MetWinds Spring 2023 Concert: "Ode to the Future!"

33 Marrett Road,Lexington MA 02421

07 May, 2023

Description

Pre-Concert Lecture by Conductor Rick Wyman at 2:30 pm * On the day of the concert, tickets can be purchased at the door. Join us for this concert celebrating music of, and musicians of, the future! The concert opens with a short Internet Symphony by Chinese-American composer Tan Dun, who won Emmy and Grammy Awards for his score to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. American composer (and DJ), Mason Bates, also a Grammy winner, is famous for his music that intersects concert music with technology, and is represented here by music from his symphony Alternative Energy, featuring sampled sounds from the Fermilab particle accelerator turned into groovy beats! If technology is the future, so too is the importance of humanity and youth, represented by Percy Grainger's Children's March and Australian composer Jodi Blackshaw's tour-de-force entitled Twist, inspired by the shape, spirit, and history of Australia's magnanimous waterway, the Murray River. Local middle school musicians join the MetWinds for performances of John Philip Sousa's comical El Capitan as well as Alegre, music by Cuban-born American composer Tania Leon who was recently awarded the Pulitzer Prize for music, and Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime achievement! For the grand finale, area high school students join the fun to perform a staple of the band literature, English Folk Song Suite by major British musical ambassador Ralph Vaughn Williams. PROGRAM Internet Symphony "Eroica" - T. Dun, ed. Martin Majorca - O. Nelson, arr. Tatgenhorst Chicago 2012 (from Alternative Energy) - Mason Bates Children's March - P. Grainger, ed. Rogers Twist - Jodi Blackshaw Folk Dances - D. Shostakovich,trans. Reynolds El Capitan - J.P. Sousa, arr. Bullock Alegre - Tania Leon English Folk Song Suite - Ralph Vaughan Williams About the Conductor Richard E. Wyman is the former Assistant Director of the United States Coast Guard Band, where he regularly conducted throughout the United States and abroad, including the Band’s historic 2008 Japan and 2011 Taiwan tours. He led the Band’s educational initiatives; designing, hosting, and conducting innovative "Young People's" concerts for over 6000 students annually. Dr. Wyman also created and led a program presenting interactive chamber music assemblies in schools that reached a total of over 50,000 elementary students. He served as the Band’s producer for ten CDs, two White House "Pageant of Peace” PBS specials, and brought many internationally-acclaimed artists to New London, CT, including conductor Leonard Slatkin (Detroit Symphony) and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Joseph Schwantner. Dr. Wyman enjoys connecting people with art music in a variety of creative and innovative ways. He led Coast Guard Band musicians in chamber music concerts throughout the Northeast that highlighted noteworthy repertoire in a variety of interesting programs and presentation formats. He currently serves as the full-time Executive Director for the Community Music School in Centerbrook, CT, and also as Co-Director of Music at Noank (CT) Baptist Church where he leads the Senior Choir. Dr. Wyman enjoys working with musicians of all ages, regularly appearing as clinician and guest conductor with a variety of school and honor festival ensembles. He has done extensive scholarly work on American composer John Adams, and has published on John Williams in Volume 10 (and Steve Danyew in Volume 11) of the widely-used reference book series Teaching Music Through Performance in Band, and maintains memberships in the Conductors Guild, World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE), College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA), and American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). His work as a saxophonist and chamber musician has earned two year-long residency grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, four performance visits to the White House, an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and employment at Disneyworld, Busch Gardens (FL), and with assorted jazz and salsa bands. Wyman holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Instrumental Conducting from the University of Connecticut, a Master of Music in Saxophone Performance from the University of Illinois, and Bachelor’s Degrees in Saxophone and Music Education from the Eastman School of Music. His primary conducting teachers have been Jeffrey Renshaw and Frank Battisti. About MetWinds The Metropolitan Wind Symphony was Founded by Jerry Gardner in 1971, and was awarded the prestigious 2015 Sudler Silver Scroll Award for Community Concert Bands by the John Philip Sousa Foundation. Currently celebrating its 51st anniversary, MetWinds comprises over 60 talented woodwind, brass, and percussion instrumentalists who audition for membership and seating. It makes a significant contribution to the cultural life of the Greater Boston community by providing its audiences with high quality concerts and its members with opportunities for musical growth. MetWinds presents formal performances of traditional and contemporary wind band literature, as well as more informal pops concerts throughout the metropolitan Boston area. Members rehearse Wednesdays from September through June, traveling from more than 30 communities in Massachusetts and neighboring states. All volunteers, they also pursue careers as varied as education, engineering, computer science, medicine, law, music, and public health.