Southern Utah University’s Wind Symphony performed their final concert of the semester on April 7 in the Heritage Center Theater.
The concert began with a guest performance by the Cedar City Community Concert Band, directed by Steve Shirts. “Fanfare – HAYABUSA” by Satoshio Yagisawa was the opening number. Originally commissioned to commemorate the success of the Hayabusa asteroid probe mission, the piece premiered in Tokyo in 2010.
“Serenade” by Derek Bourgeois followed “Fanfare – HAYABUSA”. The piece was originally composed for organ and contains unusual key signatures, such as 11/8 and 13/8. Rather than being composed in common 4/4 time, which uses four beats per measure, the piece uses measures with 11 and 13 beats per measure.
The Community Band concluded their portion of the concert with “Curtain Call” by John Wasson. Written as a tribute to all great finales, the piece is in a Broadway-style cut time and highlights the brass section of the band.
Following the Community Band’s performance, the Wind Symphony took the stage, opening their portion of the concert with “Resplendent Glory” by Rossano Galante.
“[Resplendent Glory] is the theme of the whole concert,” said Adam Lambert, director of the Wind Symphony. “We’re going to celebrate life and the joy of making incredible music.”
“El Camino Real” by Alfred Reed continued the program. Influenced by Spanish culture, the piece contains lively allegros and smooth, soaring melodies built upon the chord structures of traditional Spanish dances.
The Wind Symphony finished the concert with David Maslanka’s short symphony for wind ensemble entitled “Give Us This Day.” While the title comes from the Lord’s Prayer, the music itself was influenced by Buddhist ideologies of mindfulness and connection.
“This is a piece that really captures the energy of life and beauty of nature and our connections with deity,” said Lambert. “There’s lots of tug of wars there between good and evil, and in the end, good prevails.”
The livestream for the concert can be viewed here. Information regarding future performances can be found at the music department website.
Story and photo by: Gracie Butterfield
accent@suunews.net
