Wind Ensemble

About the Program

Program notes by Mark Bilyeu

Warren Benson
Wings
Born January 26, 1924, Detroit, Mich. 
Died October  6, 2005, Rochester, N.Y
Composed 1984
Duration 5 minutes

While an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan, Warren Bensen played timpani under such conductors as Fritz Reiner, Eugene Ormandy, and Leonard Bernstein. A very accomplished percussionist, he was a largely self-taught composer who went on to hold faculty positions in both arenas at institutions such as Southern Methodist University, Ithaca College, and finally the Eastman School of Music. A founding member of the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, his compositions have been widely recorded by ensembles around the globe. “Perhaps the title suggests the light and rapid movement of this music,” shared Benson. “In keeping with the occasion, the title word is rich with symbolism. The early Greeks depicted Athena and Aphrodite (wisdom and the arts, love and beauty) with wings. Plato linked wings with intelligence. For some, wings were "the sun of justice." The psalmist speaks of "the wings of the morning," certainly a positive image for new beginnings, and both the beauty and practicality of sailing "wing on wing" is not lost on skippers running smoothly before the wind. My title celebrates all this on "wynges of the wynde," if you will. The work is dedicated to my dear friend, Donald Hunsberger, sailor, and conductor of the Eastman Wind Ensemble.”

Caroline Shaw
and the swallow
Born August 1, 1982 Greenville, North Carolina
Composed 2017 / 2021
Premiered November 11, 2017
Duration 4 minutes

Reflecting on the Syrian refugee crisis, Caroline Shaw originally composed and the swallow for the Netherlands Chamber Choir in 2017. Based on verses from Psalm 84: 

how beloved is your dwelling place
my soul yearns, faints  
my heart and my flesh cry out  
the sparrow finds a house  
and the swallow her nest
where she may hold her young  
they pass through the valley of bakka 
they make it a place of springs  
the autumn rains also cover it with pools 

Shaw is the youngest recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in Music, when she received it in 2013 at the age of 30 for her choral work Partita for 8 Voices. In speaking of her work and the swallow, she said, “‘There’s a yearning for a home that feels very relevant today. The second verse is: “The sparrow found a house and the swallow her nest, where she may place her young” which is just a beautiful image of a bird trying to keep her children safe—people trying to keep their family safe.” The wind ensemble version was transcribed by composer Danielle Fisher for Tyler Austin and the Maryland Chamber Winds.

George Bizet
arr. Hunsberger
Carmen Fantasia
Born October 25, 1838, Paris, France
Died June 3, 1875, Bougival, France
Composed 1875 / 1994 / 1996
Duration 25 minutes

The arranger writes: 

Carmen Fantasia was written for the duo trumpet performers Barbara Butler and Charles Geyer. I had known of them in their respective positions as co-principal trumpet of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and principal trumpet of the Houston Symphony Orchestra but had no idea concerning the depth of the chemistry that binds them together as duo soloists in many, many unique ways. I first met them when they successfully interviewed for the trumpet professorships at the Eastman School of Music in the early 1980s. Shortly after they arrived at Eastman, I became involved in the CBS Masterworks writing-recording project involving Wynton Marsalis that produced the Carnaval recording of turn-of-the-century cornet solos with wind band accompaniment by the Eastman Wind Ensemble. Several years later, Barbara and Charlie approached me and asked for a major-sized composition that would feature them in the same manner that Carnaval had revealed Wynton’s many talents.
 

At first, this appeared to me to provide an enormous challenge, for it is much easier to showcase the talents and abilities of a single soloist than to provide musical and innovative ideas for two performers playing the same instrument without slighting one over the other. Answers soon became apparent when I realized how seamlessly Barbara and Charlie complement each other to such a point that it is possible to interchange melodic and secondary accompanying lines without the listener even being aware of which one of them is actually playing which line! Their ability to match timbres and sense each other’s musical leaning so quickly and accurately is an instrumental equivalent of the numerous tonal matches one frequently finds in operatic performances. Their individual, and combined, prowess in piccolo trumpet performance is especially impressive and featured strongly in the choice and treatment of excerpts from Carmen.
 

Thus, what turned out to be our initial project (Under Gypsy Skies and A Stephen Foster Sett followed Carmen Fantasia) was founded on music of different styles from Georges Bizet’s opera. This set of excerpts was premiered in 1994 and featured the soli duo performing on trumpet, flugelhorn, and piccolo trumpet. The score is cast as a theatre set piece with both soloists located in front of the orchestra, each with his or her own solo percussionist accompanist. The opening fanfare call is to be made off stage with the soloists then entering during the orchestra introduction just in time to play their first cadenza. During the work, each is to feel free to wander on or off stage and to “play off” of their opposing solo partner -- a sort of “confrontational improvisation.”Following several performances with orchestra here and abroad, a wind ensemble accompaniment version was created and Barbara and Charlie performed Carmen Fantasia with the Eastman Wind Ensemble on a three-week tour of Japan in 1996, sponsored by Sony Music Foundation and Eastman Kodak Japan. A third edition of the accompaniment has been written for duo solo performers, piano accompaniment with timpani, and five percussionists.

Ottorino Respighi
Church Windows
Born July 9, 1879, Bologna, Italy
Died April 18, 1936, Rome, Italy
Composed 1926
Premiered February, 1927  Boston Symphony Hall, Serge Koussevitzky, conductor
Duration 30 minutes

It was Elsa Olivieri-Sangiacomo, Ottorino Respighi’s wife, who first introduced him to Gregorian chant. He published his Tre preludi sopra melodie gregoriane (Three Preludes on Gregorian Melodies) in 1919 while the couple was vacationing on the island of Capri. Respighi returned to the work a few years later, to craft a fully orchestrated work and added a fourth and final movement, and with the assistance of his friend and collaborator, Claudio Guastalla, they came up with titles for each movement, giving them a more religious rooting. It’s worth noting that these titles came after the music was already written, so while they might point to specific Biblical scenes, their titles carry no specific weight or added significance to the composer. The opening movement “La fuga in Egitto” (The Flight into Egypt), includes Guastalla’s own subtitle “the little caravan proceeded through the desert, in the starry night, bearing the Treasure of the World.” The second movement, a bombastic depiction of “San Michele Arcangelo” (St Michael the Archangel) is described as “'a clash of weapons - a battle in the skies,” as the Archangel battles a dragon. The third movement reminded Respighi and Guastalla of a quiet convent, and of St. Clare, founder of the Franciscan Order of nuns, who was 'miraculously borne by the angels from her sick-bed to the church of St Francis, in order to be present at the … service of Matins.” The final movement is a fantasia on the Gloria from the Missa de Angelis, with it’s slow build to a climactic organ solo, the writer Edward Johnson described the movement as a “Papal Coronation in sound,” and rightfully so! The movement contains the inscription “ 'Ecce Pontifex Maximus! … Bless the Lord … Sing the Hymn to God. Alleluia!” As Respighi’s wife recounted, “the composition reflects Respighi's state of mind at the time: the joyous wonder of a revelation and at the same time the mystic exultation of profound religious feeling.” 

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About the Artists

Caleb Hudson

Uniting virtuosity and musical sensitivity, Caleb Hudson has carved out a unique space in the world of classical trumpet. Having received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School, Caleb has over a decade of experience captivating international audiences as a member of the Canadian Brass. Acclaimed by the New York Times as “brilliantly stylish,” he is known for his mastery of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, performing as soloist with ensembles such as the Philadelphia Orchestra and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. A dedicated educator, Caleb is the Associate Professor of Trumpet at the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin. His previous teaching experience includes the University of North Texas and Colorado State University. An accomplished arranger and composer, his original composition “White Rose Elegy” debuted at Lincoln Center, performed by the Canadian Brass and New York Philharmonic Brass. He’s also the recording artist for Suzuki Trumpet School, Volume I, the first brass application of the Suzuki Method. Rooted in a deep faith in Christ, Caleb resides in Texas with his wife, Amanda, and their three children.

Ole Edvard Antonsen

Ole Edvard Antonsen is regarded as one of the world's leading trumpet soloists today and one of Norway's  biggest international stars. Antonsen has played as a soloist on the major music scenes in more than forty countries around the world including Carnegie Hall in New York City, Musikverein in Vienna, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Sydney Opera House, Barbican Hall in London, and Philharmonie and Konserthaus in Berlin, in addition to big stadiums like Olympiahalle Munich, Seoul Olympic Stadium. His remarkable versatility as a musician means that he is just as at home working with a symphony orchestra as he is collaborating with pop, rock and jazz musicians. He has performed with major orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra OSESP, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Orchestra of St.Martin in the Field, and collaborated with conductors Mariss Jansons, Wolfgang Sawallish, Philippe Herreweghe, Kent Nagano, Dimitry Kitayenko, to name a few. His collaborations with pop and rock musicians include John Miles, Level 42´s Mark King, Lisa Stansfield, Ute Lemper, Secret Garden. he has worked with jazz ensembles including The Metropole Orchestra (Holland), Willem Breuker Kollektief and his own jazz ensembles.

Cody Ray

Cody Ray is currently pursuing a doctor of musical arts in wind conducting at The University of Texas at Austin where he studies with professor Jerry Junkin and serves as a graduate teaching assistant for University Bands. He received his bachelor of arts in music education from the University of Alabama at Birmingham under the mentorship of Dr. Sue Samuels, Dr. Gene Fambrough, Dr. Cara Morantz, and Dr. Sean Murray, and a master of music in wind conducting from Tte University of South Carolina (’24) studying under Dr. Cormac Cannon, Dr. Jay Jacobs, and Dr. Quintus Wrighten. Prior to his graduate studies, Cody served as the assistant director of bands at Cairo High School in Cairo, GA from 2020-2022. Before coming to Cairo, he also served as director of bands at Sipsey Valley High/Middle School from 2019-2020 and director of bands at Sulligent High School from 2018-2019. His professional affiliations include the National Association for Music Education, the College Band Directors National Association, and the National Band Association.

Jerry Junkin

Serving since 1988 on the faculty of The University of Texas at Austin, where he holds the Vincent R. and Jane D. DiNino Chair for the Director of Bands, in addition to serving as a University Distinguished Teaching Professor, Jerry Junkin is recognized as one of the world’s most highly regarded wind conductors. Previously, he served on the faculties of both the University of Michigan and the University of South Florida.  In addition to his responsibilities as professor of music and conductor of the Texas Wind Ensemble, he serves as head of the conducting division and teaches courses in conducting and wind band literature. He has served as music director and conductor of the Hong Kong Wind Philharmonia since 2003, and as artistic director and conductor of the Dallas Winds since 1993. He also serves as visiting professor at the Senzoku Gakuen College of Music Wind Ensemble in Tokyo, Japan. Mr. Junkin has conducted All-State bands and festivals in forty-eight states and five continents, and is a Yamaha master educator.

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Wind Ensemble

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