan logic. I have composed stirring, yet highly structured, music, which alludes to the Vulcan “Pon Farr” ritual, Vulcan telepathic mindmelds and Mr. Spock’s volcanic planet of Vulcan.”

- Michael Daugherty

Scherzo for Band Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) Scored for modern band by William A. Schaeffer Giaochino Rossini studied for a short time in Bologna, abandoning that city to begin writing and producing opera in the larger European centers. Known best for such classic operas as Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) he ultimately took over management of the Italian Theater in Paris where he remained pursuing a brilliantly successful career as composer and producer. At the young age of thirty-seven Rossini retired from opera composition and spent the rest of his life teaching and writing in France and Italy. Rossini’s last known work is Fanfara Alla Corona d’Italia (Fanfare for the Italian Crown) appearing initially in four different piano editions, the first of which dating from 1858. Rossini’s subsequent arrangement for military band had two separate dedications respectively dating from 1863 and 1868, the latter as a gift of thanks on receipt of the Cavalier Great Cross of the Order of the Italian Crown. William A. Schaefer, who rediscovered the long-lost work in the archives of the British museum, stated that it was written for and dedicated to Emperor Maximilian of Mexico (ruled 1864-1867). Schaefer re-titled the piece Scherzo for Band (reflecting its overall character) and rescored it for contemporary concert band in 1977.

- Brian L. Hughes

PROGRAM NOTES

Blue Shades Frank Ticheli (b. 1958) In 1992 I composed a concerto for traditional jazz band and orchestra, Playing With Fire, for the Jim Cullum Jazz Band and the San Antonio Symphony. That work was composed as a celebration of the traditional jazz music I heard so often while growing up near New Orleans.

I experienced tremendous joy during the creation of Playing With Fire, and my love for early jazz is expressed in every bar of the concerto. However, after completing it I knew that the traditional jazz influences dominated the work, leaving little room for my own musical voice to come through. I felt a strong need to compose another work, one that would combine my love of early jazz with my own musical style.

Four years, and several compositions later, I finally took the opportunity to realize that need by composing Blue Shades. As its title suggests, the work alludes to the Blues, and a jazz feeling is prevalent–however, it is not literally a Blues piece. There is not a single 12-bar blues progression to be found, and except for a few isolated sections, the eighth-note is not swung. The work, however, is heavily influenced by the Blues. “Blue notes” (flatted 3rds, 5ths, and 7ths) are used constantly; Blues harmonies, rhythms, and melodic idioms pervade the work; and many “shades of blue” are depicted, from bright blue, to dark, to dirty, to hot blue.

At times, Blue Shadea burlesques some of the clichés from the Big Band era, not as a mockery of those conventions, but as a tribute. A slow and quiet middle section recalls the atmosphere of a dark, smoky blues haunt. An extended clarinet solo played near the end recalls Benny Goodman’s hot playing style, and ushers in a series of “wailing” brass chords recalling the train whistle effects commonly used during that era.

- Frank Ticheli

NEW YORK TOUR 2019

Symphonic Wind Ensemble

With tonight’s concert, Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble embarks on a concert tour to New York, March 10 through March 13, 2019. The tour culminates with a performance during the 2019 New York Wind Band Festival at Carnegie Hall.

It was Dr. Eric Hammer’s vision to bestow this grand experience to his students. In his memory we make his vision come true. Onward.

NEW YORK TOUR 2019 Stanford University Dinkelspiel Auditorium Palo Alto, CA March 10 I 2:30 pm Grand Street High School Brooklyn, NY March 12 I 7:00 pm Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall New York City, NY March 13 I 8:00 pm Learn more about this and other programs of University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music at Pacific.edu/Conservatory

DR. ERIC HAMMER (1951 - 2019)

Ensemble to national prominence. The group was invited to perform a featured concert at Carnegie Hall in March of this year during the New York Wind Band Festival.

“Eric created a sense of community simply in the way he walked into a room. He brought people together, he was warm, endlessly energetic, and he believed that every child must sing, in school and throughout their lives,” said Peter Witte, dean of the Conservatory of Music.

Eric Hammer ’73, Pacific alumnus and director of bands and professor of music education in the Conservatory of Music, passed away Monday, January 28, 2019.

He was 67. Dr. Hammer had announced he would retire at the end of the academic year after leading a remarkable and impactful 26-year career at Pacific.

“Eric’s love of music and enthusiasm for life touched everyone who had the privilege of being in his presence. He connected with generations of young people, inspiring many of them to study music at Pacific and to become lifelong musicians and Pacificans,” said Pacific President Pamela A. Eibeck.

“His passion for Pacific was clear; he embodied the best of our university community.”

Together with his faculty colleagues, Dr. Hammer built and sustained the Symphonic Wind Ensemble and the University Concert Band and supervised the student-led Pep Band. He has led the 50-60-member Symphonic Wind

Dr. Hammer inspired young musicians teaching at summer band camp, conducting honor bands, adjudicating band festivals and giving clinics at high schools. It was not uncommon for students to say that he was the reason they enrolled at Pacific. He guided music education student teachers as they launched their careers throughout California and initiated and organized the Pacific Western Concert Band Festival held at Pacific for the past 13 years, which draws some 500 of the top student musicians from schools throughout the Western United States.

He stayed in touch with Pacific alumni across the nation, providing a way for them to connect with their alma mater, even as they built their own careers and communities. He invited them back to campus for master classes and arranged opportunities for them to interact with students through receptions and events across the state during the Concert Band and Wind Ensemble performance tours. He also brought alumni together

DR. ERIC HAMMER (1951 - 2019)

to perform with current students at the biannual Alumni Band Concert during Homecoming Weekend, providing a rich experience for both students and alumni. He was awarded the 2009 Pacific Alumni Association Faculty Mentor Award, in recognition of his significant impact on the lives of students and alumni.

He conducted local community ensembles, such as the Valley Concert Band and, in 2016, began the New Hammer Concert Band, a professionallevel wind ensemble that brings musicians together from across the state – including many alumni – for an intensive musical experience and public performance. A portion of concert ticket revenue supported music programs in local schools.

He was highly respected as an educator and conductor and recently was recognized as the Outstanding University Educator by the California Music Educators Association. His influence extended far beyond Pacific through the many hundreds of students and educators he taught in clinics and conferences or conducted in performances across the United States

and abroad. In 2017, he was elected as a member of the prestigious American Bandmasters Association, which recognizes outstanding achievement on the part of concert band conductors and composers. Dr. Hammer was also a conductor of the Diablo Wind Symphony for 16 years.

An Iowa native, Dr. Hammer earned his Bachelor of Music degree in University of the Pacific’s Conservatory of Music in 1973 and a teaching credential in the Gladys L. Benerd School of Education in 1974. He completed his Master of Music in wind conducting and Doctor of Musical Arts in music education at the University of Oregon. He taught in public schools for 16 years before joining the faculty of his alma mater in 1993.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Nancy Hammer ’74. He is survived by wife Patricia; daughter Elisabeth “Betsy” Hammer ’09 and husband Patrick Mulcahy; sister Priscilla Burnett and husband Mark; and brother Mark Hammer and wife Dami. Dr. Hammer was loved by his students and colleagues and will be deeply missed.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Mar. 6 I 2 pm Master Class with Joseph Lescher, bass Principle Bass, San Francisco Opera Conservatory Recital Hall Mar. 8 I 2 pm Conservatory Concert Hour Faye Spanos Concert Hall Mar. 18 I 7:30 pm 2017 MacArthur Fellow Tyshawn Sorey, percussion and Marilyn Crispell, piano Conservatory Recital Hall

Mar. 21 I 7 pm Pacific Chamber Music Spenker Winery Mar. 28 I 7:30 pm Resident Artist Series Ann Miller, violin; Igor Veligan, viola; Vicky Wang, cello; Guest artist Moni Simeonov, violin Conservatory Recital Hall Mar. 29 - 31 I 7 pm I 2:30 pm Lerner and Loewe’s Brigadoon Presented by Pacific Opera Theatre Faye Spanos Concert Hall

Find out about our upcoming concerts, recitals, and master classes at go.Pacific.edu/MusicEvents

SUPPORT OUR STUDENTS. Every gift to the Conservatory from an alumnus, parent, or friend makes an impact on our students. Our students rely on your generosity to enable them to experience a superior education.

Please, contact Briana Bacon, Assistant Dean for Development, at 209.946.7441 to make a gift today.

Pacific.edu/Conservatory