THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL AND FINE ARTS
SCHOOL OF MUSIC
PRESENTS:
UTSA Symphonic Band
Hector Garcia
“Light
The Fuse”
Through the Looking Glass – Fanfare for Wind Ensemble (2012)
Jess Langston Turner (b. 1983)
An Original Suite for Military Band (1924)
Gordon Jacob
I. March (1895-1984)
II. Intermezzo
III. Finale
Baron Piquant on Pointe for Wind Ensemble (2011)
Donald Grantham (b. 1947)
Irish Tune from County Derry (1902/1918)
Light the Fuse (2014)
Monday, April 21, 2025 7:30 pm
UTSA Music Recital Hall
Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882-1961)
Daniel Montoya Jr. (b. 1978)
Person n el
(Personnel roster is listed alphabetically to emphasize the important contribution made by each musician)
Flute
Charlie Hofheins
Marissa Knopf, Piccolo
Ellie MacLean
Kylie Nix
Abigail Valadez, Piccolo
O Oboe
Makayla Aguilar+
Hannah Pais+
C Clarinet
Ethan Aguilar
Cianna Escamilla
Jaden Hernandez
DeShona Jernigan
Ethan Mendiola
Angela Tavira
Jose Gomez, bass clarinet
S Saxophone
Nicholas Zars, alto sax
Ethan Williams, alto sax
Quinn Tidwell, tenor sax
Rachel Blakeney, bari sax
T Trumpet
Kenedy Cardenas
Xavier Contreras
Madeline Garcia
Connor Harper
Jerry Ibarra
Caleb Perry
Samuel Spencer+
F French Horn
Delaney Cook
Francis Maille+
Eloisa Payne
Marissa Torres
Trombone
Caroline Foster
Nathaniel Duarte, bass trombone
Todd Lewis
Ethan Messina
Jakarri Norsworthy
Euphonium
Finley Farrar
Michael Hernandez
Manuel Reyes
T Tuba
Joshua Sprinkle+
Jayson Sumner
Percussion
Aleena Bermudez
Tori Bravo
Emma Fasano*
Nathan Gallegos
Adam Jackson
Lio Palacios
Antonio Rios
Daniel Walker
P Piano
Ethan Aguilar
M Music Staff
Jared Worman, Music Librarian
Eva Ayala, Music Librarian
*Guest musician +Band Managers
Conductor
Hector Garcia, a native of San Antonio, Texas, is currently Assistant Director of Athletic Bands at UTSA and is the conductor of the UTSA University Band as well as the director of the UTSA Athletic Pep Band. In the fall semester, he assists directing the UTSA Spirit of San Antonio Marching Band.
Hector graduated with a master's degree in instrumental conducting from University of Texas at San Antonio in 2023 under the mentorship of Dr. John Zarco and Ron Ellis. While a graduate student at UTSA, Hector performed with the UTSA Wind Symphony and was a teaching assistant for several undergraduate courses including Conducting I & II, Marching Band Techniques, Wind Symphony, Symphonic Band, and University Band.
Prior to attending UTSA, Hector taught brass/woodwind beginning band classes, marching band, concert band, and jazz band at the high school and middle school levels for three years. He received a bachelor's degree in music studies from Texas State University in 2017. Hector’s primary instrument is trumpet and actively performs in local community bands. Hector’s professional affiliations include Texas Music Educators Association and Kappa Kappa Psi. Some of his hobbies include photography, traveling, and doing card tricks for those around him. Fun fact: his favorite food is sushi!
Program Notes
Compiled and Edited by Hector Garcia
T Through the Looking Glass is composed to be a concert opener bringing the audience into the musical world created by the concert they are about to he ar. In this way, this piece ask in a similar manner to the looking glass through which Alice was able to gain access to her wonderland. The entire three minutes of the peace consists of only five dif ferent pitches which are, constantly reconfigured into running passages, ostinati, and thrilling fanfares .
Jess Langston Turner is an American composer. Dr. Jess Turner holds both a Bachelor of Music and the Master of Music degree in trumpet performance from Bob Jones University, and a Master of Music degree in composition from the Hartt School in Hartford, CT. He completed a Doctoral of Music degree in composition at Indiana University in Bloomington in 2015.
Jess was active in music making playing both trumpet and piano throughout his schooling. His interest in composition began in his high school years where his first attempts at scoring were Debussy preludes for his school orchestra. He began formal study of composition in his junior year of college, and though his graduate program was trumpet performance, Jess studied composition with Dwight Gustafson, Joan Pinkston, and Dan Forrest at Bob Jones University. At The Hartt School, his principal teachers were Robert Carl, Ke nneth Steen, and Stephen Gryc. He has had masterclasses and lessons with Pulitzer Prize winners William Bolcom, Michael Colgrass, Jennifer Higdon, and Joseph Schwantner.
Jess Turner has won numerous honors for his music, including the 2005 National Winner of the Young Artist Composition Competition of the Music Teachers National Association for his Sonata for Trumpet Piano. He has won numerous prizes for his choral music, including the 2008 John Ness Beck Award and the 2009 first prize of the Roger Wagner International Choral-Composition Contest. In June 2010, he was named to the National Band Association Young Composers Mentoring Project and was awarded the 2010 Walter Beeler Prize for Wind Composition for Rumpelstilzchen: A Fairy Tale for Wind Ensemble . In 2012, his work for young band, The Exultant Heart, was awarded the Merrill Jones Composition Prize for Young Bands sponsored by the National Band Association.
Jess's music has been performed by the U. S. Navy Band, the U. S. Coast Guard Band, the band at U. S. Military Academy at West Point, and wind ensembles of the Hartt School, Yale University, Ithaca College, the University of Georgia, the University of North Texas, West Chester State University, Bob Jones University, Furman University, Concordia U niversity of Illinois, to name a few. Rumpelstilzchen has been recorded by the Wind Ensemble of the Hartt School and by the University of North Texas Wind Symphony. Rumpelstilzchen: A Fairy Tale for Wind Ensemble had its New York premiere at Carnegie Hall in May, 2010.
[Program note by composer and from Windrep.org]
Gordon Jacob's A An Original Suite for Military Band was completed in 1924, published by Boosey and Hawkes in 1928, and has been recognized as one of the important works from the early history of music composed exclusively for wind band. This first became evident in 1957, when William Tarwater surveyed the members of the College Band Directors National Association, and it was determined that A An Original Suite for Military Band was one of the ten best original works for wind band. Similar research of CBDNA members by Karl Holvik in 1970 indicated that this work was one of the most performed pieces by conductors of collegiate groups.
Since its first publication, A An Original Suite for Military Band existed only in condensed score, and the parts and score contained errors, inconsistencies, and inaccuracies. Jacob wrote in his text The Composer and His Art that, "the aim of the composer should be to make his music as clear
and limpid as possible." It is hoped that this new edition will help achieve Jacob's goals and aims.
Gordon Jacob composed A An Original Suite for Military Band as a student attending the Royal Academy of Music in 1924. Previously, Jacob had transcribed Ralph Vaughan Williams' English Folk Song Suite from wind band to orchestra and developed an interest in writing for military band. By Jacob's description, the title was given to the work by Boosey and Hawkes, a decision he later regretted as described in the following passage:
At that time very little original music was being written for what was then ‘military band,’ so the title was a way of distinguishing that it was an original work rather than an arrangement not that the music was original in itself. It was an unfortunate title, I know.
Throughout the composition, Jacob often emulates folk tunes, creating melodic passages based on pentatonic scales. The 4/4 time first movement entitled "March" is primarily cast in G minor with sections and alterations with Bb and F major. The struc ture resembles a British march, set formally in an A section, B section, Trio and return to the A section, with four thematic ideas regularly changed by their orchestration and construction. After a snare drum introduction, the first theme occurs twice with a brief two-measure interlude descending to the second theme. Measure 34 begins another transition to the third theme which starts with a bold introductory statement from the brass and begins the B section. This third idea reflects the same character as the second theme but is much more forceful because of the orchestration and accompaniment parts. The trio is begun with the same transition material heard between the previous two sections at measure 56, with a descent towards a melodic theme cast in the r elative of Bb major.
Measure 75 transitions back to G minor, and a quick repeat of the A theme is given a new counter melody in the cornets, trumpets, and trombones. The B theme returns with a new accompanying sixteenth-note passage for upper woodwinds that transfers t o the cornet after four measures. The movement then returns to the A theme in G minor and concludes with the same snare drum figure that opens the work before a final G major chord from the brass.
[Program note from the score.)
B Baron Piquant on Pointe is the fourth in a series of dance pieces based on characters drawn from voodoo lore; the previous three are B Baron Cimetiére's Mambo, Baron Samedi's Sarabande (and Soft Shoe), and B Baron La Croix's Shuffle. The four Barons (or one; some voodoo practitioners maintain that the different names all refer to the same person) are all members of the family Ghede (pronounced Gay-day), the loas (spirits) in charge of the intersection between the living and the dead. Despite this grim association, the Barons ha ve a lighter side. All three are notorious tricksters with a marked fondness for brandy and tobacco. All dress alike -in black tailcoats and
tall black hats, dark glasses with one lens missing, and carry canes and smoke cigars. The music depicts both their dark and light sides. Textures are primarily transparent and ethereal, but the atmosphere of all four is a bit sinister, mordant and menacing.
Various combinations of the works are possible in performance. B Baron Piquant on Pointe and B Baron Cimetiére's Mambo in particular complement and contrast with each other very effectively.
Composer Donald Grantham is the recipient of numerous awards and prizes in composition, including the Prix Lili Boulanger, the Nissim/ASCAP Orchestral Composition Prize, First Prize in the Concordia Symphony’s Awards to American Composers, a Guggenheim Fellowship, three grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, three First Prizes in the NBA/William Revelli Competition, two First Prizes in the ABA/Ostwald Competition, and First Prize in the National Opera Association's Biennial Composition Competition.
His music has been praised for its "elegance, sensitivity, lucidity of thought, clarity of expression and fine lyricism" in a Citation awarded by the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. In recent years his works have been performed by the orchestras of Cleveland, Dallas, Atlanta and the American Composers Orchestra among many others, and he has fulfilled commissions in media from solo instruments to opera. H is music is published by Piquant Press , Peer-Southern, E. C. Schirmer and Mark Foster, and a number of his works have been commercially recorded on the Klavier, Gasparo, Centaur and Summit labels. The composer resides in Austin, Texas and is the Frank C. E rwin, Jr. Professor of Composition at the University of Texas at Austin. With Kent Kennan he is coauthor of The Technique of Orchestration (PrenticeHall).
[Program note from the score.)
The present setting of I Irish Tune from County Derry for concert band is part of Percy Grainger's largest body of work collectively known as British Folk -Music Settings. Further, the setting for concert band is one of four versions of essentially the same setting ; the earlier three settings all dating from the years 1902-1912. The setting for unaccompanied mixed chorus (British FolkMusic Setting Nr. 5) is dated as having been made in October of 1902 and is wordless: the members of the chorus are asked to vocalize on "ah" or some other suitable vowel sound an d to hum with closed lips. The setting is pitched in E-flat major, and the tempo is given as "Slowly, waywardly, and very feelingly". Grainger includes performance directives to the members of the chorus which may be of interest to conductors of the wind b and version:
Where bigger and smaller notes appear at the same time, in different voices [the larger notes are always the melody, and smaller the accompanimental voices], the bigger notes should be sung greatly to the fore, much louder than the smaller notes. The smaller notes should be sung accompanyingly, merely forming a quite soft background to the bigger notes.
The second version of this same arrangement is for piano solo: "Dished -up for piano from [Grainger's] setting of the same for unaccompanied mixed chorus,” was completed in July of 1911 (British Folk-Music Setting Nr. 6). It too is in E -flat, and the performance markings read "SLOWISH, but not dragged, and wayward in time , “with the tempo marked to be between 84 and 104 pulses per minute [Grainger translated the markings into Italian as "Rubato il tempo, e non troppo lento"]. Once again, Grainger includes the simple directive "The tune well to the fore.” In an effort to emphasize the point, the melody is engraved in larger notes than the accompaniment.
The third version, and the one which immediately preceded the band setting, is scored for string orchestra (Grainger preferred the term "string band") with 1 or 2 horns (at will) or 10 single strings (British Folk-Music Setting Nr. 15). For this setting, scored in January 1912, Grainger transposed the music to E major, marking the melody "well to the fore". The performance markings read "SLOWLY AND VERY FEELINGLY,” and the tempo in this case ranges between 72 and 92 pulses per minute. In 1949, at the request of Leopold Stokowski, Grainger revised the instrumentation, retaining largely the original string writing and adding 2 flutes, oboe, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoon s, 2 horns, trumpet, 3 trombones, euphonium, and suspended cymbal.
The setting for concert band was one of Grainger's first contributions to the repertoire for wind band. The music is transposed to F and was published in 1918 (British Folk -Music Setting Nr. 20). In accordance with contemporary usage, Grainger used the term "Military Band" to refer to a mixed ensemble of woodwinds, brass, and percussion as opposed to the all -brass bands popular in that day [and still surviving to this day in Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand]. In its initial publication, I Irish Tune from County Derry was issued with the composer's band setting of Shepherd’s Hey (British Folk-Music Setting Nr. 21).
In May of 1920, Grainger returned to this same melody, composing a radically different harmonization with performance options ranging from 4 single women's voices accompanied by harmonium and three single instruments (almost any instruments will do) up to massed forces including women's and men's chorus, accompanied by pi pe organ and symphony orchestra or concert band (British Folk-Music Setting Nr. 29). In the composer's own words, this setting "has nothing in common with the earlier ones as regards harmony, form, etc."
[Program note from score]
Just reading the title of Daniel Montoya, Jr's L Light the Fuse alone imparts an immediate response in the mind of the listener: explosions. In this area, the piece never disappoints. It is an incendiary overture for winds and percussion that seems to be a never-ending string of fireworks that flash,
sizzle, and sparkle throughout. The result is an entertaining romp across seven minutes of dazzling colors and bursts of percussive effects.
The piece is a nod to the improvised bombs of old spy movies, where a quickly rigged gadget could thwart the diabolical schemes of the antagonist at the last possible second. Montoya selected the title by watching a newer homage to a part of the classic genre:
“The line comes from Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. In the opening of the film, Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt character executes a plot to break out of a prison. At the end of the scene as he makes his escape, he gives the instruction to "light the fuse," which introduces the title cards to the movie. I just always tho ught that would be a cool title.”
The musical content has small moments of tribute as well, with fervid woodwind trills and a repetitive diatonic pentachord making reference back to the introduction of Lalo Schifrin's famous theme to the original Mission: Impossible television show. These motives interlace through the introduction to the work, giving the impression of flickering flames rising upward. This introduces the first of three main sections (the exterior portions are similar quick and energetic-while the middle section contrasts with a flowing nature).
A punchy, syncopated motive appears first in trombones before being absorbed by other instruments while the frenetic rhythms underneath are only interrupted by the occasional pop from an imposing cadre of percussion (written into eight distinct parts). The opening section reaches its midpoint with a virtuosic soli for the woodwinds, accompanied by searing harmonies in muted trumpet and sparkles of keyboard percussion, and closes with hard-driving chords from low brass and woodwinds as the energy spills over completely
The middle of the work contrasts the opening in stunning and remarkable ways. The texture becomes ethereal in nature, with suspended harmonies floating past as tenor saxophone and bassoon present a longing melody. The texture thickens with an interplay between euphonium and trumpet before evaporating back into clouds of soft woodwind tremolos. An oboe harkens back to the earlier melody, but this time with the syncopated energy of clarin ets underneath driving to a climactic moment of full -throated dissonance that once more sets the "fuse" in motion with the incessant hissing of hi -hat cymbal. From there, it's a race to the finish as fragmented motives layer atop each other, congealing int o one final nitroglycerin surge: a ringing of ferocious bell-tones that bursts with volatile force.
[Program note by Jake Wallace.]
UTSA Bands
UTSA Students, there’s a band for you!
UTSA "Spirit of San Antonio" Marching Band
The 350-member "Spirit of San Antonio" Marching Band is open to all UTSA students, regardless of major. Like all college bands, the group is comprised of students of various performance backgrounds. The "Spirit of San Antonio" will perform a standard pre-game show, 4-5 different halftime shows, stand tunes, and maintain UTSA traditions, while at the same time promoting a positive learning and social environment for its members. College bands strive towards being fun and spirited organizations while still achieving a quality of performance representative of the image of the university.
UTSA Wind Ensemble
The UTSA Wind Ensemble is comprised of UTSA Students who have achieved an extreme high level of musicianship and who perform some of the most challenging music composed for wind ban d. Membership in this ensemble is open to all UTSA Students, regardless of major, who audition at the beginning of each semester. The UTSA Wind Ensemble maintains a vigorous performance schedule of three demanding concerts each semester as well as an ensemble tour when schedule and budget permits.
UTSA Symphonic Band
The UTSA Symphonic Band is made up of 45-55 outstanding wind players who perform a repertoire chosen from a variety of historical periods and for ensembles of various sizes. While the group occasionally presents pieces composed for smaller groups, much of its time is spent in the study and performance of works from the standard symphonic band repertoire. Membership is open to all students at the university who audition at the beginning of each semester.
UTSA University Band
The UTSA University Band performs a wide variety of works from different composers and arrangers, in addition to maintaining an active three-concert schedule each semester. There is no formal audition required to participate; students must be able to read music and play a concert band instrument. Membership in the ensemble includes students from almost every discipline on campus. We invite all students interested in performing in this ensemble to come out and join us at the beginning of each semester!
Acknowledgements
Dr. Tracy Cowden, Director, School of Music
Dr. Stacey Davis, Assistant Director, School of Music
Dr. Kasandra Keeling, Associate Director, School of Music
Prof. Ron Ellis, Director of Bands
Dr. John Zarco, Director of Instrumental Ensembles
Naomy Ybarra, Administrative Services Officer 1
Steven Hill, Administrative Associate
Joey Berrios, Marketing Coordinator
Jared Davis, Senior Events Manager
Mr. Rico Gomez, Music Program Coordinator, UTSA Bands
Prof. Sherry Rubins and Prof. Paul Millette, Percussion Area Faculty
Dr. Rachel Woolf and Dr. Oswaldo Zapata, Woodwind and Brass Area Coordinators
Prof. Troy Peters, Director of Orchestras
Dr. Yoojin Muhn, Director of Choral Activities
Dr. Jordan Boyd, Assistant Director of Choral Activities
UTSA School of Music Faculty
Eva Ayala and Jared Worman, School of Music Librarians
UTSA Band Managers
Mu Tau Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi
Nu Eta Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha
Theta Gamma Chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota
Iota Tau Chapter of Tau Beta Sigma
UTSA Spirit of San Antonio Student Association (SOSASA)
Upcoming Events
All events are in the UTSA Recital Hall and are free admission unless otherwise indicated
Tuesday, April 22, 2025 @ 7:30p – UTSA Wind Symphony
Thursday, April 24, 2025 @ 7:30p – UTSA Orchestra
Sunday, April 27, 2025 @ 3:00p – UTSA University Band: Broadway Music!
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HELP THE UTSA CLARINET CHOIR GET TO CLARINETFEST 2025
• The UTSA Clarinet Choir has been invited to perform at the International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest this July
• ClarinetFest, the world’s largest clarinet conference, unites performers, educators, and industry professionals. UTSA Clarinet Choir will premiere works by San Antonio composers Clarisa De la Garza and Dr. Tyler M. Webster on July 13th in Fort Worth, TX.
• Premiering two new works at this international conference is a major achievement. Students will gain invaluable artistic growth, networking opportunities, and exposure to world-class performances.
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