WSU Collaborative Partnerships
Silver Melted Into Sound and the celebration of diverse artists have created partnerships across the Wright State University campus. Collaboration of ideas and the sharing of resources have come from faculty, students, and administration to make this event a reality.
May 5, 2023
Silver Melted Into Sound is a music festival for concert band, vocal ensemble, and string orchestra designed to support the programming of diverse composers.
(9:30 AM) Southeastern Jr. High School Choir [Schuster Hall]
David Kestner, Conductor
- Adoramus Te by Emily Crocker (Hal Leonard, 1994)
- Murasame (Mists of the Evening) by Victor C Johnson (Heritage, 2011)
- Why We Sing by Greg Gilpen (Shawnee Press, 2005)
(10:00 AM) Greenville Middle School Band [Festival Playhouse]
Brian McKibben, Conductor
- Brace for Impact by Christina Huss (Ecelcia, 2022)
- Blue Sky Horizon by Randall Standridge (Randall Standridge, 2022)
(10:30 AM) Fairmont High School Orchestra [Festival Playhouse]
Richard Wright, Conductor
- Adoration by Florence Price/arr. E. Fine
- On a Hymnsong of Philip Bliss by David Holsinger
- Rhythmic Variations on Two Ancient Hymns by Howard Hanson (Carl Fisher)
(11:00 AM) West Carrolton Middle School Choir [Schuster Hall]
Brian Coleman, Conductor
- Cielito Lindo by Christina Huss (Excelcia, 2022)
- Rhapsody by Rollo A. Dilworthg (QHal Leonard, 2008)
- Rock-a My Soul by Becki Slagle Mayo (BriLee, 2008)
(11:00 AM) Southeastern Junior High School Band [Festival Playhouse]
David Kestner, Conductor
- Green Mountain Rhapsody by Ann McGinty (Queenswood, 1990)
- Little Suite for Band by Randall Standridge (FJH, 2014)
- Dr. Mayhem by Jeremy Bell (CL Barnhouse, 2018)
(11:30 AM) Walter E. Stebbins High School Band [Festival Playhouse]
Alex Lindon and Brendin Gillem, Conductors
- Gem City Fanfare by Todd Stalter (Alfred)
- Shenandoah by Omar Thomas (Omar Thomas)
- The Ankh of Eternity by Kelly Dugger (Carl Fischer)
(1:00 PM) Springfield High School Orchestra [Festival Playhouse]
Katy Harford, Conductor
- Tango D'Amour by Susan H. Day (Highland/Etling, 2007)
- Viola Country by Richard Meyer (Highland/Etling, 2013)
(1:30 PM) Springfield High School Concert Band [Festival Playhouse]
Christy Thomas and Brad Dragics, Conductors
- March Phantasma by Randall Standridge (2022)
- Beyond Reach by Adrian Sims (2021)
(2:00 PM) Yellow Springs Schools Band [Schuster Hall]
Brian Mayer, Conductor
- Festive Proclamation by William Owens (2015)
- Year of the Dragon by Michael Sweeney (2000)
- Aztec Fire by Jay Bocook (2008)
- Kamehameha (The Great Warrior) by William Owens (2006)
(2:30 PM) West Carrolton Middle School Orchestra [Festival Playhouse]
Marissa Ericson, Conductor
- Dragon Dances by Soon See Newbold (FJH, 2003)
- Adoration by Florence Price/arr. A. Dee (Murphy Music, 2021)
- Circle of Rhythm by Reynard Burns (Wingert-Jones, 2021)
(3:15 PM) Yellow Springs Schools String Orchestra [Schuster Hall]
Brian Mayer, Conductor
- Ignite by Kathryn Grisinger (2019)
- The Odyssey by Soon See Newbold (Excelcia Music, 2004)
- Star Wars Heroes by John Williams/arr. J. Brubaker (2016)
(5:45 PM) Springboro High School Orchestra [Festival Playhouse]
Sarah Benedict, Conductor
- Heart of Fire by Lauren Bernofsky (FJH Music, 2011)
- Reflections by Adrian Gordon (Leap Year Music, 2009)
- Dance of Youth by Xinyu "Maggie" Francis-Ma (Ludwig Masters, 2021)
Sonia Ivette Morales-Matos (b. 1961) is a Puerto Rican composer, performer, and educator who belongs to a family of distinguished musicians. She has a BM degree from Berklee College of Music, where she studied composition and jazz, and a MM degree in both Composition and Jazz Studies from Indiana University in Bloomington. While in Indiana University, she studied with distinguished professors such as David Baker, Juan Orrego-Salas, Claude Baker, and John Eaton. She was the 2016’s recipient of the Dr. Herman Hudson Alumnus Award presented by the African American Arts Institute of Indiana University for her excellence as an educator, performer, and composer. In June 2019, she received recognitions from the City of Santa Ana, the House of Representatives of the United States Congress, and the Mexican Consulate in Santa Ana, CA, for her participation in the “Latino Masters Concert” as a composer, performer, and educator, and for her contribution to the community of the City of Santa Ana, California, USA.
Her compositions explore a wide variety of styles and genres such as chamber music, the concerto, choral music, Latin Jazz, pop, sacred and/or contemporary Christian, and Latin or Tropical music. International artists and orchestras in the United States and other countries of the world have performed some of her compositions including the Dayton Philharmonic, the Clermont Philharmonic, the Central Ohio Symphony, the Puerto Rico Symphony, the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de la República Dominicana and the Symphony Orchestra of the Casals Festival. Her works have been commissioned by various ensembles and for festivals such as: Festival Casals of Puerto Rico, the International Clarinet Festival, and the International Choral Festival of Havana, among others. Recently, some of her compositions performed in the International Music by Women Festival, sponsored by the Mississippi University for Women, included Divertimento Caribeño.1, in its version for alto sax and piano, and Nostalgia for clarinet and piano. Recent com missions by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra include Fiesta no.1, for string ensemble and Tropical Overture, for full orchestra. The latter was premiered live on March 15th, 2022, by the CSO. Some of her orchestral works are Paisajes, for cuatro/viola and orchestra, Alma Mater Salute, Divertimento Caribeño no. 4, for cello and orchestra, Tembandumba’s Court Dance, and Recuerdos, for violin, cello, and orchestra. Many music critics have identified Mrs. Morales-Matos as one of the most promising female composers from Latin America.
Sonia Ivette resides in Cincinnati, Ohio where she pursues her career as a composer, performer, and educator. At the present she is working in other commissions, including one for the Dali Quartet and the Stamford Symphony Orchestra to be premiered in March 2023.
Mr. Bradley J. Esau, a native of Central Islip, New York, is a versatile saxophonist, educator, and arranger. He is currently the Director of Bands and Choirs at Harvest Preparatory School in Canal Winchester. Previously, Mr. Esau taught middle and high school band and orchestra for 9 years in the state of Florida. Mr. Esau earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from the University of South Florida, and a Master’s degree in Wind Conducting at the University of Georgia. As a graduate teaching assistant at UGA, Mr. Esau worked with the Redcoat Marching Band, concert bands, and jazz ensembles. The ensembles under Mr. Esau’s direction have earned either Excellent or Superior ratings at Florida Bandmasters’ Association District Music Performance Assessments.
Mr. Esau has recorded and arranged music on several studio jazz albums in the Tampa area. He is also in demand as a jazz and saxophone instructor and clinician. Mr. Esau will begin his Doctoral program in Wind Conducting at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music in the Fall of 2023.
Amy Kollar Anderson received her B.F.A. from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a Master of Humanities, with a focus in Fine Arts, from Wright State University. Anderson was awarded three of the "ReImagining Works” public art commissions for the Dayton Metro Library in 2014-17, a commission for the Miami Valley Hospital and the Woodbourne Centerville Library in 2018 and a Culture Works MCACD Artist Opportunity Grant in 2018 & 2020. View her artwork at KollarAnderson.com or immerse yourself with a beer at the Nowhere in Particular Cabinet of Curiosities Brewery where she is creating mural artwork for the space.
Silver Melted Into Sound Composition Competition
In alignment with the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Grant awarded to the School of Music for the new music festival, Silver Melted into Sound, this Composition Contest is designed to increase repertoire written by underrepresented composers including people of color, women and other marginalized genders, or persons with a disability and/or draw attention to a leading minority poet, Paul Laurence Dunbar.
The composition must be written for one of the following ensembles and at the performance level of a high school, Grade 3 ensemble:
- Concert Band – standard instrumentation
- String Orchestra
- Chorus - SATB
In celebration of his birth 150 years ago, the composition must be inspired by the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar.
WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY BANDS
Representing Wright State as the university’s premier wind band, the WIND SYMPHONY performs the finest in symphonic wind repertoire, ranging from transcriptions to state-of-the-art original compositions. Its student members, typically comprised of approximately 50 students, are chosen annually by competitive audition. For a detailed biography please visit https://liberal-arts.wright.edu/music
The Wright State University CONCERT BAND is a performing wind band open to all Wright State students from a wide variety of fields of study within the university. The band performs musical repertory ranging from pop concerts to wind band classics and contemporary compositions.
The Wright State University JAZZ ENSEMBLE is made up of students from a variety of majors across campus. The group performs repertoire from today and from throughout jazz history, offering students the chance to enjoy this uplifting music and to broaden their skills in the various jazz styles, in improvisation, and in section cohesion. The Jazz Ensemble typically performs both on campus and in the wider community.
The Wright State University Varsity PEP BAND is comprised of WSU students from any major across campus under the direction of Mr. Matthew Weaver. The Raider Pep Band provides musical entertainment and spirit at home men’s and women’s basketball games, as well as other select events around campus and the community.
WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY CHOIRS
COLLEGIATE CHORALE is the university’s primary choral ensemble. For a detailed biography please visit https://liberal-arts.wright.edu/music
MEN'S CHORALEhas performed for many schools, churches, retirement homes, various civic functions, and has been regionally televised. For a detailed biography please visit https://liberal-arts.wright.edu/music
WOMEN'S CHORALEperforms significant choral music selected from a wide variety of historical, compositional, and cultural traditions. For a detailed biography please visit https://liberal-arts.wright.edu/music
WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY ORCHESTRAS
CHAMBER ORCHESTRA is the premier orchestra comprised of faculty and students, providing students an opportunity to perform side by side with their mentors. For a detailed biography please visit https://liberal-arts.wright.edu/music
SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA draws its members from the entire Dayton community, including university students, faculty, and other area musicians. The orchestra performs a large repertoire of classical music from the Baroque to the 21st Century. For a detailed biography please visit https://liberal-arts.wright.edu/music
WSU BAND FACULTY
Dr. Shelley Jagow - Director of Bands
Dr. Christopher Chaffee – Flute
Katherine DeGruchy – Oboe & English Horn
John Kurokawa – Clarinet
William Jobert – Bassoon
Francesca Wantuch – Saxophone
tba – Trumpet
Andrew Bass – Horn
Dr. Gretchen McNamara – Trombone
Daniel Honaker – Euphonium & Tuba
Gerald Noble – Percussion
WSU VOCAL FACULTY
Ginger Minneman - Director Women's Chorale
WSU ORCHESTRA FACULTY
Dr. Jackson Leung - Director Chamber Orchestra; Piano
Dr. In-Hong Cha - Director University Symphony Orchestra; Violin
Tom Sobieski - Violin
Kevin Nordstrom - Viola
Dr. Franklin Cox - Cello
Maurice Todd - Bass
Leslie Stratton - Harp
Credits:
Created with images by スタジオサラ - "金と緑の背景" • moomsabuy - "Thank you for your support !" • mnimage - "Playing the trombone in orchestra " • Studio Gi - "Mani di coriste che battono il tempo musicale, fuoco selettivo" • stokkete - "Orchestra first violin section" • Dmitrii - "A white piano on a white brick wall. Copy space. Minimalism. Wide horizontal photo"