Symphonic Band Chamber Winds

Program notes

Shadow Song (2016)

Yo Goto (b. 1958)

Shadow Song was commissioned by “KYO-EN XIX, 2016,” a concert of new/unpublished works for wind band, as a part of its “The School Band Project.” This project produces new pieces for school bands, especially for smaller ensembles; therefore, the commission requires composers to create medium-grade pieces having limited instrumentation.

In this work, the entire ensemble consists of small chamber-ensemble groups. They are musically connected with, and are frequently conflicted by each other, and sometimes a group performs as a “shadow” of another group. The title is derived from such a relationship. In order to create the chamber groups, players sometimes have to change their performing places, and to show conflicting relationships between groups, one may perform with different tempo, meter, and/or key from the rest. Because the piece is focused on the concept of “shadow,” In darkness let me dwell, a lute song by John Dowland (1563-1626) is quoted to symbolize those shadows, and all musical materials of the piece are derived from this song.

Yo Goto (b. 1958, Akita, Japan) is a Japanese composer. Goto received his BME degree from Yamagata University, Japan, and studied composition with Shin-ichiro Ikebe at the Tokyo College of Music, completing a performance diploma course. Having been active as a composer, arranger and clinician in Japan since 2001, he moved to Texas to study with Cindy McTee at the University of North Texas. He holds a MM in composition and a MME from UNT.

Goto is recognized as one of the leading composers and arrangers in the United States and Japan. Recently, his works have been performed at the conventions of CBDNA, TBA, FMEA and at The Midwest Clinic. Goto is also considered a distinguished educator and researcher in the field of wind music. He frequently writes and lectures on the topics of selecting music for school band programs and the educational goals of band teaching. He has discussed new American and European wind literature with Japanese band directors at every level for over ten years, and his information is recognized as an educational standard in Japan. For excellence in clinics and wind literature research, Goto received the Academy Award from the Academic Society of Japan for Winds and Band in 2000. He also won the second place of the solo harp composition of the 2006 USA International Harp Competition.

—Program Note: Bravo Music

Letters from the Traveling Doll (2021)

Nicole Piunno (b. 1985)

In the words of the composer: “The idea for Letters from the Traveling Doll came to mind after I came across a story about the writer Franz Kafka and a heartbroken girl he encountered in the park. The young girl was crying because she lost her beloved doll. When Kafka realized they would not be able to locate her doll he told her that the doll had gone away on a journey and not to worry because her doll gave him a letter. Kafka composed a letter from the doll to explain her disappearance. The next day Kafka gave the girl this letter “written” by the doll that explained her disappearance and desire for an adventure. This was the beginning of many letters that explained these adventures. Kafka and the girl met many times to share these letters as they brought comfort to the child’s grieving heart.

I enjoy thinking about this story because it shows how healing can take place and how we can use our imagination to bring this healing. The story speaks about both grief and compassion. Grief is a response to the loss of something we love. Perhaps part of the healing process involves discovering how love can return in a transformed way. In this story, the letters and time given to the grieving child were gifts of love that helped her heal from the loss of her beloved doll.

This story is so beautiful and charming to me and I wanted to give it a soundtrack. The opening movement and final movement deal with the real-life experience between the author and the young girl. The middle movements relate to the letters from the doll. Since we do not have these letters, I decided to imagine the types of adventures the doll might have experienced.”

Nicole Piunno (b. 1985) is an American composer and trumpeter. Piunno holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in composition and a Master of Music degree in theory pedagogy at Michigan State University, 2014. Her composition teachers were Ricardo Lorenz and Charles Ruggiero. She earned a Master of Music degree in composition at Central Michigan University, studying with David Gillingham. She has also worked with Jason Bahr, David Ludwig and Tony Zilincik. Piunno earned a Bachelor of Music degree in music education from Ohio Wesleyan University, with an emphasis on trumpet.

She has performed with the Central Ohio Symphony Orchestra and appeared as a soloist with the Ohio Wesleyan University Chamber Orchestra. Piunno views music as a vehicle for seeing and experiencing the realities of life. Her music often reflects the paradoxes in life and how these seemingly opposites are connected as they weave together. Her harmonic language and use of counterpoint mirrors the complexity of our world by acknowledging lightness and darkness, past and present, beauty and brokenness, confinement and freedom, spiritual and physical, life and death.

Her music has recently been performed by the Principal Brass Quintet of the New York Philharmonic, Athena Brass Band, University of Akron Faculty Brass Quintet and the Michigan State University Symphony Band. Piunno was the winner of the 2018 Female Composer Competition, Beta Omicron Chapter, Kappa Kappa Psi. She teaches in the city schools of Dublin, Ohio.

Serenade for Kristin (2018)

Frank Ticheli (b. 1958)

In the words of the composer: “Serenade for Kristin was commissioned by my dear friend and colleague, conductor H Robert Reynolds, for his wife, Kristin Reynolds, in celebration of their 25th wedding anniversary. Mr. Reynolds asked that I compose a “love song” for Kristin, not only as a gift to commemorate this milestone in their lives, but as something that she herself could perform publicly (Kristin is an accomplished oboist).

What began as a “love song” evolved into something more. The introduction is somewhat unsettled and poignant in mood, perhaps suggesting a bleak and lonely place, as the soloist passionately cries out for answers, pleading for resolution. The plea is finally answered with the appearance of the main melody—a simple, almost folk-like tune that unfolds sweetly and delicately. This “song” gives way to a gentle dance in a kind of neo-Renaissance style. Ancient and modern influences intermingle — the rhythms and cadences harken to the past while the constantly shifting harmonies suggest a more modern-day spirit. Beginning calmly, the dance slowly grows in vibrancy until it bursts out in an ecstatic expression of joy. The energy recedes as the love song returns one final time.”

Frank Ticheli (b. 21 January 1958, Monroe, Louisiana) is an American composer and conductor. Ticheli joined the faculty of the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music in 1991, where he is professor of composition. From 1991 to 1998, Ticheli was composer-in-residence of the Pacific Symphony, and he still enjoys a close working relationship with that orchestra and their music director, Carl St. Clair.

Ticheli is well known for his works for concert band, many of which have become standards in the repertoire. In addition to composing, he has appeared as guest conductor of his music at Carnegie Hall, at many American universities and music festivals, and in cities throughout the world, including Schladming, Austria, at the Mid-Europe Music Festival; London and Manchester, England, with the Meadows Wind Ensemble; Singapore with the Singapore Armed Forces Central Band; and numerous cities in Japan with the Bands of America National Honor Band.

Ticheli is the winner of the 2006 NBA/William D. Revelli Memorial Band Composition Contest for his Symphony No. 2. Other awards for his music include the Charles Ives and the Goddard Lieberson Awards, both from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Walter Beeler Memorial Prize and First Prize awards in the Texas Sesquicentennial Orchestral Composition Competition, Britten-on-the-Bay Choral Composition Contest and Virginia CBDNA Symposium for New Band Music.

Ticheli received his doctoral and masters degrees in composition from The University of Michigan. His works are published by Manhattan Beach, Southern, Hinshaw, and Encore Music, and are recorded on the labels of Albany, Chandos, Clarion, Klavier, Koch International and Mark Records.

Méditation (1887/2019)

Charles- Édouard Lefèbvre (1943-1917), trans. Matthew R. Arau

Charles Édouard Lefèbvre was born in Paris on June 19, 1843 and died in Aix-les-Bains on September 8, 1917. He was the son of the famous painter Jules Lefèbvre (1805-1882). Charles studied with Ambroise Thomas and Charles Gounod at the Paris Conservatory. In 1870, Lefèbvre won the Prix de Rome for his cantata Le jugement de Dieu. In 1895, he became the professor of the ensemble class at the Paris Conservatory.

The first version of Lefèbvre’s Méditation was composed for organ, string orchestra and two oboes. Lefèbvre then reorchestrated the piece into a wind octet for a premiere given on March 3, 1887 in Paris by Paul Taffanel’s Société de musique de chambre pour instruments à vent (see below). The performers at the premiere of the wind octet version of Méditation included the following musicians: Paul Taffanel, flute; Georges Gillet, oboe; Charles Turban, clarinet; Prosper Mimart, clarinet; François Brémond, horn; Jean Garigue, horn; Jean Espaignet, bassoon; and Adolphe Bourdeau,bassoon. Neither versions of Lefébvre’s Méditation were ever published, nor have copies of the originals been discovered.

The organist and composer, Alexandre Guilmant, reorchestrated the version for organ, string orchestra and two oboes for solo organ. Guilmant’s transcription was published in 1889 in Paris by Mackar & Noël. This present edition for wind octet, a reverse-transcription of Guilmant’s solo organ work, re-introduces the original version for wind octet into the repertoire for chamber winds.

—Program Note: C Alan Publications

Slate (2019)

Kevin Poelking (b. 1988)

The Encyclopedia Britannica defines slate as a fine-grained, clayey metamorphic rock that cleaves, or splits, readily into thin slabs having great tensile strength and durability. The direction of cleavage depends upon the direction of the stresses applied during metamorphism.

This piece describes the musical representation of the direct definition of slate.

Kevin Poelking (b. 1988, Downers Grove, Illinois) is an American composer, conductor, educator and percussionist. After completing his undergraduate degree in music education and a performer’s certificate in percussion at the University of South Carolina, Poelking began focusing more seriously on composing. It was during this time he began receiving world premieres from groups like the Passione String Quartet in Bucharest, Romania, the Academy of Voices in St. Paul, Minnesota, the University of Southern Mississippi Percussion Ensemble, the Emory Percussion Ensemble and various community and student ensembles in France, Spain and northern Italy. In 2017, Poelking conducted the premiere of Terra Nocte with the Montgomery Philharmonic. Before pursuing his master’s degree, Poelking worked as an instrumental music teacher in Montgomery County, Maryland, where his programs grew significantly. During his tenure, he taught beginning band and orchestra across multiple schools.

Poelking relocated to Fort Collins, Colorado, to pursue a Master of Music degree in wind conducting with Rebecca Phillips and studies in composition with award-winning composer James M David. During his studies at Colorado State University, he was awarded the Highest Achievement in Visual and Performing Arts at the 2018 Graduate Showcase for his piece Lucy for Brass Choir and Piano and was named 2019 Graduate Student of the Year by the School of Music, Theatre and Dance. In the final concert of his master’s degree, the Colorado State University Wind Symphony premiered By the Hands That Reach Us. Commissions resulting from Poelking’s work at CSU include Cassini, Slate for brass and percussion and Stronger Together.

He has conducted the CSU Wind Symphony, Opera Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Band, in addition to podium time with the Montgomery College Orchestra and the Capital Wind Symphony. He has studied conducting with Rebecca Phillips, Wes Kenney and Sandra Ragusa. In addition, he has received instruction from H. Robert Reynolds, Michael Haithcock, Craig Kirchoff, Gary Hill, Kevin Sedatole and Emily Threinen.

Poelking was invited to present at the 2019 Colorado Music Educator Association Annual Conference, delivering a presentation entitled: Work Life Balance: Helping Your Students by Helping Yourself.

In 2020, he was named the winner of the Minot Symphony Orchestra Young Composer Competition, and shortly beforehand, his piece Fanfare for a New Day was named winner of the 2019 Dallas Winds Fanfare Competition. Poelking was appointed as the conducting fellow with the Montgomery Philharmonic for their 2016-17 season by audition and ensemble vote. In the summer of 2019, hewas selected from an international pool of applicants to rehearse and conduct The United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own” in concert.

As a percussionist, Poelking has performed with the Capital Wind Symphony, the Avanti Orchestra and the Montgomery Philharmonic, at venues such as the Kennedy Center, Schlesinger Hall and the Strathmore Music Center. He also performed with the South Carolina All-Collegiate Ensemble, and the University of South Carolina and Colorado State University Percussion Ensembles under his percussion teachers Scott Herring and Eric Hollenbeck.

Poelking is a member of the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA), the National Band Association (NBA), the American Composers Forum (ACF) and the Colorado Music Educators Association (CMEA).