Wind Ensemble opens 2005-06 concert season

Date of release: 09/14/05

SAN MARCOS—The Wind Ensemble at Texas State University-San Marcos opens its 2005-06 season with an 8 p.m. concert on Thursday, Oct. 6 in Evans Auditorium.

The show will mark the debut of Rod Schueller, the new conductor of the ensemble. Schueller replaces John C. Stansberry, who had a remarkable tenure as the conductor of the Wind Ensemble from 1981-2005.

The program begins with Fanfare for a Golden Sky by noted arranger and composer Scott Boerma. The fanfare is based on a motive from the Rodgers and Hammerstein song You’ll Never Walk Alone. One of the feature works on the program is Vincent Persichetti’s classic Divertimento for Band, Op. 42. The other is a relatively new work by composer Julie Giroux. The piece, “We Toomed Our Stoops for the Gaudy Sodgers,” is the third movement of her symphony for band, entitled Culloden. The work is dedicated to the thousands of men and women of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma and uses several Scottish folk tunes. The rest of the program includes Hine e Hine by Peter Graham, Be Thou My Vision by David Gillingham and a Sousa march, The Directorate.

As the new conductor of the ensemble, one of Schueller’s initiatives is to program more chamber music. The first concert will include Old Wine in New Bottles, a work for thirteen players by Gordon Jacob. Although the piece has a distinct folk flavor, the four movements contain music that is completely original.

This fall also marks the debut of the Symphonic Winds as an ensemble in the Texas State School of Music. The band had only been a spring ensemble until the 2005-06 academic year. The first concert for this band will be on Wednesday, Oct. 19. Each ensemble will perform a second concert in November to conclude the semester. The Symphonic Winds will perform on Wednesday, Nov. 16 and the Wind Ensemble on Thursday, Nov. 17.

All concerts are at 8 p.m. in Evans Auditorium. Admission for all concerts is $2 for the general public and $1 for students. Tickets are available at the door. For more information, contact the School of Music at (512) 245-2651.