Summer 2023 Recap

It’s fair to say that this summer ended up way busier than I expected! But it was all in service of bringing great music into the world, and in some truly fabulous places.

I began the summer leading the Oneonta Community Concert Band at Wilber Park in Oneonta on Saturday, June 11 at 3pm. We called the concert “Seize the Day,” and it imagined the story of one person’s day at a beach house:

Seize the Day – Patrick Burns

Sunny Side Up – Michael Markowski

Manhattan Beach – John Philip Sousa

Rollo Takes a Walk – David Maslanka

Stevie Wonder in Concert – Stevie Wonder (arr. Murtha)

Military Symphony in F – François Joseph Gossec

Hymn for the Innocent – Julie Giroux

Joy Revisted – Frank Ticheli

The Lion King – Elton John and Hans Zimmer (arr. Lavender)

Sleep – Eric Whitacre

Raiders March – John Williams (arr. Lavender)

On August 5, I joined Columbia Summer Winds for their 20th Anniversary Celebration in Battery Park, NYC. I got to conduct the Vaughan Williams below, all while looking directly at the Statue of Liberty! Here’s the full rep, which I shared with Bill Tonissen, Dawn Barrett, and Sarah Fernandez:

Ragamuffins – Danielle Fisher

Nobles of the Mystic Shrine – John Philip Sousa

Dear Evan Hansen – Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, arr. Brown

A Summer Breeze – J. Scott McKenzie (Winner of the 2012 Outdoor Composition Competition)

English Folk Song Suite – Ralph Vaughan Williams (my guest spot)

Street Flair – Michael Markowski

Stevie Wonder in Concert – Stevie Wonder, arr. Murtha

A Mother of a Revolution! – Omar Thomas

The Stars and Stripes Forever – John Philip Sousa

I lent my trumpet chops to the NYSBDA Directors Band on August 13-15, led by Anoa Green, part of the New York State Summer Music Conference:

Big City Lights – Marie Douglas

Sleep – Eric Whitacre