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Wind Symphony and Wind Ensemble Concert: 5/8

Posted on May 5, 2022 | Filed under Archive

Details — Wind Symphony and Wind Ensemble Concert — May 8

Date: 5/8Time: 3 pm

This post has been archived. Information below may be out of date and/or relate to a past event.

The Allegheny College Wind Symphony and Wind Ensemble will present their spring concert on Sunday, May 8 in Shafer Auditorium. The Flute Ensemble will play pre-concert music at 3 pm, with the program beginning at 3:15 pm. The Wind Symphony is a full symphonic band, open by audition to all Allegheny students regardless of major. There are also several alumni, faculty members and community members who participate. The Wind Ensemble is a smaller, select ensemble auditioned from the Wind Symphony. The concert is open to the public and free of charge, although masking will be required for all audience members.

The Wind Symphony will open the concert with Festive Overture by Dmitri Shostakovich, followed by Gustav Holst’s iconic First Suite in Eb. Next will be the premiere of a new march, Excellentia, written by Dr. Ronald Stitt, adjunct music faculty member. The first portion of the program will conclude with Clarinet Candy, written by Leroy Anderson. This piece will feature four senior clarinetists, Megan Kresse, Erika De Graef, Natalie Lisle and Danielle Studer. It is a lively novelty number that will provide a light conclusion for the first part of the program.

The Wind Ensemble will then present Sailing with Whales, a relatively new work written by Rossano Galante. It is an exciting piece with music that will remind listeners of the film music of John Williams.

The Wind Symphony will conclude the concert, beginning with Steven Reineke’s Pilatus, Mountain of Dragons. This programmatic work is inspired by the legend of the dragons on Mount Pilatus near Lucerne, Switzerland. Reineke has served on the staff of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, and his music is challenging for the musicians while remaining accessible to the public. The final number on the program will be U.S. Marine Band arranger Thomas Knox’s God of Our Fathers, the hymn that also serves as Allegheny College’s Alma Mater. Professor of Music Lowell Hepler, who is retiring after 48 years as Director of Bands and Allegheny, chose this work to conclude his final concert. It will be offered as his expression of gratitude to the Allegheny family who has been a very significant part of his life for many years.