March 8th - Concert Band & Wind Symphony
Dr. Alex Wimmer, Conductor
Olivia Bazanos, Graduate Assistant Conductor
Cally Bitterlin, Graduate Assistant Conductor
Preston Thomas, Graduate Assistant Conductor
Travis Turner, Graduate Assistant Conductor
Concert Band
Liadov Fanfare (2009)................................................................................................Brian Beck (b. 1976)
Conducted by Olivia Bazanos, Graduate Assistant
Within the Castle Walls (2021)...........................................................................Brian Balmages (b. 1975)
Conducted by Cally Bitterlin, Graduate Assistant
Byzantine Dances (2018).......................................................................Carol Brittin Chambers (b. 1970)
Conducted by Travis Turner, Graduate Assistant
Fivefold (2018)........................................................................................................Michael Oare (b. 1960)
Conducted by Preston Thomas, Graduate Assistant
Wind Symphony
Dr. Alex Wimmer, Conductor
Carnival Day (1999)............................................................................................Chang Su KOH (b. 1970)
Outlander (2010).......................................................................................................Julie Giroux (b. 1961)
Mirage (2020)..........................................................................................Grace Baugher Dunlap (b. 1995)
Chorale and Shaker Dance (1972)...................................................................John Zdechlik (1937-2020)
Concert Band Program Notes
Liadov Fanfare (2009)................................................................................................Brian Beck (b. 1947)
Conducted by Olivia Bazanos, Graduate Assistant
Based on themes by Anatoli Lyadov, this bold fanfare provides a profound statement. Stately melodies by this well-known Russian composer are used to provide an uplifting and majestic setting for this stunning work.
-Program notes from J.W. Pepper.
Within the Castle Walls (2021)...........................................................................Brian Balmages (b. 1975)
Conducted by Cally Bitterlin, Graduate Assistant
Within the Castle Walls is a collection of Welsh songs inspired by war and revolution. It is set mostly in a Renaissance style with a few contemporary twists thrown in from time to time. The first movement, A Mighty Warrior, tells a fascinating legend of the capture of King Richard the Lionheart. The second movement, Over the Stone, is a traditional Welsh song telling the story about a warrior who returns home from battle. This movement in particular inspired the title of the entire piece.
Men of Harlech is a famous march based on an old Welsh air. It is a great source of Welsh pride and nationalism as it describes the defending of Harlech Castle against English forces in 1468. The final movement, Owain Glyndwr’s War Song, is based on the tune The Rising of the Lark, a traditional Welsh march.
-Program notes by Brian Balmages, accessed from windrep.org.
Byzantine Dances (2018).......................................................................Carol Brittin Chambers (b. 1970)
Conducted by Travis Turner, Graduate Assistant
Byzantine Dances is generally meant to portray a set of Turkish dances. The opening dance is fast and energetic, written in the style of a Roma Gypsy dance. During this upbeat dance, the melody incorporates grace notes that are fun to play, while the harmony and bass line incorporate enjoyable countermelodies and syncopated lines. The slower section in the middle of the piece is written in the style of a Zeybek dance. This type of dance is often performed by a solo dancer symbolizing courage and heroism. The dancer uses out-stretched arms, almost resembling a great hawk.
In this piece, I chose to incorporate some uniquely Turkish-sounding elements. Much of the melodic material is based on either the Byzantine scale or the harmonic major scale, both of which produce a somewhat exotic sound. Another element is the use of Turkish zills, or finger cymbals, which are often used in dances of this region.
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, lasted from about 400 to 1453 A.D. and covered much of the area of what is now Turkey. With the conquest of the Byzantine Empire’s capital, Constantinople, the Ottoman Empire began its reign in 1453. After World War I, the Ottoman Empire fell, and the Republic of Turkey was formed in 1923.
- Program Note by Carol Brittin Chambers, accessed from windrep.org.
Fivefold (2018)........................................................................................................Michael Oare (b. 1960)
Conducted by Preston Thomas, Graduate Assistant
Fivefold was commissioned by the band directors in Sampson County, North Carolina. In conversations regarding the nature and scope of the work, the directors mentioned they would like the piece to include some reference to the five high school band programs in the school district. To incorporate as many "fives" into the piece as possible, several instances of "five" are present. Some are obvious, such as the setting of the piece in 5/4 meter. Others are subtle, such as the melodic and harmonic use of the interval of a fifth (and its inversion version: a fourth). The most intriguing reference to "five" is that the entire piece is comprised of only five pitches: Bb, D, Eb, F, and Ab. (In fact, only these five pitches are used throughout the piece; with the lone exception being measure 116 and 117 where Db and Gb briefly appear.)
-Program notes by Michael Oare
Wind Symphony Program Notes
Carnival Day (1999)............................................................................................Chang Su KOH (b. 1970)
Carnival Day was composed on the commission of Harima Minami High School in Harima, Japan in 1999. It was originally composed in the “traditional” style of a march but evolved into a hybrid circus march. Though the form of Carnival Day (1999) strays from a typical march you can still hear the same virtuosotic, dynamic, and playful characteristics of a standard march. Further variations of the beginning theme, form, tempos, and harmonic variations provide an added layer of complexity, while remaining a “circus march.”
Chang Su KOH was born in Osaka, Japan in 1970. KOH earned a degree in composition from the Osaka College of Music before entering the Musik Academie der Stadt Basel in Switzerland. There he studied composition with Kunihiko Tanaka and Rudolf Kelterborn and conducting with Jost Meyer. KOH has received numerous awards for his compositions including the 12th Asahi Composition Prize, the Master Yves Leleu prize from the 1st Comines-Warneto International Composition Contest, 1st at the Zoltán Kodály Memorial International Composers Competition, and 2nd prize from the 5th Suita Music Contest competition section. KOH currently teaches at the Osaka College of Music and the ESA Conservatory of Music and Wind Repair Academy where he composes and arranges orchestral, wind, and chamber music. He is also a member of the Kansai Modern Music Association.
-Program notes by Alex Wimmer.
Outlander (2010).......................................................................................................Julie Giroux (b. 1961)
Outlander is a musical odyssey which explores emotions and states in the extreme; fear, total isolation, violence, pain, hope, relief and in the end, tears of joy and triumph. Full of textures and dynamic contrasts this work is extremely descriptive with the help of extensive melodic percussion and piano parts. The percussion and piano pads create a wonderful pallet which at times is dark and foreboding, even primal. Other times it helps creates a melodic texture that is sadly beautiful. Outlander explores what it is to be both human and alien with an orchestration and form that is totally freestyle.
This work reflects the futuristic musical journey of a young heroine named Nanami who has recently graduated from the Space Academy. Her first mission into space turns into a catastrophic event forcing everyone on the ship to abandon via personal escape pods. Nanami unfortunately gets sucked into a worm hole and comes out millions of miles away from home. Low on fuel and supplies Nanami lands on a planet with oxygen and carbon-based life forms where she is an alien, captured and treated with hostility at best. Her only saving grace? On this planet, all of the creatures can hear her thoughts and she can hear theirs. The dominant race of this planet does not share this gift. Nanami uses this talent to her advantage and with the help of these creatures escapes, flies back through the worm hole and returns safely to earth.
Julie Ann Giroux was born in Fairhaven, Massachusetts on December 12, 1961. She graduated from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge LA in 1984. She started playing piano at 3 years of age and began composing at the age of 8 and has been composing ever since. Her first published work for concert band, published by Southern Music Company was composed at the age of 13.
Julie began composing commercially in 1984. She was hired by Oscar winning composer Bill Conti as an orchestrator, her first project with Conti being “North & South” the mini-series. With over 100 film, television and video game credits, Giroux collaborated with dozens of film composers, producers, and celebrities including Samuel Goldwyn, Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Madonna, Liza Minnelli, Celene Dion, Paula Abdul, Michael Jackson, Paul Newman, Harry Connick Jr. and many others. Projects she has worked on have been nominated for Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Golden Globe awards. She has won individual Emmy Awards in the field of “Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Direction”. When She won her first Emmy Award, she was the first woman and the youngest person to ever win that award. She has won it three times.
Giroux has also published a large category of classical works with emphasis on original compositions for Wind Band which are published by Musica Propria and distributed internationally. She is greatly sought after as a composer and recently completing her 5th Symphony “Sun, Rain & Wind” which premiered in June 2018. Her music has been recorded and reviewed internationally receiving top reviews and her music has been performed at major music festivals the world over.
Giroux has been a true force in a male dominated field and has accrued many previously male only awards. She is a member of ASCAP, The Film Musicians Fund, Kappa Kappa Psi, Tau Beta Sigma and a member of the American Bandmasters Association. She is a recipient of the Distinguished Service to Music Medal Award, Emmy Awards and was the first female composer inducted into the American Bandmasters Association in 2009.
-Program notes by Julie Giroux.
Mirage (2020)..........................................................................................Grace Baugher Dunlap (b. 1995)
A mirage is an illusion that leads us in one direction only to give us false hope when we reach the desired location. I’d been thinking about how, in many ways, the way we view ourselves is a mirage. Our self-image is tainted by the ideas of who others say we are and the person we think we have to be. Yet when we allow these influences to guide us, the end result isn’t always what we imagine. Mirage follows the reflective process of discovering who we actually are and the journey to loving ourselves.
Mirage (2020) for band is an adaption of a work for woodwind ensemble by the same name. The abundance of colors available in a woodwind only ensemble was suddenly expanded when put into a full band setting. I created choirs within the ensemble to make use of the variety of timbres and layered them slowly. The piece moves through simple progressions and melodies that layer and expand until everyone is playing together at the climax. Echos of melodies from earlier in the piece bring the music to a close as if to say that loving ourselves is a process and that we are a product of what we have overcome.
Grace Baugher Dunlap is a Kansas born composer, horn player, and music educator. Her music is known for its memorable melodies and highlights emotional aspects of the human experience. She is a graduate of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville with a Masters in Music Composition and Graduate Certificate in Music Theory Pedagogy. Previously she studied Music Composition and French Horn at Kansas State University where she later received a Graduated Certificate in Music Education. Her music has an international presence and has made appearances at many colleges and conferences across the country including the 75th Annual Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago.
Grace lives in Kansas City with her husband Max, her cats Elsa and Willett, and many, many plants.
-Program notes by Grace Baugher Dunlap.
Chorale and Shaker Dance (1972)...................................................................John Zdechlik (1937-2020)
Chorale and Shaker Dance was commissioned by the Jefferson High School Band of Bloomington, Minnesota. The premiere took place at the National MENC convention in 1972. The piece consists of two sections; a chorale and a shaker dance (as the title suggests). Both are set to the traditional Shaker hymn, Tis a Gift to be Simple. More recently made famous by Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring (1944), Zhechlik merges his love of jazz (shown in the contrapuntal in intricacies and use of big band syncopation) with traditional theme and variation. His utilization of parallel thirds, triton relationships, and bitonality provide a textural pallet that merges American music of 19th century with the 21st century.
John Zdechlik is a native of Minneapolis, MN, where he is an active composer, performer, conductor, and clinician. He earned his Ph.D. in Theory and Composition from the University of Minnesota, where he studied with Paul Fetler and Frank Bencriscutto. Zdechlik was elected to the American Band Association in 1989. He has written numerous commissioned and published works for high school and college concert bands across. Zdechlik also traveled the world as an educator and conductor.
-Program notes by Alex Wimmer.
Kansas State University Concert Band
Flute Oboe Clarinet Bass Clarinet
Bassoon | Alto Saxophone Tenor Saxophone Baritone Saxophone Trumpet French Horn | Trombone Euphonium Tuba Percussion |
*Denotes Principal Section Player | ||
Kansas State University Wind Symphony
Flute Oboe Clarinet Bass Clarinet | Bassoon Alto Saxophone Tenor Saxophone Baritone Saxophone Trumpet French Horn | Trombone Euphonium Tuba Percussion Piano |
*Denotes Principal Section Player | ||
Concert Band Conductors
OLIVIA BAZANOS is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is one of the graduate assistants at Kansas State University. She earned her B.M. in Music Education from Slippery Rock University (SRU) in 2021. While at SRU she was extremely involved in marching band and was a section leader, fundamentals of marching chair, and head drum major during her undergraduate career. She has taught instrumental band grades 4-12 in public school teaching. Olivia was also an active performing member with the Slippery Rock University Winter Guard for two years.
Olivia has instructed as visual technician, guard instructor, and woodwind instructor at local high school marching bands and substituted within various Pennsylvania school districts. Olivia is also an active volunteer with Music For All, spending two weeks of every summer as a S.W.A.G. Team Member during her Summer Symposium held in Muncie, Indiana.
Olivia’s professional affiliations include Pennsylvania Music Educators Association, National Association of Music Education, Music For All, Kansas Bandmasters Association, Kansas Music Educators Association, Women Band Directors International, Tau Beta Sigma, and Mu Phi Epsilon.
CALLY BITTERLIN is a PhD Candidate and graduate assistant at Kansas State University. She earned both her B.M.E and M.M. from Kansas State University in 2008 and 201,1 respectively. While at Kansas State University, she was extremely involved in marching band and was a section leader and student staff during her undergraduate career. She has taught all grade levels K-12 in her 9 years of public school teaching. Cally has taught in Kansas, Texas, and Iowa.
In Texas, Cally taught at University High School where she oversaw the concert and symphonic bands and assisted with the marching, jazz, and mariachi bands. She also proposed and received a piano classroom and taught 3 sections of group piano lessons. Cally implemented a leadership program and training at the high school and continued to do the same in Iowa. She was a performing member in the saxophone section in the Waco Community Band and the Temple Symphonic Band. Cally was also a clinician and adjudicator for several schools and events for high schools and middle schools in Texas and continues to do so in Kansas. In Iowa, she oversaw the entire band program including color guard, athletic bands, concert, and jazz bands. The jazz and marching bands traveled in and out of state for several competitions during her tenure. Cally continued to perform on saxophone soloing for different occasions in the district and playing euphonium at Tuba Christmas.
Cally's professional affiliations include Texas Music Educators Association, Iowa Bandmasters Association, Kansas Music Educators Association, Women Band Directors International, Tau Beta Sigma, Kappa Delta Pi.
PRESTON THOMAS is from Lenexa, Kansas. He graduated from Kansas State University in 2019 with a Bachelor’s of Music Education Degree. During his time at Kansas State University, he was involved with the Pride of Wildcat Land Marching Band as section leader of the snare line and president of the percussion studio chapter of Percussive Arts Society. Preston also played in the Wind Ensemble, Concert Band, Brass Ensemble, Woodwind Ensemble, Volleyball Pep Band, Basketball Pep Band, and Percussion Ensemble.
After graduating Kansas State University, Preston went to Medicine Lodge, Kansas and taught grade 6-12 band and choir. During his time at Medicine Lodge, he was able to receive Superior ratings at both regional and state level competitions with all of his groups which had not been done in recent memory. He was also fortunate to be able to assist in acquiring new technology to the music department with a new digital sound and lighting system which helped bring a new energy to the concerts and performances.
TRAVIS TURNER is currently an M.M. candidate at Kansas State University. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at Missouri Southern State University (MSSU) in 2020, where he was involved in the marching band, taking on the role of drum captain for the drumline and later a student staff position. He also performed with the MSSU Wind Ensemble, acting as principal trombonist, and the MSSU Jazz Orchestra. He also performed with Resistance Indoor Percussion, an independent open class ensemble based out of Tulsa, Oklahoma. While performing with Resistance, Travis took on leadership roles within the ensemble and earned the “Member of the Year” award in 2018 and 2019.
Travis has worked with several high schools in Southwest Missouri, as well as the Wichita and Tulsa areas, teaching drumline and visual fundamentals. In his most recent endeavor, he was the Assistant Percussion Coordinator for the Joplin High School Winter Drumline, where he helped lead the ensemble to their highest-scoring season in five years. He also worked with Resistance Indoor Percussion in the 2020 season, working with the bass drums and teaching visual fundamentals. Travis has also started a small design business with his brother, writing and arranging shows for marching bands.
Wind Symphony Conductor
ALEX WIMMER is currently serving as the Assistant Director of Bands at Kansas State University. His duties include directing the Wind Symphony, Cat Band (basketball pep band), Volleyball Band, Pub Crawl Band, Assistant Marching Band Director for the Pride of Wildcat Land (KSUMB), arranger and drill designer for the KSUMB, and instructor of undergraduate and graduate courses in conducting, arranging, and marching band techniques. During the summer he coordinates the K-State Summer Music Camp and K-State Leadership and Auxiliary Camp, and serves as one of the Assistant Directors of the Manhattan Municipal Band. Prior to his appointment at Kansas State University, Dr. Wimmer was a Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Kansas State University Bands. He assisted with all concert and athletic ensembles, undergraduate conducting courses, and Percussion Ensembles. His research interests include undergraduates conducting with expressivity and qualitative research.
Originally from Gretna, Nebraska, Dr. Wimmer received his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2007, his Master of Music degree in Education with an emphasis in Wind Conducting from Kansas State University in 2014, and his Doctorate in Philosophy in Curriculum and Instruction from Kansas State University in 2017. Dr. Wimmer was the Director of Bands at Gretna High School and the Assistant Director of Bands at Gretna Middle School from 2007-2012. Under his direction his concert, jazz, and marching bands received consistent superior ratings. He was a recipient of the Jack R. Snider Young Band Director Award in 2011 and served on the Nebraska Music Educators Association Leadership Academy from 2011-2012.
Dr. Wimmer is in demand as a conductor, clinician, and adjudicator as well as a percussion specialist. His professional affiliations include the Kansas Music Educators Association, the Kansas Bandmasters Association, the National Association for Music Education, the College Band Directors National Association, the Percussive Arts Society, Kappa Kappa Psi, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and Phi Kappa Lambda.
UPCOMING EVENTS
*UNIVERSITY BAND CONCERT*
Wednesday, March 9th, 2022—7:30pm
McCain Auditorium
*COLORGUARD AUDITIONS*
Saturday, April 23rd, 2022
For more information, please contact Courtney Grecu at cljensen@ksu.edu
*WIND ENSEMBLE CONCERT*
Sunday, April 24th, 2022—1:00pm
McCain Auditorium
*WIND SYMPHONY & CONCERT BAND CONCERT*
Monday, April 25th, 2022—7:30pm
McCain Auditorium
*UNIVERSITY BAND CONCERT*
Tuesday, April 26th, 2022—7:30pm
McCain Auditorium
*CLASSY CAT AUDITIONS*
April 29-30th, 2022
For more information, please contact Sara Evans-Heptig at sarahheptig@gmail.com
*DRUMLINE MINI CAMP*
Saturday, May 7th, 2022
For more information, please contact Jack Johnson at jackjohnson@ksu.edu
*DRUMLINE AUDITIONS*
Saturday, May 21st, and Saturday, June 4th, 2022
Fore more information, please contact Jack Johnson at jackjohnson@ksu.edu
*SUMMER MUSIC CAMP*
June 12-16th, 2022
For more information, please contact Courtney Grecu at cljensen@ksu.edu
*LEADERSHIP AND AUXILIARY CAMP*
July 10-14th, 2022
For more information, please contact Courtney Grecu at cljensen@ksu.edu
*MARCHING PRIDE CLASSIC*
Saturday, July 16th, 2022—9:00am
Colbert Hills Golf Course
For more information, please contact Courtney Grecu at cljensen@ksu.edu
