Fall 2011 is done. What fun it was. I did 2 big programs with the Columbia University Wind Ensemble:

LIGHT – Sunday, October 23 at 2pm, Roone Arledge Auditorium, Columbia University

(By the way, look carefully and you’ll see a dramatic arc to this program, from total darkness to blazing, brilliant light.)

Overture from Dancer in the Dark – Björk Guðmundsdóttir, arr. Vince Mendoza

Shadow Rituals – Michael Markowski (senior choice for Jason Mogen)

Angels in the Architecture – Frank Ticheli (conducted by Columbia senior Berkley Todd)

Divertimento – Vincent Persichetti

Lux Aurumque – Eric Whitacre

Beacon Fires – Rob Smith

 

TRAVELING EAST – Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 2pm, Roone Arledge Auditorium

Orient et Occident – Camille Saint-Saens

Variations on a Korean Folk Song – John Barnes Chance

Come, Drink One More Cup – Chen Qian

Selections from Princess Mononoke – Joe Hisaishi, arr. Kazuhiro Morita

Festal Scenes – Yasuhide Ito

The Sun Will Rise Again – Philip Sparke was supposed to be on this program. But the music never arrived, despite the fact that we ordered it in September.

We also traveled to Brown University on Sunday, November 20, for a joint concert with the Brown Wind Symphony. We played a little music from each of our big concerts, as follows:

Orient et Occident – Camille Saint-Saens

Variations on a Korean Folk Song – John Barnes Chance

Lux Aurumque – Eric Whitacre

Festal Scenes – Yasuhide Ito

In addition, I traveled to Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia for a conducting symposium with Jerry Junkin, Kevin Sedatole, and Jamie Nix on December 3 and 4. I conducted the following:

Molly on the Shore – Percy Grainger

English Folk Song Suite – Ralph Vaughan Williams (2nd movement)

Divertissement for Winds – Emile Bernard (1st movement)

That was one of the best conducting workshops I’ve been to, ever. Aspiring conductors: keep this one on your radar!

Finally, Columbia Summer Winds played a pet parade the day after the fluke October snowstorm.