The Wind Ensemble, under the direction of John T. West, professor of music at Western, is one of the top instrumental performing ensembles at Western. The group, mainly composed of Western music majors, has performed throughout the state and region at conferences and on tour.

The program will include “some old favorites of the wind band repertoire as well as some newer works,” said West, who has served as director of bands at WCU since 1985. The centerpiece of the concert is William Schuman’s “New England Triptych,” a work the composer originally scored for opera and later adapted for band. It is a large-scale work of three movements, each based on music by the Colonial American composer William Billings. The movements – “Be Glad Then, America,” “When Jesus Wept” and “Chester” – all are taken from Billings’ collection of hymns and “Fuguing Tunes,” which is written about the time of the American Revolution.

The program also includes “Fantasies on a Theme by Haydn” by Norman Dello Joio. This major work for the wind band is based on the theme from a small piano piece by the classical composer Franz Joseph Haydn. Dello Joio, like Schuman, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and a major figure in American music.

Also on the program are “Sanctuary” by Frank Ticheli, Percy Grainger’s “The Immovable Do,” to be conducted by graduate assistant conductor Katie Ebert, and a march by Russell Alexander, “The Southerner.”

“I find the talent and dedication of the student musicians in the Wind Ensemble to be a source of inspiration for me as a conductor,” said West. “To take on the challenges of a difficult program such as this so early in the semester is a bit nerve-racking, but it certainly does focus our attention on the task of preparing the music. I believe the audience will be impressed with the results.”

The concert is free and open to the public. Call WCU’s music department at (828) 227-7242.

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Last modified: Friday, Sept. 21, 2007