Recorded live in Waetjen Auditorium on the campus of Cleveland State University on March 4, 2013.

The Bay High School Symphonic Band, under the direction of Darren Allen, will perform on the first portion of the concert. Their repertoire will include Vaughn Williams’ English Folk Song Suite, Albert Davis’ El Camino Real and Mark Williams’ Variants On A Nautical Hymn.

The “Legends” portion of the Cleveland Winds’ concert repertoire will include Ralph Vaughn Williams’ Toccata Marziale and Gustav Holst’s First Suite in E-Flat. The “Lights” portion will include John Mackey’s Aurora Awakes and Frank Ticheli’s Symphony No. 2. (The movements in the symphony are “Shooting Stars,” “Dreams Under a New Moon,” and “Apollo Unleashed.”)

Parking is free in the central garage if you tell them that you are here for the CSU concert.

Program Notes

Toccata Marziale, written in 1924, was Vaughan Williams’s second work for military and is one of the most significant contributions to the wind band literature. The word “toccata” comes from the Italian “toccare,” meaning “to touch,” hence its association with the early Baroque virtuouso keyboard pieces written by Frescobaldi and others. Toccata Marziale is a contrapunctal masterpiece for wind ensemble, in which textures are juxtaposed in massed effects with large sectoins of winds and brasses. A rhythmic vigor, as suggested by the title, permeates the piece and Vaughan Williams’s brilliant scoring reveals the fundamental properties of the band’s sonority and its instrumental virtuosity and color. (Notes by Frederick Fennell.)

2009 marks the 100th anniversary of the First Suite in E-flat by Gustav Holst, now considered one of the masterworks and cornerstones of the band literature. Although completed in 1909, the suite didn’t receive its official premiere until 11 years later on June 23rd, 1920, by an ensemble of 165 musicians at the Royal Military School of Music at Kneller Hall. However, the work was originally conceived to be performed by ensembles significantly smaller than the one at Kneller Hall. There are three movements in the suite: Chaconne, Intermezzo, and March. Holst writes, “As each movement is founded on the same phrase, it is requested that the suite be played right through without a break.” The Chaconne begins with a ground bass reminiscent of those written by Henry Purcell or William Byrd. The Intermezzo is light and brisk and features soloistic passages for the cornet, oboe and clarinet. Holst prominently displays the agility and sensitivity of the wind band through transparent textures and passages where the melody and accompaniment are woven into a variety of instrumental settings. The March begins suddenly. It consists of two themes, the first of which, performed by brass choir and percussion, is a march light in character. The second theme is dominated by the woodwinds and is composed of a long, lyrical line reminiscent of the original Chaconne melody. The movement concludes with both themes intertwining as the band crescendos to a climax. (Program Note by Esmail Khalili.)

Aurora – the Roman goddess of the dawn – is a mythological figure frequently associated with beauty and light. Also known as Eos (her Greek analogue), Aurora would rise each morning and stream across the sky, heralding the coming of her brother Sol, the sun. Though she is herself among the lesser deities of Roman and Greek mythologies, her cultural influence has persevered, most notably in the naming of the vibrant flashes of light that occur in Arctic and Antarctic regions – the Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis. John Mackey’s Aurora Awakes is, thus, a piece about the heralding of the coming of light. (Program note by Jake Wallace, used with permission.)

The three movements of Symphony No. 2 refer to celestial light—Shooting Stars, the Moon, and the Sun. Although the title tor the first movement, ‘’Shooting Stars,” came after its completion, I was imagining such quick flashes of color throughout the creative process. The second movement, “Dreams Under a New Moon,’’ depicts a kind of journey of the soul as represented by a series of dreams. The finale, “Apollo Unleashed,” is perhaps the most wide-ranging movement of the symphony, and certainly the most difficult to convey in words. On the one hand, the image of Apollo, the powerful ancient god of the sun, inspired not only the movement’s title, but also its blazing energy. On the other hand, its boisterous nature is also tempered and enriched by another, more sublime force, Bach’s Chorale BWV 433. This chorale —a favorite of the dedicatee—serves as a kind of spiritual anchor, giving a soul to the gregarious foreground events.

My second symphony is dedicated to James E. Croft upon his retirement as Director of Bands at Florida State University in 2003. (Note by Frank Ticheli.)

The Cleveland Winds, under the direction of Birch Browning, kicks off its fourth season on Monday, November 19, 2012 at 7 PM in Waetjen Auditorium on the campus of Cleveland State University. (Notice the early start time!) This concert will feature music originally written for other performance ensembles–orchestra, brass band, and piano–that has been transcribed for wind band.

The Mercyhurst University Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Dr. Scott Meier, will perform on the first portion of the concert. Their repertoire will include Graham Lloyd’s Fanfare for Freedom, Mark Camphouse’s A Movement for Rosa, and John Phillip Sousa’s The Liberty Bell March.

The Cleveland Winds’ concert repertoire will include transcriptions of Berlioz’ Roman Carnival Overture, Vaughan Williams’ Variations for Wind Band, Ives’ The Alcotts, and the Finale from Symphony No. 5 by Shostakovich.

Parking is free in the central garage if you tell them that you are here for the CSU concert.

Dear Members of the Cleveland Winds:

I want to thank you all so very much for your spectacular performance of my music. It means so much to a composer to have their music played with such beauty, crystal clarity, excitement and a real sense of heartfelt musicality! Under the wonderfully inspired direction of Birch Browning and with the spectacular playing of Shachar, you all brought my music to life just perfectly. This is a performance I will always treasure!

I wish you many, many more great performances in the future, and I look forward to collaborating with you again!!

Photo is copyrighted by Roger Mastroianni.

Shachar Israel was the mellifluous and virtuosic star of Ewazen’s Visions of Light, based on nature photographs by Ansel Adams. – Daniel Hathaway, ClevelandClassical.com.

Read the full review here: http://clevelandclassical.com/030612clewindsrev, or download a PDF of the review here.

The University Circle Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Dr. Gary M. Ciepluch, will perform on the first portion of the concert. They will feature two soloists. Oboist Kelly Mozeik will perform a setting of Eric Ewazen’s Down a River of Time, in a transcription for wind band by Daniel Alt. Bassoonist Anthony Slusser will be the soloist on Jurriaan Andriessen’s Concertino for Bassoon and Wind Ensemble.

The Cleveland Winds’ concert repertoire will include CSU composer Andrew Rindfleisch’s Mr. Atlas and Eric Ewazen’s Visions of Light: A Concerto for Tenor Trombone and Wind Ensemble. The soloist will be Cleveland Orchestra Assistant Principal Trombone Shachar Israel.

Program Notes

About Mr. Atlas, composer Andrew Rindfleisch writes:

Mr. Atlas, scored for concert band, finds its inspiration in the old Charles Atlas body building advertisements I would often find in the popular magazines and comic books available to me in childhood. In the most popular of these ads, a bully confronts a slight weakling at a beach and kicks sand in his face. Using the Atlas method, the weakling then transforms himself into a muscle bound hero of sorts. Mr. Atlas, then, is a kind of work of musical transformation–from the meek to the triumphant. After an austere introduction giving a hint of what’s to come, the solo clarinet presents a lonely, principal theme. Like a muscular exercise, each musical section that follows grows in density and volume, along with the theme, arriving finally at the work’s climactic moment–an Americana-like hymn, slowly unfolding into a triumphant conclusion. Mr. Atlas was commissioned by the College Band Director’s National Association for a consortium of fifteen collegiate wind ensembles, and was premiered by the Georgia State University wind ensemble, Robert Ambrose, conductor.

About Visions of Light, composer Eric Ewazen writes:

I had the pleasure of working with Joe Alessi when he recorded my Trombone Sonata in 1995. As one of the premiere trombonists of our time, his beautiful, lyric and colorful playing has served as an inspiration for my 2nd large work for tenor trombone.I took as another source of inspiration, the powerful and dramatic photographs of Ansel Adams. The concerto, while not really programmatic, reflects my feelings when seeing these amazing images. The 1st movement shows the sheer rock face of Yosemite’s famous Half Dome mountain peak set against a brilliant sky. The music is angular, energetic, sometimes soft–reflecting the curves of Half Dome, sometimes very dramatic–reflecting the awesomeness of the sight and the bold contrast between sky and mountain. The 2nd movement depicts the mystery of a moonrise over a landscape of stark buildings and the brightly moonlit crosses of a cemetery. The music is alternately gentle and enigmatic, lyrical and intense. The final movement, depicting huge, billowing thunderclouds, is filled with rhythmic agitation, strong and dramatic gestures, and ultimately a heroic finale. Sweeping motives are quickly tossed between soloist and wind ensemble with force and energy. Throughout the work, the trombone is front and center with its singing, colorful and powerful voice describing Ansel Adams’ scenes, while the wind ensemble provides a buoyant and resonant accompaniment, commentary and dialogue.My thanks to the amazing trombone soloist, Shachar Israel, whom I had the pleasure of getting to know and hearing many times at Juilliard, and the outstanding Cleveland Winds, conducted by Birch Browning, for introducing my 2nd trombone concerto, Visions of Light, to you this evening.

Visions of Light was commissioned by Indiana University and the Midwest Clinic for Joseph Alessi and the Indiana University Wind Ensemble, conducted by Ray Cramer. My sincere thanks to Joseph Alessi and Ray Cramer for their artistry in bringing my music to life. Thanks also to Ray and to Jon Whitaker who helped pave the way for the very commission of the piece from Indiana University and Midwest.

Featured Guest

Eric Ewazen’s music has been performed by distinguished soloists, chamber ensembles, vocalists, wind ensembles and orchestras around the world. His music can be heard on some 70 commercially released CDs, by some of the greatest recording artists of the 20th/21st centuries, including performers from the NY Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestra. His compositions for brass, percussion and increasingly woodwinds and wind ensembles have become staples of the repertoire. He has been a guest at over 150 colleges and universities worldwide, including 30 different countries and 47 states of the 50 United States. In recent seasons, since 2009, he has been a guest at the Central Conservatory of Beijing, and the TianJin Conservatory in China and worked with the composers of the Chinese Army Band of the PLA. He was also a guest at the Conservatories in Rio de Janeiro, Joao Pessoa and Salvador da Bahia in Brazil, Mahidol University in Bangkok, the Saratov Conservatory in Russia, the Paris Conservatoire in France, the Birmingham Conservatory in England, the University of Lisbon, Portugal, and the Conservatory of Matera in italy. He has also been a guest at conservatories and music departments at Universities throughout the United States including Indiana University, the Curtis Institute, the Peabody Conservatory, UCLA, U. of Michigan and the Eastman School of Music.

In 2010, Evelyn Glennie premiered his Percussion Concerto with the Buffalo Philharmonic, and gave the European premiere with the Royal Scottish Symphony Orchestra in Glasgow and Edinburgh. During the current season (2011-2012) his orchestral music is being performed by the Fort Wayne, Virginia, Bismark and Colorado Symphonies, and in November, 2012, his Triple Concerto for 3 trombones and orchestra will be premiered by the Buffalo Philharmonic.

His first Symphony has been commissioned by the ShenZhen Symphony in China and will be receiving its premiere in 2013. The Thailand Philharmonic will be making its first commercially released CD in December of 2012, and it will be an all-Ewazen CD. The orchestral version of his 2nd Oboe Concerto, “Hold Fast Your Dreams”, will be receiving it’s premiere in Seoul, Korea in 2013.

He has been Vice-President with the League of Composers-International Society of Contemporary Music, and has been a faculty member of The Juilliard School since 1980. He received his Bachelors of Music Degree from the Eastman School of Music in 1976, and the Masters Degree and Doctorate Degrees from Juilliard in 1978 and 1980.

Our Soloist

Cited by the New York Times as “a gifted young trombonist”, Shachar Israel serves as Assistant Principal Trombone of the Cleveland Orchestra. Prior to joining the Cleveland Orchestra in the 2009-10 season, Mr. Israel served as Principal Trombone of the Hartford (CT) and the Haddonfield (NJ) Symphonies. He has performed with major orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic and the Montreal Symphony.

A soloist and chamber musician, Mr. Israel performed Berio’s ‘Sequenza V’ for solo trombone at New York’s Lincoln Center for the New York Philharmonic’s “Day of Berio”. He has been a soloist with the Jupiter Symphony Players in New York City and has performed on several occasions with Canadian Brass, including at the Blossom Festival. Also with this prestigious ensemble, he recorded 4 commercial CD’s. The trombonist was the winner of the Lewis Van Haney Philharmonic Prize Competition at the 2008 International Trombone Festival. An avid teacher, Mr. Israel is adjunct faculty at Cleveland State University. He is the founder and director of the Cleveland Trombone Seminar (CTS).

Born in Nahariya, Israel, Mr. Israel received a Bachelors of Music from The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he studied with Nitzan Haroz, Principal Trombonist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. His primary teachers also include Joseph Alessi, Mark Lawrence, Mitchell Ross, Micha Davis and Joseph Nashkes. He has been a member of the Verbier Festival Orchestra, the Spoleto Festival Orchestra and attended 2 summers at the Music Academy of the West. Mr. Israel is a graduate of the Thelma Yellin High School in Givatyim, Israel. His studies while in Israel were made possible by the generosity of the America Israel Cultural Foundation through its scholarship program, the Keren Sharet Competitions.

Mr. Israel’s trombone was optimized by Gary Greenhoe. He performs on a Greg Black mouthpiece.

Directions and Tickets

The concert will be in Waetjen Auditorium on the campus of Cleveland State University. Directions to campus can be found here. Patrons will be able to park in the main garage, now called Central Garage, that is accessible from East 21st Street via Chester Avenue. Parking is free provided that you mention to the attendant that you will be attending the concert.This concert is free and open to the public, but donations to the Cleveland Winds will be gratefully accepted.