UAA Wind Ensemble in Concert April 9

Saturday, April 9, 7:30-10 p.m.
Alaska Center Performing Arts, Sydney Laurence Theatre

The University Wind Ensemble, led by conductor Mark Wolbers, presents "Masterworks for Band" in the ACPA Sydney Laurence Theatre on Saturday, April 9. In a medium generally represented by smaller single movement works, Wolbers breaks the mold by guiding the Wind Ensemble through three multi-movement works by Gustav Holst and Pulitzer Prize winning composers Norman Dello Joio and Morton Gould.

The overture of the program is by Julliard composer Eric Ewazen who was just recently in Anchorage in January for the ASO performance of his oboe concerto. Ewazen's somber work, "A Hymn for the Lost and the Living" is the New York composer's response to the September 11, 2001 destruction of the World Trade Towers. East High School band director and UAA Alumna Erika Ninoyu will guest conduct.

The Wind Ensemble will complete the first half of the program with Morton Gould's "Symphony No. 4 - the West Point Symphony." This work was composed for the Sesquicentennial (150 year) anniversary celebration of West Point. Written for the West Point band, the work embraces many aspects and feelings of military life. Gould uses exuberant parade melodies, taps, marching and references to "Dies Irae" in his attempt to musically capture the essence of the academy.

The second half of the program will open with music from Norman Dello Joio's Emmy-winning score written for the 1964 NBC television special, "The Louvre." In the five-movement suite for band, "Scenes from the Louvre," Dello Joio deftly applies a Renaissance quality to the music that is at times child-like and innocent and at others noble with brass.

Concluding the program will be the "First Suite in Eb" by English composer Gustav Holst. This work is considered to be a seminal masterwork for the band medium.  Written as a three-movement symphony for band, the composer demonstrates expert craftsmanship with a thorough command of form and melodic transformation. The work is thematically unified and concludes with a rousing finish.

Seating for the concert is general admission. Tickets are $18/$15 students, seniors and military. Tickets can be purchased at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts box office, through CenterTix.net or (907) 263-2787 (ARTS).

For more information, please contact Dr. Mark Wolbers at (907) 786-1508.