If there was a narrative to this semester, it was that life is full of surprises, and you never know what you’re going to get. Big ups followed big downs, punctuated by plenty of big middles and big weirds.
A delightful Weird had the first word: a Pease-brand upright piano was donated to Hartwick! It naturally ended up in my office. This company operated in Cooperstown, then New York City, in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and is no relation to my branch of the family.
This joyful coincidence was a brief salve on the real pain caused by the Omicron variant of COVID that took out the January arts calendar (and so much more). My own small slice of this saw three canceled concerts – a small price to pay for public health and safety, but a bleak reminder that we were still living in uncertain times.
Nonetheless, the semester proper got underway with relatively little incident. At Hartwick College, we welcomed Martha Mooke to our campus in March! Our Wind Ensemble played alongside her, as well as on our own, at a concert on March 10 which also celebrated International Women’s Day. In addition to spotlighting women composers, this concert featured music that expanded our conception of what a band can do in ways big and small.
Sonic Meditations – Pauline Oliveros
Kayomatique – Martha Mooke, performed twice: once on our own and once with the composer.
Our second concert, FLOURISH, took place on May 3, celebrating our seniors as we prepared them off into the world. Despite COVID and flu knocking out a handful of players, it was a great success! This concert included:
Flourish for Wind Band – Ralph Vaughan Williams
Harlem Nocturne – Earle Hagen, arr. Krance (for trumpeter Robert Johns)
On This Bright Morning – David Maslanka (for flutist Emily Jackson)
Bugler’s Holiday – Leroy Anderson
Perthshire Majesty – Samuel Hazo (for clarinetist Mallory Storms, conducted by Tristan Bachorik)
Toccata for Band – Frank Erickson (belatedly for clarinetist Ushuaia Diaz, conducted by Louis Doherty)
Joy Revisited – Frank Ticheli (conducted by Robert Johns)
Between these concerts, on April 15, the Hartwick Faculty Wind Octet returned! This time, we tackled four centuries of harmoniemusik, as follows:
Overture for Wind Octet – Malcolm Arnold, arr. Radok
Petite Symphonie – Charles Gounod
Serenade in C-minor – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Despite some early setbacks, the Catskill Valley Wind Ensemble went ahead with a May 1 concert. This was an epic show, with SEVEN conductors – we called it CONDUCTOR FEST! I had the great privilege of leading a little less than half of the show. Here’s the rep, with the conductors listed:
Raiders March – John Williams, arr. Lavender (Amy Hoxie)
Somewhere from West Side Story – Leonard Bernstein, arr. Brown (Amy Hoxie)
Toccata for Band – Frank Erickson (Ushuaia Diaz)
Rhythm Stand – Jennifer Higdon (Deanna Perkosky)
Nettleton – Johnny Vinson (Paul Durgala)
Americans We – Henry Fillmore (Paul Blake)
Light Cavalry Overture – Franz von Suppe (Cheryl Nages)
And I conducted all of the following:
Handel in the Strand – Percy Grainger, arr. Goldman
Paris Sketches – Martin Ellerby
I also was able to do some traveling, despite the constant background noise of COVID. First, I was at the CBDNA Eastern Division Conference representing Hartwick College on February 18 and 19 – read the link there to see what a potentially life-changing experience it was! One highlight was sharing the Hartwick Wind Ensemble’s 2020 performance of Steven Bryant’s Nothing Gold Can Stay in the Small Band Showcase. I also had FIVE students in the Intercollegiate Band! They played:
Perseids – Alexandra Gardner
Give Us This Day – David Maslanka
I also went to the NYSBDA Symposium on March 4-6 in Syracuse, where I got to connect with treasured colleagues, hear great performances, see amazing clinics, and interview Living Legend Gary Green! (Full disclosure: as the 1st Vice President of NYSBDA, I organized the clinic side of this event.)
Right around this time, I also started visiting schools again for the first time in two years. It was a delirious string of nearly THIRTY visits that brought me in front of around 1000 band students in 3 months. I was reminded in my travels around the state that New York is an amazing place for bands.
The semester ended on somewhat of a sour note: my entire family got COVID! By some miracle, I missed no concerts, and was even back in action in time for Hartwick’s first in-person Commencement in three years. Nonetheless, as I write this, the world looks forward to the end of this latest COVID wave.
Finally, here is a look at the concerts that didn’t happen this semester, all canceled for reason surrounding the Omicron wave.
Catskill Valley Wind Ensemble‘s annual Pops concert on January 23:
The Wizard of Oz – Harold Arlen, arr. Barnes
Raiders March – John Williams, arr. Lavender
Rhythm Stand – Jennifer Higdon
Light Cavalry Overture – Franz von Suppe, arr. Fillmore
Lawrence of Arabia – Maurice Jarr, arr. Reed/Rogers
“Somewhere” from West Side Story – Leonard Bernstein, arr. Brown
Graceful Ghost Rag – William Bolcom
Bond… James Band – arr. Bulla
Fulton County, NY Senior All County Band, February 4 and 5:
New Wade N Water – Adolphus Hailstork
Ulster (NY) Senior All County Band on March 11 and 12: