Spring 2025 University of Texas at San Antonio Wind Symphony
Fl ut e / Pi ccol o
Jazmine Dearlove
Lauren Garcia
Ana Jaud (G)
Amy Leonard
Brianna Martinez
Raven Taylay
Oboe
Samuel Coleman (M)
Logan Odom
Bas s oon
Jaime Viejo
Jared Worman (also Contra Bassoon)
Cl ar i net
Orlando Barron
Connor Boyson
Kali Crist
Sarah Hamm
Kenedy Lerma
Ethan Mendiola
Isabella Miranda
Bas s Cl ar i net
Ethan Aguilar
Al t o Saxophone
1 Gabriel Campa
2 Quinn Tidwell
Tenor Saxophone
Ethan Williams
Bar i t one Saxophone
Nicholas Zars
Hor n
Brandon Bayer
Joel Chi
Caleb Jones
Francis Maille (M)
Band St af f
Jarred Worman, Eva Ayala - Music Librarians
Tr umpet
Xavier Contreras
Ivan Lorduy Camargo (GA)
Gustavo Medrano
Anthony Mitcham
Caleb Perry
Raymon Saldana (M)
Karim Vazquez
Tr ombone
Eva Ayala (M)
Bradley Bolton
Caroline Foster (M)
Jayden Zunker-Treviono
Bas s Tr ombone
Javier Lopez
Euphoni um
Finley Farrar
Michael Hernandez
Tuba
Matthew Bruns
Jayson Sumner
Per cus s i on
Nathan Brady
Felix Esquivel (G)
Nathan Gallegos
Lio Palacios
Mark Sawyer
Judge Sigle
Ivan Ventura
Doubl e Bass
Heriberto Ayma
Pi ano
Nicholas Ricchio
Gr aduat e As s i s t ant s/ Band Manager s
Graduate students are listed with (G) above
Graduate Assistants are listed with (GA) above
Band Managers are listed with (M) above
Personnel roster is listed alphabetically to emphasize the important contribution made by each musician.
C o n d u c t o r
R o n E l l i s serves as Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Music at The University of Texas at San Antonio. Prof Ellis conducts the UTSA Wind Ensemble, the UTSA Symphonic Band, The UTSA University Band, and the UTSA Athletic Bands. His responsibilities also include teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in conducting, wind literature, and music education. A nationally recognized guest conductor, adjudicator, and composer/arranger, his works for concert band, orchestra and choir are performed by university, community, high school and professional wind bands as well as in Carnegie Hall. He also currently serves as a music director for Walt Disney Attractions Entertainment in Orlando where he has directed the Toy Soldiers and the Student Musician Program since 1993.
He is a member of the College Band Directors National Association, Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Bandmasters Association, Florida Music Educators Association, Florida Bandmasters Association, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Music Fraternity. He is also an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi, Tau Beta Sigma, and Pi Kappa Lambda. Prof. Ellis received his Bachelor of Arts in Trombone Performance from the University of Central Florida and a Master of Music in Wind and Orchestral Conducting from the University of South Florida where he was a conducting student of William Wiedrich.
T h e U T S A W i n d S y m p h o n y
The UTSA Wind Symphony 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 band. Membership in this ensemble is open to all UTSA Students, regardless of major, who audition at the beginning of each semester. The UTSA Wind Symphony maintains a vigorous performance schedule of three demanding concerts each semester as well as an ensemble tour when schedule and budget permits.
Compiled and Edited by Ron Ellis
F r o m t h e D i r e c t o r – M u s - i n g s
Good evening, and welcome to tonight’s performance by the UTSA Wind Symphony. We’ve already had a terrific start to the semester with the Symphonic Band earlier this week under Dr. Zarco, and we’re excited to continue the season with a program we’ve titled Baila El Mundo “Dances of the World.”
I’ve always found “dance music” to have a remarkable commonality across cultures. Syncopated rhythms, phrases that mimic physical movement, and the sheer sense of energy and vitality seem to transcend geography. Even though the melodies, harmonies, and timbres may differ, the human impulse to move to music is universal.
Tonight’s program reflects that idea. We open with Tomohiro Tatebe’s D a n c e
C e l e b r a t i o n s , a flourish of energy and color, before turning back to the Renaissance through Bob Margolis’ tour de force, T e r p s i c h o r e a piece that is reflective, whimsical, and at times, an outright party.
After a brief pause to reset the stage, we’ll dedicate the second half of the concert to celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. We begin with one of the cornerstone works in our repertoire, H. Owen Reed’s L a F i e s t a M e x i c a n a , a brilliant blend of ritual, reverence, and carnival spirit. To close, we bring things into the present day with Dennis Llinás’ L a C h a n c l a , a work full of salsa rhythms and modern flair.
The band has worked incredibly hard preparing this music, and I couldn’t be prouder of their artistry and energy. Thank you for joining us tonight viva la música, and viva UT San Antonio!
D a n c e C e l e b r a t i o n s – T o m o h i r o T a t a b e
Tomohiro Tatebe is a Japanese conductor, composer and arranger.
While studying at Komazawa University, Mr. Tatebe studied saxophone with Kazuo Tomita and composition and arranging with Naohiro Iwai and Takashi Ueno.
Tatebe has arranged many works for wind instruments, and also has written original music for the Tokyo Trumpet Corps and the Tokyo Trombone Band. Currently, Tatebe is the chief conductor of the Itoigawa Wind Band, an instructor at Komazawa University, and an honorary instructor at Ryukoku University.
Composed in the fall of 2000 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Itoigawa Symphonic Band, D a n c e C e l e b r a t i o n premiered at the band's 22nd regular concert that October 14th, conducted by the composer. It was performed at Kyo-En IV the following year.
The work opens with a showy introduction announcing a celebration and maintains that tempo throughout. Tatebe had studied American composers such as Charles Carter; such interests influenced the uncomplicated pace of the piece. The word "dance" in the title reflects the fact that the majority of the piece is in three-quarter time and also that Tatebe envisioned a dance when he wrote the music.
- Program Note from publisher
Bob Margolis is an American composer and music publisher.
He studied recorder with Bernard Krainis and pursued the study of music at Brooklyn College before transferring to the University of California at Berkeley, where he studied design. He later returned to Brooklyn College, completing his Bachelor of Arts degree in speech and television production in 1974. Margolis subsequently studied composition under William Schimmel and Robert Starer and orchestration with Arnold Rosner. He earned his Master of Arts degree from Brooklyn College in 1977.
Bob Margolis is the owner of Manhattan Beach Music in Brooklyn, New York.
T e r p s i c h o r e (1981) is based upon dances from the Court of Henry IV of France by Michael Praetorius in 1612. Margolis details the piece:
Terpsichore is the Greek Muse of dancing. She is one of the nine Muses who are the daughters of Mnemosyne (the goddess of memory) and Zeus.
The beginning of this band work is a quiet invocation to the spirit of ancient dance, and is followed by a street scene depicting wild and savage goings-on. The energy level and tunes are explosive, the moods constantly and unpredictably changing. Speed, flexibility, and energy dominate. Towards the middle of the movement, a brass quintet plays the original Renaissance music upon which the movement is based. The invocation reappears, and the music ends in a florid swirl of notes.
The second movement begins with a quintet of gently chirping flutes, followed by a slow Spanish dance for solo harpsichord and then band. Next comes a brazen ballet, Amazones; and finally a loud chime introduces a scintillating and vibrant jumping dance, or “volte,” coming to a breathless and abrupt close.
The third movement begins with a bright xylophone solo, followed by a series of “bourrées.” Sounds are bright and transparent. The end of the movement reproduces, as nearly as is possible in the modern symphonic band, the sound of an actual Renaissance wind band.
The final movement – the longest, most complex, and most exciting one – begins with a sprightly “gaillarde” for solo organ. This is followed by a series of warmly peaceful variations called “reprinses,” next comes a unique series of tunes that feature the individual instrumental choirs of the band. Finally, an exhilarating and strongly rhythmic “volte” first shows off the euphonium soloist, and builds energy to a resplendent close.
- Program Note from University of North Texas Symphonic Band concert program, 28 April 2016
Dr. H. Owen Reed (17 June 1910, Odessa, Mo. – 6 January 2014, Athens, Ga.) was an American composer and educator.
Dr. Reed enrolled in the School of Music at the University of Missouri in 1929 but transferred in 1933 to Louisiana State University. There he received his Bachelor of Music (1934) and his Master of Music (1936), both in music composition, and a Bachelor of Arts (1937) in French. In 1937 he enrolled at the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester and received his Ph.D. in music composition in 1939. In addition to his composition study with Helen Gunderson at Louisiana State University, Dr. Reed studied composition at the Eastman School of Music with Howard Hanson and Bernard Rogers, conducting with Paul White, musicology with Howard Gleason and theory with Allen I. McHose. In the summer of 1947, he studied composition with Roy Harris at Colorado Springs. In 1942, at the Berkshire Music Center (Tanglewood), he studied composition with Bohuslav Martinu, and contemporary music with Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein and Stanley Chappel. Dr. Reed retired in 1976 after 35 years from Michigan State University as Professor Emeritus. He was chairman of Music Composition in the School of Music and served as Acting Head in 1957-58. Dr. Reed's published compositions include a variety of works for orchestra, band, voices, opera, and chamber music, plus eight books on music theory and composition.
Dr. Reed spent six months (1948-49) in Mexico composing and studying folk music and returned to Mexico for a month's study in the summer of 1960. He also continued his study of folk music in the Caribbean in February 1976, the summer of 1977 in Norway, and extensive study of Native American music in New Mexico and Arizona.
In 1948, H. Owen Reed spent six months in Mexico while on a Guggenheim Fellowship, during which time he studied folk music and composed. L a F i e s t a M e x i c a n a was a result of his time in the country and reflects his observations of the culture. The composer provides these comments:
Prelude and Aztec Dance
The tolling of the church bells at midnight officially announces the opening of the Fiesta, which has previously been unofficially announced by the setting off of fireworks, the drinking of tequila and pulque, and the migration of thousands of Mexicans and Indians to the center of activity the high court surrounding the cathedral. After a brave effort at gaiety, the celebrators settle down to a restless night, until the early quiet of the Mexican morning is once more shattered by the church bells and fireworks. At mid-morning a band is heard
in the distance. However, attention is soon focused upon the Aztec dancers, brilliantly plumed and masked, who dance in ever-increasing frenzy to a dramatic climax.
The second movement, Mass, presents the tolling of the bells, reminding that the Fiesta is a religious celebration. The rich and poor slowly gather within the walls of the old cathedral for contemplation and worship. Mexico is at its best on the days of the Fiesta in which passion governs the love, hate and joy of the Mestizo and the Indio.
The third movement, Carnival, reflects the entertainment for both young and old the itinerant circus, the market, the bullfight, the town band, and always the cantinas with their band of mariachis.
La Fiesta Mexicana received its premiere performance in 1949 by the U. S. Marine Band conducted by Lt. Col. William F. Santelmann.
- Program Note from The Crane School of Music
Dennis Llinás is an American conductor, educator and composer.
Dr. Llinás received a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Florida International University and both a Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting from The University of Texas at Austin. His primary conducting professors were Roby George and Jerry Junkin. Prior to his collegiate teaching, Dr. Llinás taught at Miami Coral Park High School in Miami, Fla. and W. Charles Akins High School in Austin, Tx.
Llinás serves as associate professor of music and director of bands at the University of Oregon where his principal responsibilities include overseeing all aspects of the UO Department of Bands, conducting the Oregon Wind Ensemble, teaching graduate and undergraduate conducting, and wind literature. Prior to his appointment at the U of O, he served as the associate director of bands at Louisiana State University where his responsibilities included conducting the LSU Symphonic Winds, teaching undergraduate and graduate conducting, and directing the Tiger Band.
As a composer and arranger, Llinás has been commissioned to compose works for musicians from across the country. Waking Dreams and Javier’s Dialog were recorded by Mark Hetzler, trombone professor at The University of Wisconsin. His most recent transcription and collaboration was Masquerade by Anna Clyne which was premiered at the National College Band Directors National Association Conference. His compositions and arrangements have also been performed by The University of Texas Wind Ensemble, The University of Texas Men’s and Women’s Chorus, the Dallas Winds, and Louisiana State University, as well as performances by solo artists from The University of Texas, Columbus State University, The University of Wisconsin, Furman University, Conservatoire Strasbourg in France, Vanderbilt University, and Huston-Tillotson University.
L a C h a n c l a is Spanish for a slipper more accurately, a flip flop.
While Cubans usually say "chancleta", Puerto Ricans refer to it as "chancla."
It is a common meme or joke among Hispanics that a mother with a chancla in her hand could get an entire room of unruly kids in line or even chase away a bear (look it up on YouTube it happened!). It is the Excalibur of Hispanic mothers and grandmothers everywhere, and so I thought it would be a fun project to write a piece with this title and play between the mythical and merengue.
The mythical element to La Chancla is represented by a combination of whole tone and octatonic collections. The merengue stands in stark contrast to the mythical representing the culture through more conservative functional harmony but intense rhythmic vitality. The piece is not programmatic just a fun collection of these styles and the interplay between them.
This work was commissioned by a consortium of band programs led by Thomas Verrier and Vanderbilt University. Tom had the vision of creating a work that was to be donated to bands in the Latin Americas who had limited budgets to purchase music. For every participating institution of this consortium, a copy of La Chancla will be donated to a band in the Latin Americas.
- Program Note by composer wuw
ALL UTSA STUDENTS can make music with us!
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.
U
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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 band. 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.
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. U T S A
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!
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, Associate Director, School of Music
Dr. Kasandra Keeling, Associate Director, School of Music
Naomy Ybarra, Administrative Services Officer 1
Steven Hill, Administrative Associate
Jared Davis, Senior Events Manager
Jose Berrios, Marketing Coordinator
Dr. John Zarco, Director of Instrumental Ensembles
Prof. Hector Garcia – Assistant Director of Athletic Bands
Rico Gomez, Music Program Specialist, UTSA Bands
Emilio De Leon, Ivan Lorduy Camargo, UTSA Bands Graduate Assistants
Prof. Sherry Rubins and Prof. Paul Millette, Percussion Area Faculty
Dr. Rachel Woolf and Dr. Oswaldo Zapata, Woodwind and Brass Area Coordinators
Dr. Kasandra Keeling and Prof. Christine Debus, Keyboard Area Coordinators
Prof. Asieh Mahyar, Director of Orchestras
Dr. Yoojin Muhn, Director of Choral Activities
UTSA School of Music Faculty
Eva Ayala and Jared Worman, School of Music Librarians
UTSA Bands Managers
Mu Tau Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi
Iota Tau Chapter of Tau Beta Sigma
UTSA Spirit of San Antonio Student Association (SOSASA)
