After a really rough spring, this summer was something of a relief! I found that my conducting abilities that felt so hobbled by my arm injury in January came back in full. I got to really take myself for a spin with a pair of Oneonta Community Concert Band shows, both at Neahwa Park in my beloved Oneonta, NY. Here’s how those went down:
Sunday, June 8 – “Classic and Contemporary Connections”
The Star Spangled Banner – Francis Scott Key, arr. Robert Russell Bennett
Hands Across the Sea – John Philip Sousa
Wishes and Wantings – Kelijah Dunton
Shepherd’s Hey – Percy Grainger
Symphonette – Frank Erickson
Three Ayres from Gloucester – Hugh Stuart
Songs of Childhood – Andrew Pease
On the Mall – Edwin Franko Goldman
Our Hometown Band – Rene Prins
July 17 at 7pm – “Look to the Skies”
The Star Spangled Banner – Francis Scott Key, arr. Robert Russell Bennett
The Invincible Eagle – John Philip Sousa
Music from the Royal Fireworks – George Frederick Handel
Moon by Night – Jonathan Newman
Tippy Tippy Top – Andrew Pease
Fate of the Gods – Steve Reineke
Selections from Wicked – Steven Schwartz
Our Hometown Band – Rene Prins
Meanwhile, I got to travel to New York City on June 30 to work with my old friends at the Manhattan Summer Winds on my piece Songs of Childhood, which I guess was my first composer residency! They played it in five concerts across Manhattan throughout the summer. Also on the composer front, I finished work on a grade 5 band piece, Three Reflections, which will premiere this coming November with the Catskill Valley Wind Ensemble.
Finally, I spent August 12-14 with my dear NYSBDA friends at the Conn-Selmer Institute Northeast, which was a truly wonderful and affirming coda to summer. I can’t wait to go back next year!