America Exultant March

Henry Fillmore (1881 - 1956)

Henry Fillmore was an American composer, arranger and band leader. He is originally from Ohio and wrote 113 marches as well as approximately 100 other pieces of music.

America Exultant was written in 1907. Trombones and low brass are featured throughout, along with a trumpet-and-drum motif and a woodwind obbligato. The very unique trio is based on “America.”

Niagra Falls

Adrian B. Sims (b. 2000)

Adrian B. Sims was born in Seattle, Washington in 2000 and has been composing since he was eleven years old.

He is a trombonist and has participated in All-State Honor bands and has played side by side with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

Niagara Falls was composed in 2019, when he was just 19, and dedicated to the Baltimore County Music Educators Wind Symphony. The flowing melodic lines and rich harmonic texture helps to depict the journey down the Niagara River. As the music builds in intensity and strength it creates a musical high point of Niagara Falls. The music gradually lightens, reminding us of the slower moving water beneath the falls and ends with a gentle ending that represents the Niagara River flowing into Lake Ontario.

Fantasy on a Theme of Sousa

Andrew Boysen, Jr. (b. 1968)

Andrew Boysen, Jr. is an American composer, arranger, conductor and educator.

Boysen earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in wind conducting at the Eastman School of Music. He received his Master of Music degree in wind conducting from Northwestern University in 1993 and his Bachelor of Music degree in music education and music composition from the University of Iowa in 1991.

Dr. Boysen is presently a full professor in the music department at the University of New Hampshire, where he conducts the wind symphony and teaches conducting, composition and orchestration. He remains active as a guest conductor and clinician, appearing with high school, university and festival ensembles across the United States and Great Britain. He was the Santa Clara County Honor Band guest conductor in 2016. Dr. Boysen also maintains an active schedule as a composer and conductor.

Fantasy on a Theme of Sousa was composed in 2004. This fantasy is based on the opening bars of John Philip Sousa's 1908 march, Fairest of the Fair. Snippets of the theme are disguised in the opening low brass chorale, melodic fragments are tossed among instrumental sections, and the work closes with a triumphant return to the opening chorale.

Early Light

Carolyn Bremer (1957 - 2018)

Carolyn Bremer credits her parents for her musical upbringing. Her mother was a computer engineer and the first female engineering major at UCLA. Her father was a high school choir director. She tried piano, flute, and eventually settled on string bass. Her father prevented her from pursuing trumpet and percussion which she stated "I really regret it, especially drums".

Dr. Bremer studied at the Eastman School of Music and CalArts, and received the Ph.D. in composition from the University of California Santa Barbara. She was chair of composition at the University of Oklahoma from 1991 to 2000. At the time of her death, Bremer was chair of the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at the California State University, Long Beach.

Early Light was first composed for orchestra in 1995 and transcribed for band in 1999. The material is largely derived from The Star Spangled Banner. One need not attribute an excess of patriotic fervor in the composer as a source for this optimistic homage to our national anthem; Carolyn Bremer, a passionate baseball fan since childhood, drew upon her feelings of happy anticipation at hearing the anthem played before ball games when writing her piece. The slapstick heard near the end echoes the crack of the bat on a long home run.

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Elliot del Borgo (1938 - 2013)

Based on the poem by Dylan Thomas:

Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Dylan Thomas

Born in Port Chester, NY, Elliot Del Borgo holds a B.S. degree from the State University of New York, an Ed.M. degree from Temple University, and an M.M. degree from the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music, where he studied theory and composition with Vincent Persichetti and trumpet with Gilbert Johnson. In 1973 he was granted the doctoral equivalency by SUNY, and was elected to membership in the American Bandmasters Association in 1993.

Mr. Del Borgo taught instrumental music in the Philadelphia public schools and was professor of music at the Crane School of Music, where he held teaching and administrative positions from 1966 to 1995. An award-winning member of ASCAP, he is a frequent consultant, clinician, lecturer, and adjudicator in the United States and abroad. Mr. Del Borgo is an internationally known conductor of bands and orchestras.

In addition to his music for the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, he has published over 600 compositions for a variety of media. His music reflects the aesthetics of 20th-century musical ideals through its eclectic nature and vigorous harmonic and rhythmic style.

Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night was commissioned in 1978 to commemorate two of Del Borgo's students who were tragically killed in a car accident. The Dylan Thomas poem Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night was the motivation for this musical composition. While not a programmatic depiction of the poem, the work attempts to recreate the essence of the poem in sound. The opening motive, representative of the life force, permeates much of the work. An Ivesian use of sound layers -- in the form of polytonal hymns -- calls to mind the struggles and persistence of the human spirit and its refusal to "go gentle."

4 distinct sections with 4 original themes and 3 borrowed religious melodies: In Dulci Jubilo, A Mighty Fortress is Our God, and Sing Unto the Lord a Joyful Song. There are frequently used intervallic and rhythmic motives throughout.

First section is slow and hauntingly ominous with the first theme which Del Borgo refers to as representative of the life force appears in a unison presentation by the horns, clarinets and saxes. Theme 2 and theme 3 are also presented in the 1st slow section.

Second Section is a quick allegro using fragments of the themes. Chordal and Quintal sounds in the brass, clustered pitch collections and imitative counterpoint and extensive and dense musical layering of the established thematic material and the 3 borrowed religious melodies in varied key centers and rhythmic speeds which create a Charles Ive’s like collage of melodies.

The third section at a new adagio tempo begins with a roaring roll from the drums which subsides into an almost Oliver Messian like chirping of quasi bird calls in the upper woodwinds. A new broad lyrical theme is heard amidst a rolling piano like component in the low reeds and clarinets which is then followed by a larger presentation of the theme from the entire ensemble with a new triplet accompaniment.

The fourth section is a coda which recaps the previous themes with hints of the borrowed thematic materials ending in a drone with the trumpets stating the opening theme.

Autumn

Cait Nishimura (b. 1991)

CAIT NISHIMURA is a Canadian composer, songwriter, and music educator based in Waterloo, Ontario. Known for writing melody-driven, programmatic music, Cait has quickly established herself as a prominent voice in the concert band community. With influences from minimalism and pop music, her work is full of simple yet lush harmonies, and themes that linger in listeners’ minds. A lifelong nature-lover, she draws inspiration from the beauty of the natural world and aims to transport listeners to the landscapes she writes about.

Autumn was originally composed for SATB choir, and was transcribed for wind band by the composer in 2018. The choral version features original text inspired by seasonal scenic imagery. The setting for wind band stays true to the pacing and character of the original, with added instrumental texture and colour.

The sun hides low in the sky igniting the forest with rays of light.

The air lies motionless until a gentle wind whispers, disrupting this peace.

With this wind dances a colourful melancholy, painting the seasons with brushstrokes of time.

Memories swirl in this cool breeze, though warmth lingers in the arms of trees holding on until the last single leaf falls.

A Mother of a Revolution

Omar Thomas (b. 1984)

Omar Thomas is an LGBTQ African American composer, arranger and educator.

Born to Guyanese parents, Omar moved to Boston in 2006 to pursue a Master of Music degree in jazz composition at the New England Conservatory of Music.

Omar's music has been performed in concert halls across the country. He has been commissioned to create works in both jazz and classical styles. His work has been performed by such diverse groups as the Eastman New Jazz Ensemble, the San Francisco and Boston Gay Men's Choruses, and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Thomas accepted a position in the composition area at the University of Texas in Austin in the fall of 2020. Previously he was a member of both the Harmony and Music Education departments at Berklee School of Music. Omar was nominated for the Distinguished Faculty Award after only three years at the college, and was thrice awarded the Certificate of Distinction in Teaching from Harvard University, where he served as a teaching fellow.

A Mother of a Revolution is a celebration of the bravery of trans women, and in particular, Marsha "Pay It No Mind" Johnson.

Omar says about his piece: There is no demographic more deserving, and frankly, long overdue for highlighted heroism and bravery. The disco vibe in the latter half of the piece is meant to honor club culture, a sacred space held amongst LGBTQ persons in which to love, live, mourn, heal, strategize, connect, disconnect, and dance in defiance of those outside forces who would seek to do LGBTQ persons harm simply for daring to exist and take up space. We pump our fists to honor the life, heroism, activism, and bravery of Marsha P. Johnson, to honor the legacy of the Stonewall revolution, to honor the memory of the trans lives violently ended due to fear and hatred, and in honor of trans women worldwide who continue to exist unapologetically and who demand to be seen.

Thank you!

As we conclude this evening's performance, we want to give our sincerest thanks to those who make music in the Palo Alto Unified School District possible.

Gunn Band and Orchestra Music Boosters

Booster Board Members

Greta Olbrich - President, Andrea Jelks – Treasurer, Catherine Phillips – Secretary, Claire Kirner – Membership, Elizabeth Lee – Publicity, Star Teachout - Volunteer Coordinator

TriM Music Honor Society (ushers and concert support) - Sandra Lewis, Advisor

Gunn Administration, Wendy Stratton - Principal

Kelly Martin, PAUSD VAPA Coordinator

Kari Johnson, PAUSD VAPA Administrative Assistant

Kyle Langdon, Supervisor of Theatre Facilities

Camille Kelly, Spangenberg Theatre Technician

Tonight's Parent Volunteers

Gunn Custodial Team