From the Artistic Director
Welcome to the sixth season of The Naperville Winds, an ensemble comprising outstanding musicians from across the Chicagoland area and beyond who share a common mission – to perform the finest wind band literature at the highest level possible. I’m excited about my inaugural season as Artistic Director and the music that we will be performing over the course of our four concerts! Our goal is to program repertoire of a variety of genres, composers, and time periods, engaging both our musicians and audiences, alike. Additionally, our organization is committed to supporting music education by providing educational experiences and opportunities for youth in the Chicagoland region by sharing the stage with middle and high school bands. We are pleased to have the Plainfield East High School Wind Ensemble as our guest band this evening.
For our first concert, we celebrate the start of a new era for TNW with “New Beginnings… Horizons Untold.” After an exciting new fanfare by composer Evan VanDoren, we will feature what is widely acclaimed as the first major wind band composition of the 20th century, Holst’s First Suite in Eb. Then, we come back to the present with a brand new work by award-winning composer Zhou Tian, who describes Vivo in a way that resonates with what we do at TNW: “a celebration of music—the spark of rhythm, the shimmer of harmony, and the joy of musicians coming together in sound.”
To honor the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding, we will be highlighting works by American composers. John Philip Sousa is known as the American “March King” with a number of marches commonly performed at patriotic events, and The Thunderer finds him hitting his stride in developing a distinctly American-sounding march. As a companion piece, we’ll segue into the second movement of Ira Hearshen’s Symphony on Themes of John Philip Sousa, which uses the “trio” melody of The Thunderer by slowing it down and casting it in the style of the Finale of Mahler’s Third Symphony.
Lastly, we turn to prolific composer David Gillingham who wrote With Heart and Voice to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Apple Valley High School. The “voice” in this case is the music, and the “heart” is the emotion that the music renders in celebration.
We hope you enjoy this concert as we look to the past, present, and future, sharing music with our hearts and musical voices!
Musically,
Alexander Kaminsky
Alexander Kaminsky
Artistic Director, The Naperville Winds
