Fanfare no. 1
By Wataru Hokoyama (4.5 min)
In the summer of 1995 before his departure to the United States, a request from his high school band friends for a good concert opener sparked 19 year old Hokoyama to write his very first wind band composition.
To capture the excitement of the rising curtain, the piece begins with magnificent brass ascending in 4th and 5th intervals. This is followed by the energetic entrance of the full ensemble like celebratory cannon fire. The following melody has many notes, yet is still simple.
The slower middle section utilizes an instinctive vision of a scorching midsummer sun shimmering on the horizon. (Likely this shimmering sunset image was scored unconsciously, being composed in midsummer. A more applicable mood might be "Indian sunset". Perhaps this Indian style came from a capricious feeling of youthfulness.)
The bright tempo and melody return for the last section. The climactic volley of musical display is like explosive fireworks as the last sounds echo throughout the concert hall.
Hokuten no Hi
by Yuichi Abe (8min)
Translating to “Sun of the Northern Sky,” Hokuten no Hi summons to mind sprawling vistas filled with light and adventure. The music organically travels between bold declarations, reflective moments of repose, plaintive melodies and wild dances that take the listener on an epic sonic journey. The title is of interest because of the fact that in Abe’s native Japan, the sun is seen in the southern half of the sky. Abe gives no indication in the score as to what this Sun in the North is or represents, leaving it to the listener to discover for themselves within his regal music.
Yuichi Abe was born in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture (Japan) in 1968, raised in Akita, and has lived in Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture since 2013. His works have been chosen for the All-Japan Band Competition, and he has been awarded the Asahi Composition Competition prize multiple times. He also frequently writes for brass band and choral settings.
The Lighthouse
By JoAnne Harris (4min)
Harris wrote The Lighthouse in 2018 after enduring a lengthy travelogue by her parents about seeing every single lighthouse in Nova Scotia. During this travelogue, Harris’s sister started pulling supplemental materials from the internet and found drone footage of Port Meadway Head. Harris’s sister said: “I think this video would be better if you had scored it.” This sparked Harris’s idea for the piece, which is built around oscillating textures and minimalist influences.
JoAnne Harris (b. 1984) is an American composer, arranger, conductor, and educator based in Upstate New York. She credits “her father’s very diverse record collection” for giving her the broad musical tastes that are now reflected in her career. She has written and orchestrated music for film, television, several types of theater, and the concert stage.
Celtic Dance
By C. L. Thomas (3min)
Delightful celtic melodies accompanied by tambourine dance across the page, reeds drone as bagpipes, as brass sound stridently in this work created by C. L. Thomas. The driving pulse of the field drum can be felt moving beneath the piece at all times, sometimes as the main instrument in the jig and sometimes as a distant whisper concealed behind hills on a still morning.
Maryland-native C. L. Thomas is an emerging band composer and conductor. Heavily inspired by personal experiences, his music brings life to memories and emotion to his audience through sound. His philosophy of music depends on breaking the fourth wall and immersing the audience and musicians in vivid soundscapes depicting moments like the first budding flower of Spring, the emotional trauma of cognitive dissonance, haunting nightmares, and more.
The Clockmaker's Workshop
By Darryl Johnson II (3min)
The Clockmaker’s Workshop is a light, animated work that attempts to emulate the mechanical activity of a clockmaker’s workshop. The coordinated use of percussion presents a great opportunity for a skilled percussion section to shine.
Darryl Johnson II (b. 1984) is a native of Southern California. He began publishing wind band literature in 2010 and has since gone on to produce over 50 concert works for wind band, orchestra, and jazz band. In 2012, he established The Composition Experience to provide opportunities for academic ensembles to gain experience with a living composer and interact directly with the mechanics of music composition. Since then, he has worked with hundreds of bands and orchestras in over 40 states and 3 countries, conducted his music in numerous concerts, collaborated on new and inventive commissions, and guided countless students through the fundamentals of the composition process.
Fortress
By Theresa Martin (8.5min)
The title Fortress came to me before I composed the piece, and it is multi-dimensional. A fortress may be your belief and trust in a higher being, that through Him all things are possible. Your fortress may be a positive state of mind, to protect yourself physically, mentally, or spiritually from things such as negative emotions, disease, suffering, etc. Your fortress may also be a self-protective, and sometimes self-destructive, shield which masks your true self from reality. What is inside the fortress also has significance. For the faithful, is it a beautiful garden of love and acceptance, next to a pool which mirrors God’s love? For the lost, is it a lonely, empty space, broken-down with time, crumbling and turning to dust? The form of the piece was guided by a beloved children’s book about perseverance, facing up to your fears, and overcoming an internal struggle. Some imagery which I incorporated into the music are the building of walls, the passage of time, feelings of anxiety, doubt, and loneliness followed by escape, perseverance, and redemption. Fortress was commissioned by the Arizona State University Wind Ensemble, conducted by Jason Caslor, for his inaugural concert as director of bands at Arizona State University on Sept. 19, 2019.
Hunting Scenes
By Satoshi Yagisawa (7min)
Satoshi Yagisawa’s often-dramatic concert band works are not only played in his homeland of Japan, but also throughout Asia and around the world. The commission for this work in fact came from Taiwan, upon which Yagisawa drew inspiration from the traditional hunting songs of the Taroko, a people native to Eastern Taiwan.
Yagisawa was born April 3rd, 1975 in Tokyo, Japan. He graduated from the Musashino Academy of Music, where also earned a the Master’s of Music. His work is varied and includes orchestral music, chamber music, choral music and music for traditional Japanese instruments.
Mission Songs
By Haley Woodrow (3min)
Historically late autumn is a celebration of the end of the harvest, a time to enjoy the fruits of labor, share our abundance with others, and gather to celebrate and exchange our culture and experiences. My goal was to capture the essence of the season, so in the arranging of the two songs in this work, I selected traditional songs with a rich and significant history!
The first song, “Alabado", is a Spanish word that literally translated means “song of thanksgiving”. The second song, "Lac qui Parle” is is a tune notated and given lyrics by Joseph Renville, whose mother was Sioux Indian and father was French Canadian. The tune is among the world’s most widely known melodies of American Indian origin, and I included it to honor Native Americans. Lac qui Parle literally translates to “lake that talks”, and in addition to being the name of the song, was a mission in which the Sioux Indians’ Dakota language was written and parts of the Bible were translated.
Remembering the Remarkables
By Grace Baugher (7min)
This piece is about mountains in many forms. Metaphorically speaking, everyone has his or her own mountain to climb and for me that was a literal mountain. My New Years resolution for the year 2017 was to climb a 14er. Those who know me know that strenuous activity is not my idea of fun but I wanted this goal to stretch me. That spring I had a knee injury that caused me to go through a few months of physical therapy making it not possible for me to make the climb that year. Summer 2018 had me working toward my goal again, this time with a bit of hesitation after my injury. On a Sunday in August, I made it to the top.
This experience taught me 2 things. First, that climbing a mountain has two victories: getting to the top and then getting back to the bottom again. Each had their own challenges but they were all part of the same goal. The second is that mountains have false peaks. You may think you are nearing the top only to realize you are only half way up. I found that these lessons apply to life as well and the women who were part of the suffrage movement no doubt experienced them in their journey. These remarkable women paved the way for women of the future of have the freedom to pursue the lives they want. Writing this piece is only a small tribute when compared to the gratitude they deserve.
The title, Remembering the Remarkables, was inspired by my recent trip to New Zealand. There is a mountain range called the Remarkables on the southern island that is so perfectly picturesque and inspiring that I don’t think I could ever forget them. It was here that my piece began to take shape.
Forgotten Tales of the West
By Adrian B. Sims (4.5min)
This powerful work serves as a soundtrack for the many battles fought between the Native Americans and Europeans during the early unsettled history of North America. The music effectively represents both sides of the conflict, moving between Native American-influenced themes and western harmonies before developing into an amalgamation of the two.
Adrian B. Sims (b. 2000), born in Seattle, Washington is an accomplished composer, conductor, educator, and trombonist. Adrian’s music has been performed at prestigious conferences such as The Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic and at new music reading sessions across the country. His music has also been selected for the Bandworld Top 100 List, and many of his works appear on the J.W. Pepper Editor’s Choice List.
Twelve Gallon Hat
By Julie Giroux (6min)
"Fond of western television and film music like Bonanza, Silverado, City Slickers, The Magnificent Seven and many, many others, I decided to compose a work as a tribute to my favorites. It is a wild ride to be certain with double tonguing faster than any 6 shooter and woodwind runs flying across the page like tumbleweed. Tie yourself into the saddle and hang on for this fast and furious romp across the wild, wild, wild west!"
Julie Giroux is best known as a composer for modern Wind Ensemble and Symphonic band music. Her television, film & video game credits date back to 1984 and continue to this day. Julie has received many prestigious awards over her career which includes Emmy Awards.