UTSA Symphonic Band - Road Trip

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO COLLEGE OF LIBERAL AND FINE ARTS SCHOOL OF MUSIC PRESENTS:

The University of Texas at San Antonio Symphonic Band Dr. John Zarco CONDUCTOR

Dr. Robert Rustowicz GUEST CONDUCTOR

P R O G R A M:

“Road Trip” Two-Lane Blacktop (2013)

James M. David (b. 1978)

Down a Country Lane (1962/1988)

Aaron Copland (1900-90) trans. Merlin Patterson

Dr. Robert Rustowicz (UTSA Director of Bands Emeritus), conductor

Hit the Road Jack (1961/2001)

Percy Mayfield (1920-84) arr. Paul Murtha

Evening Glow (2008)

Eric Nathan (b. 1983)

El Camino Real (1985)

Alfred Reed (1921-2005)

Tuesday, February 20, 2024 7:30 pm UTSA Mus i c Rec i t al Hal l

University of Texas at San Antonio Symphonic Band Flute/Piccolo Joaquin Carcamo Music Education (Houston, TX)

Lauren Garcia Music Education (San Antonio, TX)

Marisa Knopf Music Education (San Antonio, TX)

Kylie Nix Music Education (Cedar Creek, TX)

Andrew Przbyla Music Education (San Antonio, TX)

Oboe Makayla Aguilar Music Education (San Antonio, TX)

Logan Odom Music Education (Kyle, TX)

Horn James Gonzales Music Education (San Antonio, TX)

Francis Maille Music Education (San Antonio, TX)

Myrna Ramirez Music Education (Lufkin, TX)

Music Education (San Antonio, TX)

Orlando Barron Music Education (Boerne, TX)

Connor Boyson Music Education (Helotes, TX)

Sarah Hamm Music Education (Stafford, VA)

Jaden Hernandez Music Composition (San Antonio, TX)

DeShona Jernigan Music (Marshall, TX)

Music Education (San Antonio, TX)

Scott West Music Education (Helotes, TX)

Trumpet Kenedy Cardenas Music Education (San Antonio, TX)

Xavier Contreras Music Education (San Antonio, TX) Communications (Boerne, TX)

Normandy Morzynski Physics (Montgomery, TX)

Music Education (Austin, TX)

Esau Hernandez Music Education (Cedar Creek, TX)

Special Education (Universal City, TX)

Daniel Vazquez Music Education (Los Angeles, CA)

Trombone Molly Busch Mechanical Engineering (Austin, TX)

Brandin Castillo Music Education (San Antonio, TX)

Tenor Saxophone Richard Ytuarte Music Education (Converse, TX)

Bass Trombone Thomas Gonzales-Mata Music Education (Corpus Christi, TX)

Euphonium Finley Farrar Music Education (San Antonio, TX)

Michael Hernandez Music Education (Kyle, TX)

Aidan Ramos Baritone Saxophone Rachel Blakeney Music Education (Harker Heights, TX)

Mikelis Teteris (SSG, USA. Ret.) Music Education (Wildomar, CA)

Percussion Erin Faehnle Music Education (Marble Falls, TX)

Adam Jackson Music Education (San Antonio, TX)

Gabriel Leal Music Marketing (San Antonio, TX)

Juan Martinez Music Education (Laredo, TX)

Fernando Perez Music Education (Weslaco, TX)

Ivan Ventura Music Education (Laredo, TX)

Piano Ethan Aguilar Music Composition (Helotes, TX)

Assisting Musicians Brendan Tsai, bassoon Jared Worman, bassoon Michael Summers, bass clarinet Heri Ayma, double bass

Music Education (San Antonio, TX)

Bryson Vincent Music Education (Georgetown, TX)

Music Education (San Augustine, TX)

Yoshi Murillo

Caroline Foster Alto Saxophone Sam Bowman

Music Education (San Antonio, TX)

Christian Tapia

David Valdez

Alissa Esper Clarinet Joshua Avalos

Tuba Frankie Rodriguez

Band Staff Jordan Rodriguez, music librarian Jared Worman, music librarian Brandin Castillo, manager Alissa Esper, manager Caroline Foster, manager DeShona Jernigan, manager Logan Odom, manager Aidan Ramos, manager David Valdez, manager

Music Composition (San Antonio, TX)

Roster is listed alphabetically to emphasize the important contribution made by each musician.

Conductors John Zarco is Director of Instrumental Ensembles and Associate Professor of Music at the University of Texas at San Antonio. His responsibilities include conducting the UTSA Symphonic Band and University Band, in addition to teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in conducting, wind literature, and music education.

Prior to his appointment at UTSA, Dr. Zarco served as Director of Bands at Millersville University in Pennsylvania and as a public school instrumental music teacher at Saratoga High School, in Saratoga, California. He received a D.M.A. in conducting from the University of Minnesota as well as B.M. (music education) and M.M. (conducting) degrees from California State University, Sacramento. Dr. Zarco has been awarded honorary memberships in the national organizations of Pi Kappa Lambda, Sigma Alpha Iota, Kappa Kappa Psi, Tau Beta Sigma, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.

His book, Rehearsing the Band, Volume 3 is published by Meredith Music Publications and is distributed by Hal Leonard. wuw

A native of the Detroit area, Michigan, Robert Rustowicz received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from Central Michigan University in 1968. He spent four years in the Air Force band program, serving as an Oboist at Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio, and Clark Air Base, Republic of the Philippines. He completed the Master of Music degree in Oboe Performance and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Wind Conducting and Literature at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Dr. Rustowicz came to the University of Texas at San Antonio in 1976 to start the instrumental music program. While his primary responsibility had been conducting the UTSA Wind Ensemble, his teaching duties included undergraduate and graduate courses in conducting, wind literature and rehearsal techniques. He authored a conducting text, Basic Conducting Technique – Patterns and Gestures, for use in undergraduate conducting classes at UTSA, and has presented clinics at the Texas Music Educators Convention and the Texas Bandmasters Association Convention

Dr. Rustowicz retired in the spring of 2012 and was appointed Associate Professor Emeritus in fall 2014. He has been conductor and music director for the San Antonio Wind Symphony since its inception in 2003.

Special thanks to the following for their ongoing support and dedication to the UTSA Bands: Dr. Tracy Cowden, Director, School of Music Dr. Stacey Davis, Acting Director, School of Music Dr. Kasandra Keeling, Associate Director, School of Music Naomy Ybarra, Administrative Services Officer 1 Steven Hill, Administrative Associate Wesley Penix, Senior Events Manager Rolando Ramon, Marketing Coordinator Mr. Donald Marchand, Music Program Specialist, UTSA Bands Prof. Ron Ellis, Director of Bands Prof. Hector Garcia, Assistant Director of Athletic 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 Jordan Rodriguez and Jared Worman, School of Music Librarians UTSA Bands Managers

Program Notes Compiled and Edited by John Zarco

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James M. David is an American composer and professor of music theory and composition at Colorado State University. His symphonic works have been performed and recorded by many prominent ensembles, including the U.S. Air Force Band, the U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own”, the U.S. Army Field Band, the U.S. Navy Band, the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Collins Symphony Orchestra, the Showa Wind Symphony (Japan), the Osaka Shion Wind Orchestra, and the North Texas Wind Symphony. His works are represented on over twenty commercially released recordings on the Naxos, Summit, Mark, Albany, Parma, MSR Classics, Bravo Music, GIA Windworks, and Luminescence labels. David received degrees in music education and music composition from the University of Georgia and the Florida State University College of Music. He studied composition with Guggenheim recipient Ladislav Kubik, Pulitzer recipient Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Lewis Nielson, and Clifton Callender as well as jazz composition and arranging with Sammy Nestico.

Two-Lane Blacktop is an homage to the open road and the distant horizon. Inspired by Mary Heilmann’s abstract painting of the same name, this short work for wind ensemble is a similarly abstract etude about tempo, rhythm, and movement. An opening ascending gesture is heard throughout that represents “gear shifts” that alternate with increasingly complex variations on a three-note motive. The contrasting center section employs a soaring saxophone melody that depicts the timeless feeling of driving through the Utah desert. Finally, the variations build to maximum complexity only to collapse into a single intense acceleration.

[Program note from windrep.org and the publisher] wuw

Aaron Copland studied closely with the legendary pedagogue Nadia Boulanger. His music achieved a balance between modern music and American folk styles, and the open, slowly changing harmonies of many of his works are said to evoke the vast American landscape.

Copland incorporated percussive orchestration, changing meter, polyrhythms, polychords and tone rows. In addition to composing and conducting, Copland wrote several books, including What to Listen for in Music, Music and Imagination, and Copland on Music.

Copland was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in composition for Appalachian Spring. His scores for Of Mice and Men, Our Town, and The North Star all received Academy Award nominations, while The Heiress won Best Music in 1949.

On June 29, 1962, Life Magazine featured Aaron Copland's composition Down a Country Lane. The piece was commissioned by Life in hopes of making quality music available to the common pianist and student. The work was featured along with an article title, "Our Bumper Crop of Beginning Piano Players." The article explains, "Down a Country Lane fills a musical gap: It is among the few modern pieces specially written for young piano students by a major composer." Copland is quoted in the article of saying "Even third-year students will have to practice before trying it in public." Copland then explains the title:

The music is descriptive only in an imaginative, not a literal sense. I didn't think of the title until the piece was finished – Down a Country Lane just happened to fit its flowing quality.

Copland is very descriptive in his directions on how the piece should be played. The piece begins with instructions to play "gently flowing in a pastoral mood.” A brief midsection is slightly dissonant and to be played "a trifle faster," and the ending returns to the previous lyrical mood. Down a Country Lane was orchestrated for inclusion in a youth orchestra series and premiered on November 20, 1965, by the London Junior Orchestra. The band arrangement was completed by Merlin Patterson in 1988. Patterson specialized in Copland transcriptions. Copland himself spoke of Patterson's excellent work upon the completion of Down a Country Lane, saying that he produced "a careful, sensitive, and most satisfying extension of the mood and content of the original."

[Program note from windrep.org] wuw

Percy Mayfield was an American rhythm-and-blues singer and songwriter. Mayfield's vocal style was influenced by such stylists as Charles Brown, but unlike many West Coast bluesmen, Mayfield did not focus on the white market. He sang blues ballads, mostly songs he wrote himself, in a gentle vocal style. His most famous song, Please Send Me Someone to Love, a number one R&B hit single in late 1950, was widely influential and recorded by many other singers. His career flourished as a string of six “Top10” R&B hits followed, like Lost Love and The Big Question, confirming his status as a leading blues ballad singer.

Hit the Road Jack was first recorded in 1960 as an a cappella demo sent to Art Rupe. It became famous after it was recorded by the singer-songwriter-pianist Ray Charles with The Raelettes vocalist Margie Hendrix. Charles's recording hit number one for two weeks on the Billboard “Hot 100,” beginning on Monday, October 9, 1961. Hit the Road Jack won a Grammy award for Best Rhythm and Blues Recording.

[Program note from windrep.org and the composer] wuw

Eric Nathan received his D.M.A. in composition from Cornell University, an M.M. from Indiana University, and his B.A. from Yale College. His principal teachers include Steven Stucky, Roberto Sierra, Kevin Ernste, Claude Baker, Sven-David Sandström, Kathryn Alexander, and Ira Taxin. A 2013 Rome Prize Fellow and 2014 Guggenheim Fellow, Nathan has garnered acclaim internationally through performances at the New York Philharmonic’s 2014 Biennial, Carnegie Hall, Aldeburgh Music Festival, Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music, Aspen Music Festival, MATA Festival, Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, Ravinia Festival Steans Institute, Yellow Barn, 2012 and 2013 World Music Days, Domaine Forget and Louvre Museum. His music has additionally been featured by the Berlin Philharmonic’s Scharoun Ensemble, Boston Symphony Chamber Players, Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, American Composers Orchestra, Omaha Symphony

Chamber Orchestra, A Far Cry, JACK Quartet and performers including sopranos Dawn Upshaw, Lucy Shelton, Tony Arnold, trombonist Joseph Alessi, pianist Gloria Cheng, and violists Samuel Rhodes and Roger Tapping.

Evening Glow is the second movement of Nathan's Autumn Triptych. It received its premiere by the Cornell University Wind Ensemble, Eric Nathan, conductor, in November 2010. Of his composition, Nathan states:

Evening Glow is inspired by a painting of the same name by nineteenthcentury British painter John Atkinson Grimshaw. I was immediately captivated by the peaceful, yet sorrowfully longing, quality of the painting when I saw it during a visit to the Yale Center for British Art (where it resides in the Paul Mellon Collection). The painting shows a woman standing alone, looking down a winding road during the dusk of a fall evening. As the road recedes into the distance, the entire painting fades away into the golden glow of the autumn sunset.

I saw the road as a metaphor for time and for age. My piece puts two motifs in conflict with each other: the motif of the persistence of time with that of life.

The two are in constant struggle over the course of the piece, until a chorale melody breaks through at the end, suspending the moment of Grimshaw’s autumn sunset, if only briefly, before allowing time to take over once again.

[Program note from windrep.org and the composer] wuw

Alfred Reed began his musical studies at age ten on trumpet, and by high school age he was performing professionally in the Catskills at resort hotels. He served as musician and arranger during World War II in the 529th Army Air Force Band, for which he created more than 100 works, and following the war was a student of Vittorio Giannini at Juilliard. He was staff composer and arranger for both the National Broadcasting Corporation and the American Broadcasting Corporation. In 1953, Mr. Reed became conductor of the Baylor Symphony Orchestra at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, at the same time completing his academic work; he received his B.M. in 1955 and his M.M. in 1956. In 1966, he joined the faculty of the School of Music at the University of Miami, with a joint appointment in the Theory-Composition and Music Education departments. With over 250 published works for concert band, wind ensemble, orchestra, chorus, and various smaller chamber music groups, many of which have been on the required performance lists in this country for many years, Reed was one of the nation’s most prolific and frequently performed composers.

El Camino Real (literally "The Royal Road" or "The King's Highway") was commissioned by, and is dedicated to, the 581st Air Force Band (AFRES) and its commander, Lt. Col. Ray E. Toler. Composed during the latter half of 1984 and completed in early '85, it bears the subtitle "A Latin Fantasy."

The music is based on a series of chord progressions common to countless generations of Spanish flamenco (and other) guitarists, whose fiery style and brilliant playing have captivated millions of music lovers throughout the world. These progressions and the resulting key relationships have become practically synonymous with what we feel to be the true Spanish idiom. Together with the folk melodies they have underscored, in part derived by a procedure known to musicians as the "melodizing of harmony," they have created a vast body of what most people would consider authentic Spanish music.

The first section of the music is based upon the dance form known as the Jota, while the second, contrasting section is derived from the Fandango, but here altered considerably in both time and tempo from its usual form. Overall, the music follows a tradition three-part pattern: fast-slow-fast.

The first public performance of El Camino Real took place on April 15th, 1985, in Sarasota, Florida, with the 581st Air Force Band under the direction of Lt. Col. Ray E. Toler.

[Program note from windrep.org]

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