UIC Wind Ensemble 03/14

THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO

/THEATRE&MUSIC

UIC WIND ENSEMBLE Saturday, March 14, 2020 7:30 PM

UIC Theatre 1044 W Harrison St

What Will Become of All of This?

José Riojas, conductor; Nicholas Carlson, clarinet; Jordan Kamps, Percussion

Repertoire

About the School of Theatre and Music The School of Theatre and Music provides innovative, rigorous, and comprehensive academic and performance programs as part of our diverse, urban context. Our programs develop practical knowledge, cultural sensitivity, intellectual resourcefulness, and imaginative daring in emerging artists and scholars. We connect students to Chicago's abundant, vibrant theatre culture and to the city's dynamic jazz and classical music networks.

Vienna Philharmonic Fanfare (1924)

Richard Strauss (1864—1949)

Long Distance (2015)

I. II. III. IV.

Steven Snowden (b. 1981)

Monroe, NC–1977 Brooklyn, NY–1975 Panorama, VA–1976 Atlanta, GA–1972 Jordan Kamps, percussion

Coming Home (Doxology) (2019)*

David Biedenbender (b. 1984) *Premiere

Overture to “Candide” (1956)

INTERMISSION

Leonard Bernstein (1918—1990), trans. Grundman

Repertoire

Program Notes

Concerto for Clarinet and Wind Ensemble (2014)

David Maslanka (1943—2017)

I. Lamentation II. Dance

Vienna Philharmonic Fanfare Note provided by composer

Nicholas Carlson, clarinet

Symphonic Suite from “On the Waterfront” (1955)

Leonard Bernstein (1918—1990), trans. Bocook

Kingfishers Catch Fire (2007) John Mackey (b. 1973)

Long Distance Note provided by composer

Richard Strauss began composing music as early as age six and became a serious student of composition and orchestration at age 11. He was appointed court musical director at Munich in 1886, and later assumed similar posts at Weimar, Munich, and Berlin with the Royal Opera. His exposure to the great dramas and tragedies served as inspiration for many of his own sensational works, including Salome, Der Rosenkavalier, and Elektra. In addition to his operas, Strauss is revered for his monumental tone poems for orchestra, many outstanding concertos, and an abundance of works for voice. He also wrote four chamber works for winds that displayed his ability to orchestrate within many different settings: Serenade, Opus 7; Suite in B-flat, Opus 4; Sonatina in F “from An Invalid’s Workshop”; and Symphony for Wind Instruments “The Happy Workshop.”

Known as Carnival or Mardi Gras in Spanish and French-speaking countries, the pre-Lenten season is generally a time of raucous parties and public celebrations. In Vienna, the festival is called Fasching and features a series of elegant balls held throughout the city. One of the highlights of the season is the Vienna Philharmonic Ball, held at the Musikvereinssaal since 1924. For that very first celebration, which raised much-needed funds for the musicians’ pension fund in the wake of rampant post-war inflation, Richard Strauss composed a fanfare that has been performed at every subsequent ball. In modern times, Vienna Philharmonic Fanfare has become a cornerstone within the repertory for large orchestral brass ensemble.

“Once upon a time, in the days before the ubiquitous and invisible internet, there was only one network. It was made of long-distance lines — actual wires — and it was ruled by an absolute monarch, Ma Bell. Most people traveled the network along conventional channels. But there were also explorers, a small group of curious misfits eager to map the darkest, most obscure corners of this evolving global net. Harvard students, blind teenagers, budding

Program Notes

Coming Home (Doxology) Note provided by composer

engineers — eventually they came together and formed a subculture. They became phone phreaks.”—Jesse Hicks

Overture to “Candide”

I first learned about phone phreaks a couple of years ago and was immediately fascinated by their tenacity and boundless curiosity. By hacking the inner workings of payphones, building small electrical devices, or even whistling repeated tones at specific frequencies, they were able to manipulate this analog technology to connect with others in far away places or simply listen in on the pops, clicks, and hums produced by the machinery of distant networks.

These sonic identifiers were unique to each of the thousands of long distance networks and (luckily for me) it was quite common for phreaks to make high quality reel-to-reel recordings of what they heard.

All electronic sounds used in this piece come from these recordings and each movement is based upon the unique sonic qualities of calls from payphones in various locations in the US in the 1970’s.

Note provided by Jeff Midkiff

The piece stems from a vivid dream my father had and recounted for me and the title, Coming Home, came from an article written by composer Steven Stucky. Steven’s words speak to how everyone—even the most original and innovative artists—come from somewhere. It is a beautiful reflection on how to find your own way while acknowledging the people and the places from which you come, and it has stuck with me for a long time. In many ways, this piece, this metaphor, is a way to say thank you to all of my mentors and teachers.

Leonard Bernstein always said he wanted to write “the Great American Opera.” He probably came closest with Candide (1956), which he labeled “a comic operetta.” Based on Voltaire’s satirical novel of 1759, it chronicles the misadventures of Candide, a naive, pure-hearted youth, and his much more tough-minded sweetheart, Cungégonde. Although Candide has been taught by his tutor Dr. Pangloss (here Voltaire was taking a jab at the optimistic philosophy of his contemporary Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz) that “all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds,” throughout the story he is assailed by legions of man-made and natural disasters that sorely test this theory. Finally, older, a little wiser, he and the equally battered Cunégonde are reunited, with much more modest aspirations for their life together.

For Bernstein, collaborating with the admired playwright Lillian Hellman, this story had contemporary relevance for an artificially happy postwar America, recently bedeviled by the McCarthy witch-hunts. Opening on Broadway on December 1, 1956, Candide was perhaps a bit too intellectually weighty for its first audiences and closed after just 73 performances. Bernstein was less concerned over the money lost than the failure of a work he cared about deeply. The critics had extolled its marvelous score, and Bernstein and others kept tinkering with the show over the years. With each revival, Candide won bigger audiences. In 1989, the already seriously ill Bernstein spent his last ounce of vital energy recording a new concert version of the work. “There’s more of me in that piece than anything else I’ve done,” he said.

From the very beginning, though, the Overture was a hit and swiftly became one of the most popular of all concert curtain- raisers. Brilliantly written and scored, flying at breakneck speed, it pumps up the adrenaline of players and listeners alike. It features two of the show’s big tunes: the sweeping, romantic one is Candide’s and Cunégonde’s love duet “Oh, Happy We,” while the wacky, up-tempo music is from Cunégonde’s fabulous send-up of coloratura-soprano arias, “Glitter and Be Gay.”

Program Notes

Concerto for Clarinet and Wind Ensemble Note provided by the composer

While this concerto is distinctly a modern piece it has strong Classical and Romantic antecedents. The Classical elements are the simple title, which offers no sense of story, the movement titles “Lamentation” and “Dance”, which are only very general indications of attitude, and the very direct formal construction, particularly of the second movement. I might even say that formally the piece harkens back to the Baroque toccata and fugue – a free improvisatory movement followed by a strictly formal and rhythmically energized second movement.

The Romantic elements are in the qualities of expression. I have long counted Franz Liszt as a spiritual ancestor, and as a young clarinetist I made my way through the concerto pieces of Carl Maria von Weber – lots of notes, speed, and powerful personal expression in both these composers.

And yet this is very much a piece of our time. We are going through a major world change, possibly the major world change, with technological advances whipping us along at incredible speeds. With the advent of instant communication and information we are at last beginning to see and understand the human race as one entity, and in immediate relationship with the rest of creation. This huge shift requires intense dream time, especially conscious dream time, and music powerfully opens this dream space. “Lamentation:” a deep mourning as we view our personal troubles, and the troubles of the world; “Dance:” a springing leap forward into a new world.

Symphonic Suite from “On the Waterfront” Note provided by the composer

We all know and love the American classical musician and composer: Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990). The 1949 movie of his Broadway musical On the Town, with Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly, introduced him to moviegoers across the country, and the 1961 release of the film version of his musical West Side Story firmly cemented his immense popularity and made his name something of a household name. To even Bernstein’s surprise, the latter became the second highest grossing movie of the year and was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, 10 of which it won, including Best Picture!

In between the two musicals released in film versions, film producer Sam Spiegel invited Bernstein to write a bona fide film score for his On the Waterfront. Citing over-commitment and the fact that he and dramatist and screenwriter Lillian Hellman planned to embark on a scathing satire of McCarthyism based on Voltaire’s Candide, he declined the offer. Some say that the real reason was that he despised the film’s director, Elia Kazan, due to his actions on behalf of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Spiegel persisted, though, and invited Bernstein to see a rough cut of the film before making his final decision.

Very impressed by Marlon Brando’s acting and the film’s depiction of the very real union corruption in New York’s dockyards, Bernstein accepted the offer and worked steadily on the score between February and May 1954.

Describing the excitement he felt watching the film’s rough cut, Bernstein later wrote, “I heard music as I watched: that was enough. And the atmosphere of talent that this film gave off was exactly the atmosphere in which I love to work and collaborate. Day after day I sat at a Moviola, running the print back and forth, measuring in feet the sequences I had chosen for the music, converting feet into seconds by mathematical formula, making homemade cue sheets.”

Working away from the hustle and bustle of Hollywood and without much restriction from Kazan, Bernstein produced the music in much the same manner he had his musical theater works. Short sequences of music supplemented scenes and action on the screen and, as a New York resident,

Program Notes

he felt completely familiar with nearly all depicted. Bernstein biographer Humphrey Burton describes short snippets of music and scenes with titles like ‘Roof Morning’ and ‘Kangaroo Court.’” He goes on to say, “The bustle of the Hoboken dockyard is expressed by a fierce fugato for three sets of timpani; a later scene, played out on a desolate stretch of wasteland dominated by a dump of old tires, has a stabbing violin motif which is reminiscent of the North Sea music Benjamin Britten composed for [his opera] Peter Grimes.

Over and over again Bernstein establishes a decisive mood in a few brilliant bars: the furioso fight passages are as terrifying as anything to come in West Side Story, and among the sequences of innocent tenderness there is a rooftop night scene between the inarticulate lovers Edie and Terry, where despite Bernstein’s complaint that his contribution was sacrificed to the dialogue at the dubbing session, the music rises to a Tristan-like climax.” (The latter comment refers to Richard Wagner’s opera Tristan und Isolde, which contains two of music’s most exciting and devastating climaxes, the first a duet between the two lovers, Tristan and Isolde, and the second Isolde’s “Love Death” following Tristan’s death.) Burton believes that Bernstein’s finest achievement in the score is his thematic integration of the whole score.

Released later that year, On the Waterfront starred the aforementioned Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Eve Marie Saint – in her film debut – and Lee J. Cobb. Winning eight of its 12 Academy Award nominations, the American Film Institute now ranks it as the eighth-greatest motion picture in American film history. And although he lost the Oscar to composer Dimitri Tiomkin, Bernstein gained overnight recognition and respect as a major international film composer after its showing at the 1954 Venice Film Festival. Writing in the magazine Score, Austrian music critic Hans Keller hailed Bernstein’s music as “about the best film score that has come out of America. In sheer professional skill, it surpasses everything I have heard or seen of the music of his teacher Aaron Copland (himself one of the very few contributors of musical music to the American film), while in textural style and harmonic idiom it is more daring even than many more individual scores by our own leading

composers.” Thus came to an end Bernstein’s film score career.

Wanting to perform the work in concert settings, Bernstein distilled the Symphonic Suite from the full movie score in 1955 for full orchestra. Bernstein conducted the work’s premiére at the Tanglewood Music Festival in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts on August 11, 1955.

Kingfishers Catch Fire Note provided by the composer

A "kingfisher" is a bird with beautiful, brilliantly colored feathers that look in sunlight as if they are on fire. Kingfishers are extremely shy birds and are rarely seen, but when they are seen, they are undeniably beautiful. "Kingfishers Catch Fire" imagines the bird flying out into the sunlight. You may catch the reference to Stravinsky's "Firebird" at the end of the piece.

Personnel

Band Program Personnel

Faculty & Staff Flute Kamryn Lindley*+ (Picc., Alto) Amy Lian (Picc.)

Jenna Laier Joseph Shen Jeni Mota (Picc.)

Theresa Stekala Megan Volk+Δ Oboe Alejandro Luna*+ Mark Watson (E.H.) Bassoon Brenna Curtis*+Δ Matthew DutczakΔ Clarinet Kaden Mancillas*+ (Eb) Hannah King (Contra) Toni Smertene Israel Lopez+ Emily Carroso Abdo Timejardine-Zomeno (Bass) Elizabeth Stekala Sarah Brewer+Δ Ashanti GaydenΔ

Bass Clarinet Isaac Bautista Saxophone Marco Gutierrez*+ (Alto/Soprano) Darren Price (Alto) Omar Licon (Alto) Brian Gavilan (Alto, Tenor) Sam Winters (Tenor) Jericho Kadusale (Baritone) Trumpet Vicki Beck*+ Luis Ortiz Louis Quigley Sammy Weintraub Guillermo Solis Rachael Perez Murray Gordon French Horn Ephraim Champion* Daniel McCarrick+ Kali Giancana Sally Whitesides+ Julio De La Rosa Aislinn LodwigΔ

Trombone Sam Cramer* Thomas Graf+ Roberto Rodriguez Luis Lema+ Bass Trombone Alex Pizaña Euphonium Gabe Egert* Eduardo Alonso Tuba Juan Peinado* Adam Carlson Percussion Anna Desfor* Jenny Eng* Curtis Johnson Derek Briones Jaydon Israel-Washington Caleb Fetzer Nikki Minerva Double Bass Jason Soto Kevyn Miller+Δ

Piano Adam Wax Harp Jennifer Ruggieri

*Denotes Principal + Denotes member of Kappa Kappa Psi Δ Denotes Alumni Guest Artist

José Oliver Riojas, director of bands Nicholas Carlson, assistant director of bands Jordan Kamps, percussion Vicki Beck, symphonic band librarian, festival assistant Sam Cramer, equipment/locker manager, logistics Anna Desfor, supervising percussion assistant, festival assistant Jenny Eng, wind ensemble librarian, percussion assistant Kamryn Lindley, supervising librarian, logistics Juan Peinado, supervising equipment/locker manager, pep band librarian Jason Soto, equipment/locker manager, logistics

Kappa Kappa Psi National Band Fraternity Executive Board Claudine Garcia, president Kim Lambert, vice president of membership Samantha Aviles, vice president of service Katy Sloka, secretary Daniel McCarrick, treasurer Alicia Ramirez, historian

Applied Faculty Mariana Gariazzo, flute Eugenia Moliner, flute Ricardo Castañeda, oboe John Gaudette, bassoon Nicholas Carlson, clarinet

Jordan Lulloff, saxophone David Inmon, trumpet Kelly Langenberg, horn Jeremiah Frederick, horn Andy Baker, trombone

Scott Tegge, tuba/euphonium John Floeter, string bass Jordan Kamps, percussion Ivana Bukvich, piano

Biographies

José Oliver Riojas José Oliver Riojas is the Director of Bands, Director of Instrumental Studies, Chair of Performance, and Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Illinois at Chicago where he guides all aspects of the UIC band program, serves as conductor of the UIC Wind Ensemble, and coordinates all aspects of the UIC Instrumental Area. He studied wind conducting with a minor in music theory at the University of Georgia and the University of Tennessee and music education at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Prior to this, José Riojas taught in the North East Independent School District in San Antonio, TX, during which time, his bands enjoyed great success. He has also held a position at UTSA as Director of the Athletic Pep Band. He has guest conducted throughout the United States and has recently held residencies at Middle Tennessee State University, the University of West Georgia, and California State Polytechnic University, South Dakota State University, and the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. He continues to champion new music for the wind band, most recently commissioning and performing new works by composers James Syler, Joseph Schwantner, and Jess Turner. Future commissioning projects include works for winds from David Biedenbender, Steven Bryant, and Andrew Boss.

As a performer, José Riojas has performed with award-winning saxophone players and musicians all over the country and is continually forming new musical ensembles in the Chicago area.

Riojas has also formed a career as a published arranger, transcriber, and composer around the world, having received commissions from four continents. He has done work for several of the finest saxophone players and ensembles, such as the New Century Saxophone Quartet, The Moanin’ Frogs, Stephen Page, and James Houlik. He has worked closely with composers to transcribe music for the saxo-

phone such as Marc Mellits, Aaron Perrine, John Mackey, Steven Bryant, and Jacob ter Veldhuis.

His professional affiliations include American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), College Band Directors National Association, The Midwest Clinic, College Music Society, Music Educators National Conference, North American Saxophone Alliance, Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Mu Alpha National Music Men’s Fraternity, Kappa Kappa Psi National Music Service Fraternity, Texas Music Educators Association, and Illinois Music Educators Association.

Nicholas J. Carlson Nicholas J. Carlson serves on the faculty at the University of Illinois Chicago where he is the Assistant Director of Bands. His responsibilities include conducting the University Band, directing the UIC Pep Band, teaching clarinet and chamber music, and assisting with all administrative aspects of the UIC band program. Prior to his work in Chicago he was a graduate associate for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) band department where he earned a Masters of Music with a dual concentration in instrumental conducting and clarinet performance under the direction of John Climer and Todd Levy respectively. He served as the graduate conducting associate with the UWM University Band and UWM Youth Wind Ensembles, and assisted with the overall administration of the university band program.

Mr. Carlson is an active educator and freelance clarinetist and performs regularly throughout the Midwest. He is currently the Associate Conductor of the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra

Biographies

Wind Ensemble, and principal clarinetist of the Chicago Arts Orchestra (Chicago, IL) and FullScore Chamber Orchestra (Zion, IL). As a featured soloist of the FullScore Chamber Orchestra he performed the world premiere of Donald Walker’s Clarinet Concerto (February 2013) and the Artie Shaw Clarinet Concerto (August 2014). He has also performed with the Milwaukee Skylight Opera, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Elgin Symphony Orchestra, Kenosha Symphony Orchestra, Oshkosh Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Wind Orchestra, and the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra. Other recent performances include the world premier and recording of Music for Five

by Marc Mellits, and the Midwest premiere of Mohammed Fairouz’s clarinet concerto Tahrir (March 2017).

Mr. Carlson attended the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse where he earned a bachelor’s degree in music education. Mr. Carlson taught instrumental music in the La Crosse Area School District and maintained a large private lesson studio.

Jordan Kamps Jordan Kamps is a Chicago based percussionist currently teaching Percussion Ensemble, American Popular Music, Jazz History, Fundamentals of Music Theory, and Applied Percussion at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Outside the university, Jordan actively teaches high school marching bands in Wisconsin. He has taught groups in both the WSMA fall circuit and the MACBDA summer circuit. As a performer, Jordan has performed with such varying groups as the Extra Crispy Brass Band, Milwaukee Bucks NBA Drumline, Sleeping At Last, and Chicago Arts Orchestra. Recently, Jordan performed as a member of the backing orchestra for parts of the international

tours of Evanesence, Celtic Thunder, and Lindsey Stirling. Jordan holds a Bachelors of Music in Percussion Performance from the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater and a Masters of Music in Percussion Performance from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.

Jordan currently performs with Ensemble Prime, a mixed chamber new music ensemble in Chicago; Cream City Percussion, a percussion quartet from Milwaukee, WI; and the Four Star Brass Band, a New Orleans style brass band in Chicago. While being an active performer, Jordan stays connected to new works for percussion.

He has been active in several commissions and premiers of new works for both percussion and chamber music.

Jordan Kamps plays Marimba One and is proud to support them as a Marimba One Orchestral Artist. Jordan is also a Blackswamp Educator

Upcoming MUSIC UIC Symphonic Band Sun, Mar 15, 5:00pm UIC Theatre, 1044 W. Harrison St. Jamey Aebersold Concert ft. Cheryl Wilson Quartet Weds, Mar 18, 7:30pm Recital Hall L285, 1044 W. Harrison St. UIC Choirs: An evening of Chamber Music; Sentience Fri, March 20, 7:30pm Notre Dame Church of Chicago, 1334 W. Flournoy St. 10th Annual Band and Orchestra Festival Concert with CPS Bands Tues, Mar 31, (Time TBD) UIC Theatre, Student Center East, Illinois Room, 750 S. Halsted Jazz at the Ambassador UIC Jazz Combos Mon, April 6, 7:30pm Ambassador Public House, 310 S. Halsted St.

THEATRE Jamey Aebersold Concert Series ft. Mark Colby Quartet Weds, April 15, 7:30pm Recital Hall L285, 1044 W. Harrison St. UIC Jazz Ensemble with University of Queensland Big Band Mon, April 13, 7:30pm Recital Hall L285, 1044 W. Harrison St. Jazz at the Ambassador UIC Vocal Jazz Ensemble Mon, April 20, 7:30pm Ambassador Public House, 310 S. Halsted St. UIC Jazz Workshop Mon, April 20, 7:30pm Recital Hall L285, 1044 W. Harrison St. UIC Jazz Ensemble Weds, April 22, 7:30pm Recital Hall L285, 1044 W. Harrison St.

UIC Chamber Music Fri, April 24, 7:30pm Rehearsal Hall L060, 1044 W. Harrison St.

UIC Mariachi Ensemble Thurs, April 30, 7:00pm Recital Hall L285, 1044 W. Harrison St.

EL NOGALAR written by Tanya Saracho directed by Marcela Muñoz April 17—April 26, 2020

UIC Wind Ensemble & Symphonic Band Mon, April 27, 7:30pm Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th St.

Choral Masterworks: Beethoven!

Thurs, April 30, 7:30pm Saint Francis of Assisi Church, 813 W. Roosevelt Rd.

Show Times 2pm | 4/19*; 4/25; 4/26 3pm | 04/22 7:30pm | 4/17; 4/18; 4/23; 4/24; 4/25

UIC Orchestra with the UIC Symphonic Choirs; Choral Fantasy Tues, April 28, 8:00pm Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th St.

Percussion Ensemble Fri, May 1, 7:30pm UIC Theatre, 1044 W. Harrison St.

UIC Vocal Jazz Ensemble Mon, April 28, 7:30pm Recital Hall L285, 1044 W. Harrison St. UIC Pop Rock Ensemble Weds, April 29, 7:30pm Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th St.

*Free post-show talk with artists and special guests.

Topics: Narco Wars, Class struggle, and Corruption

School of Theatre & Music University of Illinois at Chicago 1044 W Harrison St, Chicago, Illinois 60607 (312) 996-2939 | theatreandmusic.uic.edu

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