University of Tennessee Concert & Symphonic Bands
Tuesday, November 22, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.
University of Tennessee Concert & Symphonic Bands

Tuesday, November 22, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.

James R. Cox Auditorium
Alumni Memorial Building
University of Tennessee, Knoxville

 

 

CONCERT BAND

Dr. Fuller Lyon, conductor

Top Gun Anthem   
Harold Faltermeyer (b. 1952)
arr. Lyon

Godspeed, John Glenn
Ryan Nowlin (b. 1978)

Strategic Air Command
Clifton Williams (1923-1976)

Hymn to the Infinite Sky
Satoshi Yagisawa (b. 1975)

 

SYMPHONIC BAND

Dr. Michael Stewart, conductor

Mother Earth (A Fanfare)
David Maslanka (1943-2017)

Rhosymedre
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

Prelude, Siciliano, and Rondo
Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006)
arr. Paynter

Handel in the Strand
Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882-1961)
trans. Goldman

Top Gun Anthem

Born in Munich, Germany, Harold Faltermeyer was raised in a countryside neighborhood just outside the city. The family played music as a part of daily life. His grandfather was a gifted violinist, his grandmother had a beautiful alto soprano singing voice, and his father played piano. While Harold studied music at Munich’s prestigious, Hochschule fuer Musik, he also worked at the Deutsche Grammophon recording studio as a volunteer technician. He learned sound engineering, and was also honing his skills in electronic music, programming synthesizers, composing, arranging, and conducting. This dedication paid off with his first big break – working as an assistant to Giorgio Moroder, producer of Donna Summer and pioneer of the disco movement.

While working with Moroder in Los Angeles on American Gigolo, Harold met producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson. In 1983 they offered Harold the opportunity to compose the music for their new feature, Thief of Hearts. Soon after, he was hired for Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun, and Beverly Hills Cop II. From 1985-1992 he wrote the music to several more successful movies – Fletch, Running Man, Fletch Lives, Fatal Beauty, Tango & Cash, and Kuffs. Collectively these movies garnered five Grammy nominations, two Golden Globe nominations, and one Academy Award nomination.

Godspeed, John Glenn

In this composition, Godspeed, John Glenn, the composer draws on all aspects of Glenn’s life. The piece is not programmatic in nature but is instead an impression of the many complex facets of his makeup. While there are cinematic moments reflecting the adventure of Glenn’s life, the piece remains grounded in his humility, partnership with his wife, and steadfast love and commitment to his family, his country, and his faith.

The piece begins very distantly with an extensive trumpet solo. This solo is taken up by the trombone and played in echo briefly by the trumpet until the two voices find each other. The music continues into a playful modal section reminiscent of Glenn’s small-town roots and fascination with flight. Just after lift-off, the piece dissolves into a reverent anthem that attempts to embody the essence of his spirit. This anthem serves as the primary melodic material through various keys and triumphant treatments climaxing in a quote of the hymn, Be Still My Soul.

Strategic Air Command

Strategic Air Command was written as a tribute to the United States Strategic Air Command (headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska) at the request of Herman G. Vincent, commander of the SAC Bands. According to Vincent, Williams did not need much persuading – the two musicians had been friends at Louisiana State University, and Williams had served his World War II military time in a U.S. Air Force band. The march was premiered at the SAC Band’s annual concert in Omaha, Nebraska, on July 14, 1963, and was conducted by the composer.

Hymn to the Infinite Sky

Hymn to the Infinite Sky was composed in May 2003 as the second piece in the series commissioned by Niihama Primary School, Ichikawa City, Japan, following the tone poem for wind orchestra, And Then the Ocean Glows. While And Then the Ocean Glows directly describes scenes of the sea, Hymn to the Infinite Sky represents an internal spirit rather than describing the sky directly.

The composer recalled what Shinichiro Tagawa, conductor of the school’s wind band, told him, and tried carefully to reflect his wish in the music. Tagawa said, “The sky has to be a symbol of peace. However, there is sky where combat planes are flying when children look up. That is very sad. I wish there would be no more conflict on the Earth. I hope that children all over the world will hold on to their dreams toward the sky. I pray to the infinite sky for world peace.”

Mother Earth

The composer writes, “Mother Earth was composed for the South Dearborn High School Band of Aurora, Indiana, Brian Silvey, conductor. Each piece takes on a reason for being all its own, and Mother Earth is no exception. It became an urgent message from Our Mother to treat her more kindly! My reading at the time of writing this music was For a Future to be Possible by the Vietnamese monk and teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh. He believes that the only way forward is to be extremely alive and aware in our present moment, to become awake to the needs of our beloved planet, and to respond to it as a living entity. Music making allows us to come immediately awake. It is an instant connection to the powerful wellspring of our creativity and opens our minds to the solution of any number of problems, including that of our damaged environment. My little piece does not solve the problem! But it is a living call to the wide-awake life, and it continues to be performed by young people around the world.”

David Maslanka wrote for a variety of genres and published over 100 pieces. His compositional style is rhythmically intense and extremely complex yet possesses an underlying delicate beauty. David Maslanka died during the night of August 6th, 2017 at his home. He had been diagnosed with a severe form of colon cancer in June and is survived by his three children.

Rhosymedre

In 1920, Ralph Vaughan Williams composed three preludes for organ based on Welsh hymn tunes, a set that quickly established itself in the organ repertoire.  Of the three, Rhosymedre, sometimes known as “Lovely,” has become the most popular.  The hymn tune used in this prelude was written by a 19th century Welsh composer, J.D. Edwards, and is a very simple melody made up almost entirely of scale tones and upbeat skips of a fourth.  Yet around this modest tune, Vaughan Williams has constructed a piece of grand proportions, with a broad arc that soars with the gradual rise of the tune itself.

Ralph Vaughan Williams was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores.  He was also a collector of English folk music and song:  this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many folk song arrangements set as hymn tunes, and influenced several of his own original compositions.

Prelude, Siciliano, and Rondo

Originally composed for the standard British all-brass band and titled Little Suite for Brass, Op. 80, this 1979 arrangement by the late John P. Paynter brings its beautiful character and melodies to wind ensembles.  All three movements are written in short, clear five-part song forms, reflecting Malcolm Arnold’s interest in folk songs and dances.  The Prelude begins in a fanfare style and evolves through changing keys and themes; it slowly resolves into a quiet cantible ending.  The Siciliano is true to the character of its lilting and graceful namesake Sicilian dance; solo instruments carry the melody as brass and woodwinds provide contrasting textures.  True in style, the rollicking Rondo explodes with the prominent theme that reappears again and again in alteration with contrasting themes.

Arnold created for himself a significant and somewhat unique position in contemporary British music of the 20th century.  At a time when new music was foreboding or despairing, his optimistic outlook and high spirits created a welcome relief to listeners.  He was born in Northampton, England, a town with considerable musical tradition, and studied at the Royal College of Music where he would later return as an instructor.

Handel in the Strand

Percy Grainger was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1882.  In 1901 he went to London, where he quickly became a well-known pianist.  Edvard Grieg chose Grainger to play his piano concerto at the Leeds Festival in 1907.  It was through Grieg’s love of national music that Grainger became involved in the movement to recover English folk-songs.  His arrangements of English, Irish, and Scottish folk-tunes have always been enormously successful.  In 1914, Grainger settled in America and his compositions, whether for piano, chorus, orchestra, or band, reflect his vitality and whimsy.

Of Handel in the Strand, Grainger writes, “My title was originally Clog Dance. But my dear friend William Gair Rathbone (to whom the piece is dedicated) suggested the title Handel in the Strand, because the music seemed to reflect both Handel and English musical comedy (the “Strand,” a street in London, is the home of London musical comedy) as if jovial old Handel were careening down the Strand to the strains of modern English popular music.”

Dr. Fuller Lyon, conductor

* = principal

+ = co-principal

Piccolo

Madison Smith

Flute

Sarah Cox*
Maddie Stewart
Amanda Stawick
Shelby Wilkerson
Joanna Abbott
Julia Nauman
Holly Edwards

Clarinet

Lauren Goldston+
Evan Laws+
Hannah Brown
Chris Campbell
Kayla Brien
Hannah McGill
Claire DeFriez
Maria Vite
Chloe Levering
Raylee Mitchell

Bass Clarinet

Jessie Williams
Ploomie Messer

Bassoon

Christopher Williamson

Alto Sax

Reed McAmis*
Jake Ensor
Shane Estes

Tenor Sax

Sarah Vernetti

Bari Sax

Spencer Cassidy

Trumpet

Benjamin Petro+
Jayden Robins+
Thomas Hooper
Jack Watt
Evan Mainous
Kara Ussery
Jackson Daniels
Ian Krueger
Terence Osorio
Josh Mathison

French Horn

Sam Shoemaker*
Luke Warren
Zachary Cutler
Emily Baker
Nora Beckett
Alex Medearis
Sophie Stinnett
Jacob Trull

Trombone

Sara Fulkerson*
Olivia Baker
Tyler Guthrie
Jacob Ross
Noah Allard
Terrance Jones
Ian Searcy
Thomas Kenner
David Hernandez (Bass)

Euphonium

Scotty Hunnicutt*
Amelia Helms
Yaz Perez de la Torre
Melissa Brockett

Tuba

Ben Archibald*
Tommy Bond
Hudson Scott

Percussion

Kolsten Keene*
Lamont Monroe
Cameron Sluder
Charley Bible
Chandler DeArmond

Guitar

Max Horsewood

Assisting Musicians

Eli Garcia
Nathan Ebbs

Dr. Michael Stewart, conductor

* = principal

Names listed alphabetically

 

Flute

Aphrael Carrillo
Iris Fleming
Julianne Moss
Kiernan Stuppy *
Kadijah Tinker
Chloe Watson

B-flat Clarinet

Julie Bronson
McKinley Frees
Emilee Jerrell
Savannah Martin
Bryce Neely
Natalie Rundblade
Abbey Shelton
Meredith Williams *

Bass Clarinet

Devin Hopson

Bassoon

James Carnal *
Daniel Sippel

Oboe

Katherine Means *
Emma Pardo

Alto Saxophone

Tony Clark *
Matthew Sexton

Tenor Saxophone          

Joshua Sizemore             

Baritone Saxophone

Preston Turner

Trumpet

Autumn Bowling
Julia Boylan
Tiffany Braden
Christian Carroll
Matthew Dunevant
Olivia Watson
Hope Williams *

Horn

Carson Duckworth
Sydney Flenniken
Chase Hart *
Cole McFarland
Zac Stanislawski

Trombone

Jaydon Headrick *
Madison Joy
Bryce McCracken
Samuel Thomas
Matthew Walker
Ayla Williams

Euphonium

Connor Bedillion
Stephanie Hensley *

Tuba

Logan Kelly
Austin Kerr *

Percussion

Annika Blackburn
Colston Oldham
Burke Rivet*
Shelton Skaggs
Zach Swafford

January 28, 2023
Conducting Workshop

February 3, 2023
ETSBOA Wind Ensemble performance

February 23, 2023
Symphonic and Concert Bands

February 28, 2023
Wind Ensemble

April 25, 2023
Wind Ensemble and Dobyns-Bennett HS Wind Ensemble

April 27, 2023
Symphonic and Concert Bands

We hope you enjoyed this performance. Private support from music enthusiasts enables us to improve educational opportunities and develop our student artists’ skills to their full potential. To learn more about how you can support the School of Music, contact Chris Cox, Director of Development, 865-974-2365 or ccox@utfi.org.

 

Want to know more about the bands at the University of Tennessee? Please visit utbands.utk.edu.

University of Tennessee Concert & Symphonic Bands
Tuesday, November 22, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.
University of Tennessee Concert & Symphonic Bands

Tuesday, November 22, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.

James R. Cox Auditorium
Alumni Memorial Building
University of Tennessee, Knoxville

 

 

CONCERT BAND

Dr. Fuller Lyon, conductor

Top Gun Anthem   
Harold Faltermeyer (b. 1952)
arr. Lyon

Godspeed, John Glenn
Ryan Nowlin (b. 1978)

Strategic Air Command
Clifton Williams (1923-1976)

Hymn to the Infinite Sky
Satoshi Yagisawa (b. 1975)

 

SYMPHONIC BAND

Dr. Michael Stewart, conductor

Mother Earth (A Fanfare)
David Maslanka (1943-2017)

Rhosymedre
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

Prelude, Siciliano, and Rondo
Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006)
arr. Paynter

Handel in the Strand
Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882-1961)
trans. Goldman

Top Gun Anthem

Born in Munich, Germany, Harold Faltermeyer was raised in a countryside neighborhood just outside the city. The family played music as a part of daily life. His grandfather was a gifted violinist, his grandmother had a beautiful alto soprano singing voice, and his father played piano. While Harold studied music at Munich’s prestigious, Hochschule fuer Musik, he also worked at the Deutsche Grammophon recording studio as a volunteer technician. He learned sound engineering, and was also honing his skills in electronic music, programming synthesizers, composing, arranging, and conducting. This dedication paid off with his first big break – working as an assistant to Giorgio Moroder, producer of Donna Summer and pioneer of the disco movement.

While working with Moroder in Los Angeles on American Gigolo, Harold met producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson. In 1983 they offered Harold the opportunity to compose the music for their new feature, Thief of Hearts. Soon after, he was hired for Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun, and Beverly Hills Cop II. From 1985-1992 he wrote the music to several more successful movies – Fletch, Running Man, Fletch Lives, Fatal Beauty, Tango & Cash, and Kuffs. Collectively these movies garnered five Grammy nominations, two Golden Globe nominations, and one Academy Award nomination.

Godspeed, John Glenn

In this composition, Godspeed, John Glenn, the composer draws on all aspects of Glenn’s life. The piece is not programmatic in nature but is instead an impression of the many complex facets of his makeup. While there are cinematic moments reflecting the adventure of Glenn’s life, the piece remains grounded in his humility, partnership with his wife, and steadfast love and commitment to his family, his country, and his faith.

The piece begins very distantly with an extensive trumpet solo. This solo is taken up by the trombone and played in echo briefly by the trumpet until the two voices find each other. The music continues into a playful modal section reminiscent of Glenn’s small-town roots and fascination with flight. Just after lift-off, the piece dissolves into a reverent anthem that attempts to embody the essence of his spirit. This anthem serves as the primary melodic material through various keys and triumphant treatments climaxing in a quote of the hymn, Be Still My Soul.

Strategic Air Command

Strategic Air Command was written as a tribute to the United States Strategic Air Command (headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska) at the request of Herman G. Vincent, commander of the SAC Bands. According to Vincent, Williams did not need much persuading – the two musicians had been friends at Louisiana State University, and Williams had served his World War II military time in a U.S. Air Force band. The march was premiered at the SAC Band’s annual concert in Omaha, Nebraska, on July 14, 1963, and was conducted by the composer.

Hymn to the Infinite Sky

Hymn to the Infinite Sky was composed in May 2003 as the second piece in the series commissioned by Niihama Primary School, Ichikawa City, Japan, following the tone poem for wind orchestra, And Then the Ocean Glows. While And Then the Ocean Glows directly describes scenes of the sea, Hymn to the Infinite Sky represents an internal spirit rather than describing the sky directly.

The composer recalled what Shinichiro Tagawa, conductor of the school’s wind band, told him, and tried carefully to reflect his wish in the music. Tagawa said, “The sky has to be a symbol of peace. However, there is sky where combat planes are flying when children look up. That is very sad. I wish there would be no more conflict on the Earth. I hope that children all over the world will hold on to their dreams toward the sky. I pray to the infinite sky for world peace.”

Mother Earth

The composer writes, “Mother Earth was composed for the South Dearborn High School Band of Aurora, Indiana, Brian Silvey, conductor. Each piece takes on a reason for being all its own, and Mother Earth is no exception. It became an urgent message from Our Mother to treat her more kindly! My reading at the time of writing this music was For a Future to be Possible by the Vietnamese monk and teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh. He believes that the only way forward is to be extremely alive and aware in our present moment, to become awake to the needs of our beloved planet, and to respond to it as a living entity. Music making allows us to come immediately awake. It is an instant connection to the powerful wellspring of our creativity and opens our minds to the solution of any number of problems, including that of our damaged environment. My little piece does not solve the problem! But it is a living call to the wide-awake life, and it continues to be performed by young people around the world.”

David Maslanka wrote for a variety of genres and published over 100 pieces. His compositional style is rhythmically intense and extremely complex yet possesses an underlying delicate beauty. David Maslanka died during the night of August 6th, 2017 at his home. He had been diagnosed with a severe form of colon cancer in June and is survived by his three children.

Rhosymedre

In 1920, Ralph Vaughan Williams composed three preludes for organ based on Welsh hymn tunes, a set that quickly established itself in the organ repertoire.  Of the three, Rhosymedre, sometimes known as “Lovely,” has become the most popular.  The hymn tune used in this prelude was written by a 19th century Welsh composer, J.D. Edwards, and is a very simple melody made up almost entirely of scale tones and upbeat skips of a fourth.  Yet around this modest tune, Vaughan Williams has constructed a piece of grand proportions, with a broad arc that soars with the gradual rise of the tune itself.

Ralph Vaughan Williams was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores.  He was also a collector of English folk music and song:  this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many folk song arrangements set as hymn tunes, and influenced several of his own original compositions.

Prelude, Siciliano, and Rondo

Originally composed for the standard British all-brass band and titled Little Suite for Brass, Op. 80, this 1979 arrangement by the late John P. Paynter brings its beautiful character and melodies to wind ensembles.  All three movements are written in short, clear five-part song forms, reflecting Malcolm Arnold’s interest in folk songs and dances.  The Prelude begins in a fanfare style and evolves through changing keys and themes; it slowly resolves into a quiet cantible ending.  The Siciliano is true to the character of its lilting and graceful namesake Sicilian dance; solo instruments carry the melody as brass and woodwinds provide contrasting textures.  True in style, the rollicking Rondo explodes with the prominent theme that reappears again and again in alteration with contrasting themes.

Arnold created for himself a significant and somewhat unique position in contemporary British music of the 20th century.  At a time when new music was foreboding or despairing, his optimistic outlook and high spirits created a welcome relief to listeners.  He was born in Northampton, England, a town with considerable musical tradition, and studied at the Royal College of Music where he would later return as an instructor.

Handel in the Strand

Percy Grainger was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1882.  In 1901 he went to London, where he quickly became a well-known pianist.  Edvard Grieg chose Grainger to play his piano concerto at the Leeds Festival in 1907.  It was through Grieg’s love of national music that Grainger became involved in the movement to recover English folk-songs.  His arrangements of English, Irish, and Scottish folk-tunes have always been enormously successful.  In 1914, Grainger settled in America and his compositions, whether for piano, chorus, orchestra, or band, reflect his vitality and whimsy.

Of Handel in the Strand, Grainger writes, “My title was originally Clog Dance. But my dear friend William Gair Rathbone (to whom the piece is dedicated) suggested the title Handel in the Strand, because the music seemed to reflect both Handel and English musical comedy (the “Strand,” a street in London, is the home of London musical comedy) as if jovial old Handel were careening down the Strand to the strains of modern English popular music.”

Dr. Fuller Lyon, conductor

* = principal

+ = co-principal

Piccolo

Madison Smith

Flute

Sarah Cox*
Maddie Stewart
Amanda Stawick
Shelby Wilkerson
Joanna Abbott
Julia Nauman
Holly Edwards

Clarinet

Lauren Goldston+
Evan Laws+
Hannah Brown
Chris Campbell
Kayla Brien
Hannah McGill
Claire DeFriez
Maria Vite
Chloe Levering
Raylee Mitchell

Bass Clarinet

Jessie Williams
Ploomie Messer

Bassoon

Christopher Williamson

Alto Sax

Reed McAmis*
Jake Ensor
Shane Estes

Tenor Sax

Sarah Vernetti

Bari Sax

Spencer Cassidy

Trumpet

Benjamin Petro+
Jayden Robins+
Thomas Hooper
Jack Watt
Evan Mainous
Kara Ussery
Jackson Daniels
Ian Krueger
Terence Osorio
Josh Mathison

French Horn

Sam Shoemaker*
Luke Warren
Zachary Cutler
Emily Baker
Nora Beckett
Alex Medearis
Sophie Stinnett
Jacob Trull

Trombone

Sara Fulkerson*
Olivia Baker
Tyler Guthrie
Jacob Ross
Noah Allard
Terrance Jones
Ian Searcy
Thomas Kenner
David Hernandez (Bass)

Euphonium

Scotty Hunnicutt*
Amelia Helms
Yaz Perez de la Torre
Melissa Brockett

Tuba

Ben Archibald*
Tommy Bond
Hudson Scott

Percussion

Kolsten Keene*
Lamont Monroe
Cameron Sluder
Charley Bible
Chandler DeArmond

Guitar

Max Horsewood

Assisting Musicians

Eli Garcia
Nathan Ebbs

Dr. Michael Stewart, conductor

* = principal

Names listed alphabetically

 

Flute

Aphrael Carrillo
Iris Fleming
Julianne Moss
Kiernan Stuppy *
Kadijah Tinker
Chloe Watson

B-flat Clarinet

Julie Bronson
McKinley Frees
Emilee Jerrell
Savannah Martin
Bryce Neely
Natalie Rundblade
Abbey Shelton
Meredith Williams *

Bass Clarinet

Devin Hopson

Bassoon

James Carnal *
Daniel Sippel

Oboe

Katherine Means *
Emma Pardo

Alto Saxophone

Tony Clark *
Matthew Sexton

Tenor Saxophone          

Joshua Sizemore             

Baritone Saxophone

Preston Turner

Trumpet

Autumn Bowling
Julia Boylan
Tiffany Braden
Christian Carroll
Matthew Dunevant
Olivia Watson
Hope Williams *

Horn

Carson Duckworth
Sydney Flenniken
Chase Hart *
Cole McFarland
Zac Stanislawski

Trombone

Jaydon Headrick *
Madison Joy
Bryce McCracken
Samuel Thomas
Matthew Walker
Ayla Williams

Euphonium

Connor Bedillion
Stephanie Hensley *

Tuba

Logan Kelly
Austin Kerr *

Percussion

Annika Blackburn
Colston Oldham
Burke Rivet*
Shelton Skaggs
Zach Swafford

January 28, 2023
Conducting Workshop

February 3, 2023
ETSBOA Wind Ensemble performance

February 23, 2023
Symphonic and Concert Bands

February 28, 2023
Wind Ensemble

April 25, 2023
Wind Ensemble and Dobyns-Bennett HS Wind Ensemble

April 27, 2023
Symphonic and Concert Bands

We hope you enjoyed this performance. Private support from music enthusiasts enables us to improve educational opportunities and develop our student artists’ skills to their full potential. To learn more about how you can support the School of Music, contact Chris Cox, Director of Development, 865-974-2365 or ccox@utfi.org.

 

Want to know more about the bands at the University of Tennessee? Please visit utbands.utk.edu.