Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble

British Invasion!!!!!

2011-12-07T09:29:00.001-08:00

Oh my! Eeeek! Three more days and it's time for British Invasion, PSWE's next concert in our series this year. Directed by Dr. Robert Taylor, Director of Bands at UBC, this concert is going to be SO. MUCH. FUN!!!!!!

Why wait for some big-name performers to come to town? In fact, why wait for Christmas? Buy a couple of tickets, and give one to someone you really, really like. Then go for drinks afterwards, and call it their Christmas gift! Hope we'll see you there. I'll be the one with the shiny instrument.

Return of the Blog!

2011-11-28T12:36:00.000-08:00

WOW!!!! The blog is back! It's been a long while since a PSWE blog post, and since the departure of our much-missed Music Director, Marc Crompton, the crickets have been chirping loudly out here in the PSWE blogosphere.

Yesterday we PSWEenies got up early and headed out to UBC to have a full-day rehearsal with Dr. Robert Taylor, our guest conductor for our upcoming concert. Sure, it was early, and yes, it was lousy weather...but as soon as we got on stage, and the lights came up, we were warm and toasty. Partly from the lights, and partly from the excitement of spending the day together making real musical progress.

The program that Dr. Taylor has put together is really enjoyable to play, and audiences are going to find it very accessible at the same time. This concert features music from Britain, by British composers or about British subjects. Super fun, especially because I love playing Holst and Grainger. As an added bonus, the music (to my ear, anyway) sounds really, really festive without being a "Christmas Concert." No Jingle Bells, no holiday music - and yet, when we're playing this stuff, I swear I can smell snow in the air. It'll be a wonderful antidote to the clamour and "holidayness" of this time of year.

It was a great day of hanging out, making music and getting to know one another, or getting reaquainted with each other. We've got some new members, and some long-timers (if I say old-timers I'll be smacked at our next rehearsal) and it's great to get to make connections, musically and socially, with people. That's the beauty of playing in this group...the notes don't matter.

Anyhow, I'll stop before I start getting too mushy. But before I leave you, a shameless commercial plug:

Come on out and hear the results of our hard work - British Invasion with Dr. Robert Taylor will take place Saturday, December 10 at 8 pm at the Evergreen Cultural Centre. www.evergreenculturalcentre.ca

Can Serious Music be Fun?

2010-06-16T20:06:00.000-07:00

Classical music is sometimes referred to as serious music. Music for wind band most often fits in this broad category of classical music, so it must be serious. Right?

Great music, of any style, plays with ones expectations. It sets up expectations and then defies those expectations. One could say this of most art forms - maybe all. If a piece of art constantly satisfies expectations, it becomes boring. In a play or movie, if every character does what you think they should do, the work is very predictable. When a character does something unexpected, the play gets interesting. Great comedy relies heavily on this concept. When a comedian says something unexpected or a comedic actor does something unexpected, it gets laughs. Think of slapstick comedy. The first time someone slips on a banana peal, it's hilarious. However, after the 20th time, it's a bit boring!

The repertoire on PSWE's upcoming concert also explores the balance between the expected and unexpected. Pieces like Wengler's Versuche Uber Einen Marsch and Ive's "Country Band" March are full of the unexpected. As the listener allows herself to get drawn into the the language that the composer uses, expectations arise and are quickly defied.

The reaction that one has with defied expectation is not always one of laughter, but our brains are set up to enjoy this kind of switching up patterns. The brain is always looking for patterns and trying to organize the universe. When we are surprised by a change in the pattern, our brains kick in with a burst of dopamine, giving us that same rush that we would find with chocolate, wine or sex.

PSWE is serious about our music making. We are constantly striving to play challenging repertoire at our best but that does not mean that the music we play is always "serious." Come to the Evergreen Cultural Centre on June 19th for a serious bit of fun in "All in Good Fun."

Be there!! June 19th, 8pm. Seriously!

Memories

2010-06-11T11:36:00.000-07:00

What are your favourite PSWE moments over the past years? We've been performing at Evergreen Cultural Centre for almost a decade and are nearing our 30th year as an ensemble. Whether you've heard us for the first time recently, or are a die-hard fan or member going back to day one, we'd love to hear about your fondest memories of PSWE. I share mine in the Director's Note of the concert programme for our upcoming performance on June 19th at Evergreen Cultural Centre.

In The Spotlight

2010-04-13T20:41:00.000-07:00

PSWE's been real busy of late preparing another great selection of repertoire for your listening pleasure. Upcoming this weekend at Evergreen Cultural Centre is In the Spotlight featuring a number of members of the ensemble. In particular, our own Dean Markell will be performing Elegy for Miles Davis by Richard Rodney Bennett. This is a work that is particularly reminiscent of Miles's recordings with Gil Evans. Variations of a Theme by Paganini will feature every section of the band as James Barnes explores this famous theme. Also on the program are works by Vaughan Williams, Whitacre, Yo Goto and Bernstein. See you all at 2pm at Evergreen Cultural Centre on Sunday, April 18th.

This Week's Repertoire

2010-02-09T21:43:00.000-08:00

The Joy of Sax concert is going to give audience members a nice balance of the familiar and the new. In the familiar category we have Grainger, Gregson and Ives. New to PSWE audiences will be Stanhope, Villani-Cortes and Farnon. The program will include music heard on previous PSWE recording and different arrangements of pieces that you've heard at our concerts before. Here's what you'll hear:

Festivo - Edward Gregson

Vancouver Saxophone Ensemble:
Variations on America - Charles Ives
Songs without Words - David Stanhope - Movement I. Questions, II. Innocence (Featuring PSWE Saxophone Section)
Suite Francaise - Darius Milhaud - Movement 4. Alsace-Lorraine, 5. Provence

Intermission

Children's March - Grainger
Vancouver Saxophone Ensemble:
Slava - Leonard Bernstein
Duet from Lakme - Leo Delibes
Suite - Robert Farnon
Braseijo - Edmundo Villani-Côrtes

We're looking forward to sharing this repertoire with you on Saturday night. Get your tickets at Evergreen Cultural Centre or through your friendly, neighbourhood PSWE musician.

How to get to Evergreen

2010-02-08T17:30:00.000-08:00

The number one reason people give me to not come to a PSWE concert at Evergreen Cultural Centre is that Coquitlam is just too far away. Members of the PSWE board had the conversation about travel times and I was amazed at how close Evergreen Cultural Centre really is. Our two board members who live furthest from Coquitlam calculate that it actually takes less time to get to Evergreen than any of the major concert halls in downtown Vancouver. Our president comes from Abbotsford and obviously must drive through Coquitlam to get to Vancouver. The big surprise was our board member from West Vancouver. Driving time to downtown Vancouver from Caulfield is about 25 minutes. Then you have to find parking. The driving time to Evergreen Cultural Centre from Caulfield is about 30 minutes and parking is easy and free! Obviously, if you live in the West End, you can walk to the Orpheum, but from most places in the Lower Mainland, Evergreen is a lot closer than you think!

So how do you get to Evergreen? It's so easy! If you're approaching from the Trans-Canada head north on Lougheed Hwy. You will have likely taken the Cape Horn exit and followed signs that say Lougheed Hwy East or to Port Coquitlam/Maple Ridge. You will travel along Lougheed until it turns into Pinetree Way at Coquitlam Centre Mall. You are continuing to travel north (toward the mountains). Keep going. Once you've passed the mall, you will get to Guilford and you will see Evergreen Cultural Centre on the north-east corner. Find parking through the first driveway on your right.

You might prefer to use the Barnet Hwy if you are coming from the north side of Vancouver or from the North Shore. If that's the case, you can follow the major traffic patterns through Port Moody (along St. Johns) and either travel all the way to Pinetree Way (at Coquitlam Centre Mall) and turn left and follow the directions above or jog left at Ioco Rd as you are coming out of Port Moody and turn right on Guilford Way. When you get to Pinetree Way, you will see the Evergreen Cultural Centre. Turn left and make an immediate right into the parking lot!

Use the map below and we'll see you on Saturday night!!!!

View Larger Map

Vancouver Saxophone Ensemble

2010-02-07T14:44:00.000-08:00

PSWE is honoured to welcome the Vancouver Saxophone Ensemble to the stage next weekend for the "Joy of Sax." This ensemble is similar in makeup to PSWE in that it is a collection of outstanding sax players who are professional, student and extremely talented amateur musicians. In fact, you will notice some significant cross-over as many of our PSWE sax players leave the stage to return moments later, often on a different saxophone, with the Vancouver Saxophone Ensemble.

The group is directed by one of Vancouver's most accomplished saxophonists and music educators, Julia Nolan. She, along with husband David Branter are the saxophone powerhouse much of the saxophone specific activity in the Lower Mainland. They teach or have taught many of the top classical and jazz players, play regularly with groups like the Vancouver Symphony, the Vancouver Opera, CBC Radio Orchestra, CBC Jazz Orchestra, and Alan Matheson's many jazz ensembles. Julia and Dave are also half of the saxophone quartet, Saxophilia.

This is the Vancouver Saxophone Ensemble's second live performance as an ensemble and we look forward to hearing their varied repertoire from Bernstein and Ives to Delibes and Farnon.

Make sure that you don't miss this exciting performance. Get your tickets now through any PSWE member or from the Evergreen Cultural Centre. The concert is at 8pm on Saturday, February 13th.

New Web Site

2010-01-27T20:36:00.001-08:00

Just a quick note to say that our new website has hit the "cyberwaves!" Check it out at pswe.ca!!!!!

Joy of Sax

2010-01-09T10:38:00.000-08:00

Evergreen Cultural Centre will be filled with lots and lots of sax on February 13th. But in the interest of keeping this a family affair, we will be leaving the violins at home.

The saxophone is an instrument that is more part of the wind band than any other large ensemble. It was first patented in 1846 by Adolph Sax. I'm sure, as is the case with many new inventions, there many bugs yet to be worked out and it took some time to be adopted by composers. For this reason, it was never used by the vast majority of orchestral composers. The French Impressionists embraced the instrument and composers like Ravel actually added the instrument to the occasional orchestral piece.

Given that the wind band started coming into prominence toward the end of the nineteenth century and hit the hight of it's popularity in the 20th century, the saxophone was adopted and became an essential colour in the group. Composers like Grainger celebrated the unique vocal quality of the saxophone section sound and utilized this tone colour as a core element to his large ensemble sound. In fact, as Grainger entered the US military, he learned saxophone to play in the US Marine Band.

To use the word saxophone as if it is a single instrument is a bit misleading. The saxophone is actually a family of instruments that have a great range in pitch and sound. The highest, commonly used saxophone is the soprano saxophone. This is common in light pop and jazz fusion. Below that we have the most common saxophone, the alto. Charlie Parker was one of the most famous Alto Sax players. Tenor saxophone is an extremely versatile instrument. It is lower than the alto in pitch and can be heard on recordings of John Coltrane or as a key ingredient in the horn section in many rock and R&B bands. The lowest of the commonly heard saxophones is the Baritone Sax. You might think of the Bari sax as that huge beast that pumps out the low notes in bands like the Tower of Power.

The reality is that Mr. Sax was more completist than this and continued on down (and up) to include instruments at the extremes of the range of hearing. The Bass Saxophone is not heard very often. Percy Grainger worked hard to establish it as an integral member of the sax section in the wind band, but the instrument is very large and does not get used nearly as much as it should. It is not easy to convince a grade 5 student to play an instrument that is quite a bit bigger than he is (although the novelty of being able to have small parties in the case has some appeal!) Below that is the contra-bass saxophone. This is an incredibly large instrument that plays incredibly low. I've never seen this instrument in person, but I have seen pictures of people on step ladders playing them.

The Joy of Sax will feature an almost complete range of the saxophone family from Soprano down to Bass. We are excited to have the Vancouver Saxophone Ensemble sharing the performance with us and they will share the truly unique sound of a large saxophone choir with us. The saxophone is an intensely warm, reedy and vocal instrument. Large groups are rare and this is a sound that you will not want to miss. In addition, PSWE will perform works featuring saxophone either as core elements of the large ensemble sound or as solo instruments. You will hear music by Grainger, Stanhope, and Villani-Côrtes.

Not to be missed, get your tickets now, through your favourite PSWE member or through the Evergreen Cultural Centre. See you there: 8pm, February 13th. ONE PERFORMANCE ONLY!

Great Concert!!!!

2009-11-14T23:52:00.000-08:00

OK, I'm slightly biased, but I'm not one to complement unless I truly mean it. PSWE played amazingly well tonight. The band was "on" technically and truly was getting at the expressive aspects of all of the repertoire. The program fit together extremely well - I felt that there was a natural progression from beginning to end.

Special kudos go to our many soloists of the evening. In no particular order, and my apologies to whomever I missed: Ken, Anne Sluyter, Dean, Debbie, Karen, Mary, Robert, Terry, Linda, Graeme, Ferdinand, Rob and the entire percussion section. Rob Mann, you played outstandingly well - I can't wait until next week! Dave and Mary, thanks for all of your work on the performance.

If you missed it, you can still make it to hear the program at Kay Meek next weekend.

As always, if you'd like to comment, press the comment button below and have your say!

Symphonic Winds - Tasty Music

2009-11-07T08:03:00.000-08:00

I've spent a fair amount of time talking about the composers, the symphonic form, our guest soloist etc. but what are you really going to hear when you come to Evergreen Cultural Centre on November 14th, or Kay Meek Centre on the 21st?

I like to compare music to food. I like food. I like music. Some combinations of food work well and one course will enhance the next. The same goes with music. A great concert is like a great meal - one course flows into the next. You may end up somewhere completely different than you started, but the trip was connected, logical and pleasing.

Saturday's meal will begin with an exciting appetizer. The opening of deMeij's first Symphony is bold and flashy. It enlivens your taste-buds and makes you want more. Ticheli's second movement from his Second Symphony is smooth and velvety. It is filled with nuance and complexity like a truly great soup. The third course, the Scherzo from Vaughan Williams' Eighth Symphony, is small but demands your attention. It draws on some of the complexity of the second course but has a bit of a spicy kick to it that challenges you and excites you. The fourth course is fun and whimsical. It's the kind of dish that combines ingredients that really shouldn't go together. It almost feels like the chef just threw the kitchen scraps into a pot and walked away, but it works. Nothing that seemingly random could possibly work that well. This is the Finale from Ive's Fourth Symphony. The first meal is finished with a simple but perfectly matched desert: Morton Gould's famous Pavanne. The contrast is what makes this desert work. It is refreshing and will send you off to intermission in anticipation of a second round of tasty treats.

I'm not sure how to describe the second half of the concert in gastronomic terms. We open with Wagner, Trauersinfonie. At the risk of being repetitive, I think that we have our second soup course of the evening. This one however is pure cream soup. No chunks of anything. With each spoonful, you'll experience an ever-changing flavour spectrum but nothing is sudden. The next course is beef carpacio. It is simple, but stunning. What little adornment there is simply serves the main ingredient: Mozart, Concerto in C for Oboe. This is followed by the main course. This is not the main course because of it's relative importance to the other courses but more because of it's richness and body.

The Persichetti Symphony for Number 6 is rich and full. It is a meal unto itself in that takes those who experience it on profound journey and with each bite, one experiences the next step in understanding the genius of the chef. The final course of the evening returns us to Morton Gould and the grand Finale to his West Point Symphony. This is kind of finish to a meal that closes all doors to anything further. Perhaps a creme carmel with a nice smokey scotch. It finishes with a bang and leaves you completely satisfied.

Bring your appetite and join us at Evergreen Cultural Centre on Saturday, November 14th or Kay Meek Centre on Saturday, November 21st.

Mozart - Master of the Symphonic Form

2009-10-23T13:49:00.000-07:00

Few composers wrote as many symphonies as Mozart did and even fewer did so with such high quality. It was Mozart and Haydn who really defined the symphony that generations followed. So it seems only fitting that PSWE should play a Mozart symphony on our upcoming concert Symphonic Winds.

Fitting, perhaps. But we will pay homage to Mozart in a different way. We will look at a kindred spirit of the symphonic form: the concerto. The concerto is in fact a much older form than the symphony but is similar in that it is multiple movement and the movements themselves, at least in Mozart's day, similar in structure to that of the symphonic movements.

Mozart's Concerto in C for Oboe (and also written for flute), will be performed by the winner of our most recent Youth Soloist Competition. Ron Mann is young oboist currently at the University of British Columbia studying with Vancouver

Symphony Orchestra oboist, Beth Orson. Here's a little more about Ron:

"Ron Mann, 18, is in his second year of a B.Mus. in oboe performance at the University of British Columbia; he has been playing the oboe for four and half years. He studies with Beth Orson, and has worked extensively with Roger Cole, with masterclasses and coachings from James Mason, Rebecca Henderson and Morgan Zentner. This year he is playing in the UBC Symphony Orchestra and Wind Ensemble. In past, he has played with many ensembles including the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra, BC Youth Philharmonic Orchestra and Capilano University Wind Ensemble and has participated in the Kiwanis Festival, earning first place standings, as well as the Royal Conservatory of Music, receiving First Class Honours with Distinction in several oboe-practical examinations. Ron's playing has been recognized by the District of North Vancouver, where he was awarded the Civic Youth Award in 2008 for his achievements. He has taken part in several music festivals including Symphony Orchestra Academy of the Pacific, Marrowstone Summer Music Festival, and UBC Summer Music Institute."

Tickets are now available from your friendly, neighbourhood PSWE musician or from the Evergreen Cultural Centre Box office for the performance on November 14th. Tickets for November 21st are available from Kay Meek Centre.

So, what is a Symphony? Really.

2009-09-04T19:22:00.000-07:00

In my last post, I talked about different uses of the word symphony but what do we mean when we talk about a Symphony?

The history of the symphony began as an overture to operas back in the days of Monteverdi and Cavalli in the 1600's. Gradually, over the next century the symphony started to gain more structure. As an overture, it took on a fast-slow-fast form that eventually split into separate movements.

By the time Haydn and Mozart got their hands on the form it was an established four movement form. The first movement is fast and in sonata form. The second is slow a

nd more free. The third is a dance in three, later to be called a scherzo and the final movement is again fast. What Haydn and Mozart were able to do was to transform the symphony into a major art form.

From here through to modern day, the symphony has attracted the most major composer and have been the chosen form form their "magnum opuses." After Mozart, very few composers wrote more than 10 symphonies. Beethoven broke ground with many of his symphonies, most notably, the 9th, the "Choral Symphony." Berlioz wrote his famous Symphonie Fantastique, Mahler his Eighth Symphony dubbed the "Symphony of a Thousand" and Shostakovich's epic Seventh Symphony "Leningrad."

As is the case with most forms and musical traditions, the 20th century opened the doors to great experimentation and influence from other musical realms. The term symphony, in contemporary composer's hands tends to be used to indicate a major musical work that stems from the grand symphonic tradition but can stray some distance from the tight definition it once had.

PSWE will be presenting two symphonies in November: one in it's entirety and one "constructed." The Persichetti Symphony No. 6 - Symphony for Band. Although Persichetti had a very distinct melodic and harmonic language he had a clear formal influence from the classical symp

hony. The work is in four movements. After a slow introduction the first movement is predominantly quick, lively and rhythmic. The second movement is slow and expressive and is given the expression marking "doloroso" (sorrowful.) The third is a dance in 6/8 time. Although it is not written in the traditional 3/4 time that many Classical symphonies were, the three feel is very present in this movement. The final movement is a lively rondo form that ends big and bold.

The "constructed" symphony that PSWE will perform takes movements from four different symphonies to give the listener a sense of what four different composers do with the symphonic form. We will open with the first movement of Johan de Meij's Symphony No. 1 - Lord of the Rings. This is a symphony that pre-dates the Lord of the Rings movies and should not be confused with the score to that trilogy by Canadian composer, Howard Shore. The first movement of de Meij's symphony is entitled Gandalf and is bold and majestic and includes reference to Gandalf's incredibly fast horse, Shadofax. The piece is tonal and his heavily influenced by the

work of the great Romantic composers. Our second movement comes from Frank Ticheli's Second Symphony that was written in 2oo3 for legendary conductor Jim Croft upon his retirement. The second movement is a slow and deeply expressive work entitled Dreams Under a New Moon. Our third movement is actually the second movement of Ralph Vaughan William's Eighth Symphony. Vaughan Williams played with the formal structure of a symphony a bit in his Eighth and switched the slow and scherzo movements. His Scherzo alla Marcia is written exclusively for the wind section of the orchestra with strings being employed in the other three movements. We will finish our symphony with a transcription of the great Finale from the Fourth Symphony of Charles Ives. Full of humour and partial quotes of popular songs of his day that will be immediately recognizable to the listener but always with a twist, this is an exciting and fun way to end our exploration of the symphonic form.

Please be sure to purchase tickets on line at Evergreen Cultural Centre for the our presentation of Symphonic Winds on November 14th. Or join us at Kay Meek Centre for the same programme on the 21st of November. As always, I encourage any questions, comments or feedback through the use of the comment button below.

Symphonic Winds

2009-08-27T10:11:00.000-07:00

The word symphony has been used over the centuries to mean very different things. Today, people speak of going to the symphony to mean that they are going to a concert where an orchestra will be performing. We also speak of Mozart's or Shostakovich's Symphony No. Z to signify a particular type of large-form composition that is constructed in a particular way. But it wasn't always this way.

The Oxford Dictionary of Music says that the word has Greek origins and meant "sounding together." It goes on to say:

"(1) In 17th and 18th cents., Sinfonia meant what we should now call an ‘overture’ to an opera, etc., i.e. a short instr. piece often consisting of 3 short sections or movements in quick‐slow‐quick form.

(2) It was also used of an orch. interlude, e.g. the ‘Pastoral’ sym. in Handel's Messiah, in a vocal work. Some 20th‐cent. composers have revived this archaic usage of the term, e.g. Stravinsky in his Symphonies of Wind Instruments ( 1920 )."*

PSWE is about to launch into an exploration of what a symphony is and will present it's findings on November 14th and 21st. Given the nature of the wind ensemble, we will lean toward more modern takes on the symphony but modern does not necessarily mean avant guard.

Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote the Scherzo to his 8th Symphony for winds alone. Richard Wagner wrote his beautiful Trauersinfonie for winds. More recently, composers such as Johan deMeij and Frank Ticheli have written brilliant works taking elements from the symphonic form. We will also take a look at a couple of brilliant transcriptions of orchestral works for winds. Fans of Mozart and Ives will have something for them on this program.

In an effort to present a broad sweep of takes on what symphony means, we will offer single movements of much of these works. We will, however, present one of the greatest symphonies written for winds in it's entirety. Vincent Persichetti's famous Symphony for Band, his sixth symphony, is a brilliant work that shows what a modern master can do with the form.

We hope that you will come back and read more on this blog as we lead up to these concerts. Feel free to post your questions about any of this repertoire or the concert itself. I will do my best to answer your questions.

Most importantly, join us at Evergreen Cultural Centre on November 14th or Kay Meek Centre on November 21st to wrap yourself in the glorious, warm sounds of PSWE and symphonic wind music.

*"Symphony." The Oxford Dictionary of Music, 2nd ed. rev. Ed. Michael Kennedy. Oxford Music Online. 27 Aug. 2009<http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t237/e10019>

A New Piece by Adam Gorb!

2009-08-17T11:35:00.000-07:00

This piece is so new, it hasn't got a title. It hasn't even been written yet.

PSWE is spearheading the commissioning of a new work buy Adam Gorb that is a subversive patriotic march. The piece will be 6-7 minutes in length and will be in the vein of a Charles Ives or Kurt Weill dig at marches. Assuming that we get support for the project, this piece that will be suitable for high school and more advanced ensembles, will be completed for the fall of 2010. It will be premiered in the 2010-11 PSWE season.

What we are looking for is folks who are interested in supporting this commission. Anyone can support to the tune of $500 Canadian. For this financial contribution, each supporter will receive a copy of the score and parts (pre-publication) and will have their name printed in the published score. This is an excellent way of supporting composers and generating new works that will hopefully become part of the repertoire.

If you are interested, please comment to this post or email me directly. If you have questions about the project, please comment so that others may benefit from your inquisitiveness.

But Wait, there's more!

2009-08-09T17:47:00.000-07:00

For those following the discussion about quality repertoire emanating from the WASBE conference last month may want to read Stephen Budiansky's latest additions to his web site. They can be found here.

New Season Announced

2009-08-09T12:02:00.000-07:00

Our first rehearsal of the new season is one month away. This is when the musicians of PSWE will begin preparing a cornucopia of new repertoire for your listening enjoyment. Mark the following dates on your calendar:

November 14th - Evergreen Cultural Centre - 8pm - Symphonic Winds

November 21st - Kay Meek Centre - 8pm - Symphonic Winds

February 13th - Evergreen Cultural Centre - 8pm - The Joy of Sax

April 18th - Evergreen Cultural Centre - 2pm - Low Blow

April 24th - Kay Meek Centre - 8pm - In the Spotlight

June 19th - Evergreen Cultural Centre - 8pm - All in Good Fun

Check back soon for details on each of the programs and see you all in the new season!

WASBE Resonance - Quality Repertoire - Final word

2009-07-27T08:38:00.000-07:00

Stephen Budiansky has now placed the transcript of his speech at the WASBE conference on his web site. Apparently, the discussion is happening on many other forums around the internet and he is feeling like he is being misrepresented in some of these arenas. Don't believe what I say or what anyone else says. Read the transcript for yourself via this link.

Again, I encourage you to comment. Push the button below.

WASBE Resonance - Quality Repertoire - Follow up

2009-07-21T14:09:00.000-07:00

I love the dialogue that this topic has generated. As I'm sure that I've said before, there was much discussion in Cincinnati around the plight of repertoire for school music programs and by extension, the quality of the repertoire for bands in general. I'm excited to say that this discussion is continuing over a week later.

Mr. Budiansky has replied to my posts on this blog and has further elaborated on his thoughts on the subject. If you have anything further to add, please press the comment button below and chime in with your 2¢ worth. And please visit Mr. Budiansky's own web site to read his original article and follow up articles.

Here's part of the email dialogue that has transpired over the past couple of days:

Budiansky: "By the way, on the "Dr Suess" analogy -- which I see RW Smith promotes,too, on his web page -- I really think this is bogus. For one thing, there is so much great music by great composers or for that matter traditional folk music etc that is accessible to beginners there's no need for Dr Suessoid material. And, it's absurd to suggest that this is "adults imposing their tastes on children" -- this is giving them the real McCoy instead of pandering to what they imagine kids need but in fact is just a way for a bunch of bad publishers to keep the money flowing in.

Second, if kids were still reading Dr Suess in middle school and high school I think everyone would agree they were suffering from a severe case of remedial education. There's just no excuse for middle and high school (and for that matter even college bands) to be playing the garbage when they could be playing real music. Imposing "adult tastes" indeed -- how
about imposing GOOD taste.

Third, I have yet to encounter the musical equivalent of Dr Suess in any of the "educational music" for band I've heard or looked at -- it's mostly the equivalent of "My Butt Went Psycho" or other such great works of modern children's literature. Dr Suess was WAY better than this stuff."

Crompton: "What rang true with the the Dr. Seuss analogy is that it is incredibly difficult to find descent quality repertoire with minimal technical challenges when the medium for teaching the music is performance in band. I was disheartened a number of years ago by an article in the Instrumentalist magazine that quoted at least one of the biggest name composers for young bands as saying that it was impossible to write good music at an easily playable level. If they can't write it, who can? There has to be some balance point that brings quality music, through original compositions and quality transcriptions of "the great music" to young players. Seuss and others have done so in literature. We didn't read a "transcribed" version of "War and Piece" as young kids! the struggle is to find it in music. I think that it is worth the struggle and that is why I attend the conferences and wade through the publisher's CDs. Amongst all the crap, there has to be quality repertoire for the younger players. I'm not suggesting that we feed Seuss to 12th graders.

What many of my colleagues are afraid to teach is the music that students won't immediately like on first hearing. They don't want to challenge the students for fear that they might quit their elective courses. Unfortunately, it is the brighter kids that they loose and then they feel they have to play music that is yet more dumbed-down. I guess that I am saying that the adults have to impose their tastes on the students. Where else are the students going to develop an opportunity to think critically about the music that they play."

Budiansky: "One more point on "Dr Suess": I really just don't buy this analogy at all. The Tolstoy comparison is a reductio ad absurdum, because the fact is that there is a lot of good music that is both easy and authentic. Yes, there are some terrible cutesy "transcriptions," or rather adaptations, of famous pieces that are not worth playing. But there are a lot of nonsimplified transcriptions of real music that are worth playing and are accessible to beginning players. And again, even if there is some small justification for using this made-for-school music at the very beginning levels, there cannot possibly be any defensible reason to still be using it at high school and college levels -- where it is rampant.

But I just don't see that you need to pander to the imagined childish tastes of beginning players to get them into music. All the evidence shows that when you present even younger kids with the real thing, they respond with enthusiasm and have their taste whetted for more good things."

Crompton: "I guess that the value I see in the Seuss analogy is that we have to teach the students about form, harmonic language, melodic language, etc. To thrust an Ives march parody on young, first-year players who have never played a march is unfair. They can't possibly understand how the parody is brilliant without first understanding the conventions of march form and style. I know that I am guilty, at times, of putting music in the hands of younger players that they might be able to handle from a technical standpoint but not conceptually. Seuss, to me, is quality writing that allows young readers an opportunity to learn form, rhyme and vocabulary that will point them toward Shakespeare. I agree whole-heartedly that if a college musician is being fed the formulaic, non-imaginative crap that we are talking about, the music education system is failing miserably."

I am very interested in hearing other's opinions, whether you are a music educator, parent, composer, publisher or school music grad. Press the comment button below and chime in!

WASBE Resonance - Quality Repertoire

2009-07-14T19:33:00.000-07:00

As happens with any good conference, there are concepts, conversations, and ideas that continue to resonate for a significant time after one's returned home. The one discussion that has resonated with me, and I suspect a number of conference delegates is the one introduced by the journalist, Stephen Budiansky.

As I reported a few days ago, his session was entitled The Problem with Band Repertoire in Music Education; or, First, Shoot All the Composers. Mr. Budiansky discussed his frustration and disappointment with his own children's music programme as they went through high school. He is not a music educator or professional musician, but he does have enough of an amateur background in music to be interested and informed when it comes to music. In fact, I was lucky enough to find him in the hotel bar at dinner. He has a particular affinity for Ives and a thorough knowledge of music history in general.

His frustration revolves around the fact that the curriculum and content of the music program that his children went through was centred around substandard repertoire. They graduated with very little knowledge of music and have not picked up their instruments since the day they played their last concert at school. They have not developed a love of music that has carried them into their adult lives. This is despite the fact that they were both quite competent players on their instruments and, I assume, graduated with respectable marks in the course.

Mr. Budiansky is a respected journalist and as such, did not simply write the article that started all of this discussion without checking his facts and finding out if the school his children attended was unique. Unfortunately, it was not. He has since, written articles for the WASBE Journal with retired conductor of the US Marine Band, Timothy Foley for which much research was done. You can find the original article, the WASBE journal piece and a follow up to the original Washington Post article on his web site.

He observes that much of the music that is written and played in the US - and I don't think Canada is any different - is written by composers who exist within an industry that is interested in making money by creating material that will make bands sound good so that they can win festivals. He notes that many of the composers of these pieces have advanced degrees in music education and are concerned with relating music across school curriculum and tend to be highly formulaic "cookie-cutter" type pieces. He goes on to make the comparison with English teachers and remarks that if the high school English curriculum replaced Shakespeare with "the winner of the 1991 Iowa English teachers' novel-writing contest," parents would respond with a vengeance.

I am very much in agreement with Mr. Budiansky's stance but I wonder if there is any value in the music being written by contemporary composers of school band music and how we rectify this situation.

The issue of the value of the compositions is a tough one. In Bach's day, there had to be many composers that we have never heard of. Composers who wrote a fair amount of mediocre music for specific purposes. Not every church or court composer was a musical genius. It has been time that has filtered out the work of the best. I am continually in a quandary as I try to encourage Canadian composers to consider the wind band medium as a vehicle for their expression. I think that there are times when we have to endure the mediocre in order to allow young composers to learn and to sift through the talent to try and find the next potential Beethoven or Stravinsky. Perhaps the educational market is no different. The issue is that these people get paid a good salary to write and are placed on pedestals by music teachers. There are a few of the composers that Budiansky attacks that do have the occasional good piece of music. I think that some are genuinely in the position of writing a quality piece of music early in their careers and publishers hire them to duplicate their success. But maybe they only had the one good piece in them!

The second issue is harder. How do we rectify the situation? The education system is in a situation not that different than many arts organizations found themselves in with cigarette companies. The music publisher often are very supportive of conferences, festivals, and honour groups. They donate music and help pay for their composers to conduct and adjudicate. The buy booths at conference. We had a number of publishers in the trade show at the WASBE conference. I sincerely doubt that they made enough from sales at the conference to pay for their expenses, but they came in support and for that, I am truly grateful. I think that issue lies with the teachers. It is easy for a young teacher to go to a reading clinic or go on the JW Pepper web site and be told what is a best seller or editor's choice. This is surely great repertoire, correct? It takes time, energy and money to research repertoire, to buy CDs and to attend concerts and conferences. I would be surprised if many school band directors actually listened to band music for pleasure. And if their knowledge of band repertoire is the greatest hits of the Hal Leonard catalogue, it is no wonder.

If music teachers were to spend the time listening and studying the music that they work with, they will find the great repertoire and won't buy the crap. The latest, isn't necessarily the best. As much as I'm a proponent of developing the wind repertoire, a school music program is about teaching music, and that means playing quality transcriptions of the great composers in addition to playing contemporary repertoire written for the wind medium.

Mark Fonder of Ithaca College in New York, responded on his own session the day after Mr. Budiansky's that the occasional formulaic piece is good to teach form, but a steady diet is inexcusable. I wonder about that statement. Can we not find great repertoire, original or in transcription, that teaches what we need it to teach? He also states that we should not inflict adult tastes on children. They are not equipped to handle the more advanced repertoire. He reminds us that we learn to read with Dr. Seuss and Eric Carle not James Joyce. I agree heartily. We just have to work very hard as music educators to find the Seuss's and Carle's in amongst all the cheap imitations.

I don't think that we need to shoot the composers (at least not all of them!) In some cases it is the publishers and sometimes it is the teachers that need to re-examine what it is they are doing. But whatever the solution is there certainly is a problem that needs to be fixed.

There is a comment button below and I would very much like to hear responses on this. I don't pretend to have all the answers and maybe I am way off the mark. But I think that this is an important issue to discuss and debate.

WASBE Day 6 & 7 cont.

2009-07-13T08:32:00.000-07:00

It's over. I spent far too much time sitting yesterday. Sitting in planes. Sitting on busses. Sitting in airports. The added bonus was sitting waiting for the pilot's seat to be replaced before we borded the flight from Chicago to Vancouver.

I promised that I would wrap day 7, so here it is:

The morning sessions got harder and harder as the week progressed as the nights before them seemed to get extended. It was well worth waking up on Saturday morning for Mark Fonder's (Ithaca College, NY) session on repertoire for younger musicians. I have reviewed the session in detail again on the WASBE blog so won't go into detail here.

The WASBE AGM occurred immediately following. Much of the meeting was working through the formalities of such an event, but the highlights were the announcement of Odd Terje Lysebo as President-Elect and the presentations promoting the upcoming conference sites in Taiwan and Hungary. Glenn Price passed the ceremonial gavel to Leon Bly who now steps in as President.

The after lunch, the International Youth Wind Orchestra took the stage to perform a concert of what was billed as the top standard repertoire for winds conducted by the "Three Icons:" Frank Battisti, H. Robert Reynolds and Donald Hunsberger. The choice to play standard rep was somewhat of a departure for this ensemble as it generally programs newer works. But this entire project was about filming the three icons in rehearsal, interview and performance performing the three most major sets of repertoire available to us: both Holst Suites, Lincolnshire Posy, and Hindemith's Symphony in Bb. The DVD will be released at an unannounced future date.

The performance was outstanding. Each of these fine conductors out their own stamp on each of the pieces and the students did an outstanding job of playing the works. My favourite was Reynold's performance of Lincolnshire. There was a way that Reynold's got directly to the music and transported the listener that nobody else really did. I'm looking forward to hearing it again on disc and on DVD.

Having said that, all of the performances except the New Sousa Band from earlier in the week were recorded and are available for purchase from Mark Custom Recordings. I highly recommend getting a copy of at least the highlights disc.

A reception followed that was presented by the host city of the 2011 conference in Taiwan.

The final concert was presented by the US Marine Band, "The President's Own." I had been looking forward to this performance all week. The Higden Percussion Concerto, a performance of the Ives, The Alcotts and Husa's Music for Prague: 1968 drew me in with great anticipation. The band opened with the obligatory march which moved into an incredibly fast performance of Shostakovich's Festive Overture. I thought that from a programming perspective, the move from the march to the overture was a tasteful way of easing the audience toward the more challenging repertoire to follow. The Higden Percussion Concerto was masterfully performed but the piece itself seemed to fall into the trap that many other concerti do. It was a virtuosic showpiece with a couple of interesting ideas but little musical substance. I couldn't get images of Neil Peart out of my head at one point. The Ives was, by contrast, expressive and moving.

At this point, Glenn Price too the stage to present the first WASBE Lifetime Achievement award to Karel Husa. He is in his 80s now and seemed to be moved by the recognition. He returned to his seat to listen to a very powerful performance of his Music for Prague:1968. By the end of the piece, I felt that I had heard the best concert of the week, despite the fact that all of the repertoire didn't match my taste. What happened next, although not unexpected, was offensive and turned my stomach. The performance of the first encore of Stars and Stripes Forever was unquestionably the worst possible piece to follow the Husa. It was in direct opposition from musical and ideological perspectives. I understand that this is what the Marine Band does and this is what people expect. I also get that not everyone in the audience were trained musicians and may have not completely understood or even like the Husa. But I think that perhaps tradition could have been modified, just this once to either leave us with the Husa ringing in our ears or find a more appropriate piece to follow it with.

The week ended with a banquet, which I missed this time in favour of actually seeing a bit of Cincinnati and having dinner with a good friend that I only get to see once every two years. We did, of course, return to the hotel bar to spend our last evening with the WASBE crowd and start to say our goodbyes.

Thank you, so much PSWE for helping me get to WASBE again. I know that it has been a very worthwhile trip as much in inspiration as anything pragmatic. I hope that it translates into something tangeable for you.

WASBE Day 6 & 7

2009-07-12T08:15:00.000-07:00

You can't say that I didn't warn you. Like a carefully crafted crescendo, the bulk of the energy and activity in the conference happened in the final two days. Hence the missed day of reporting.

Day 6 seemed to split in half. The first half of the day was brought to you by Jack Stamp and Eugene Corporon - with one notable exception - and the second half of the day belonged to Asia. The morning repertoire session was performed by the Keystone Wind Ensemble. I won't report here on the repertoire presented as much of that is covered in my blog entry for the WASBE web site. But I did find it interesting that, in some ways, Keystone is much like PSWE, they are essentially an alumni band of Indiana University of Pennsylvania and bring together outstanding players, some who are and some who aren't involved in music professionally. The significant difference is that Keystone is a recording ensemble and have only performed five live concerts in their history!

The other part of the Stamp/Corporon presentation was a session discussing the recording history and methods of the groups that they have jointly been involved in recording over the last twenty years. It was interesting for me to learn about how they record, how they finance and how they distribute their recordings. They also issued a sizeable document listing every CD that they have released and the repertoire contained on each.

The most provocative session of the week occurred between these two and was entitled The Problem with Band Repertoire in Music Education: or, First, Shoot all the Composers! This talk was given by a Washington Post journalist [Mr. Budiansky has corrected me. He was written for the Washington Post but is not, in fact employed by the Washington Post. He is a free-lance writer, author and historian.}who published an article in 2005 bemoaning the lack of music being taught in schools. This was written from the standpoint of a band parent who's kids had survived a school music program to never play or show much interest in music at all after graduation. He blames the failure of the music education system in North America on the curriculum. The curriculum is so focussed on preparing for the next performance and trying to win the next competition, that the kids don't get to truly learn about music. The music that is selected as the core of the curriculum is designed to help make your band sound good rather than teach them about musical history, style and aesthetics. He blames the composers and the publishers for continuously spewing out formulaic crap that becomes the diet for music students. As one can imagine, there was a fair amount of debate that ensued, both in the actual session and in the halls and bars for the rest of conference. Both composer and publisher viewpoints were represented in the session itself as well as many conductors and music educators. A sensitive issue was exposed and, I suspect, will continue to generate discussion for some time to come.

The afternoon concert was presented by the China Youth Corps Band and I have to admit that the repertoire was so uninteresting to me that I left at intermission.

The evening concert was a pleasant surprise. I have to admit that I was not particularly looking forward to it given my experience with the programming of many of the Japanese bands that I have heard before but the Philharmonic Winds OSAKAN played some very interesting repertoire without falling into too many of the traps that many of their neighbouring bands do. I was particularly surprised by a work by Mark Camphouse entitled Anthem. Mr. Camphouse dealt with the Iraq war and the American involvement. He quoted both the Iraqi and American national anthems and I was afraid that this could turn out to be cliched, crass or obvious. This was far from the truth. The use of the American anthem was subtle and tasteful. If I knew the Iraqi anthem, I would be able to comment on it. It was an expressive and captivating work that will need to be listened to again, if not actually performed!

My time, right now is running out and I need to get ready to catch a plane to come home. I may finish this up in transit or tomorrow when I return. Now, stuff the suitcase and find my passport!

WASBE Day 5

2009-07-09T19:52:00.000-07:00

Day five has drawn to a close it is becoming apparent that the whole event is rapidly coming to a close. As we near the end, I'm packing more and more in in an attempt to get as much out of the week as possible.

The day started with another early repertoire session, this time hosted by the Philharmonic Winds OSAKAN. They were, again, extremely well prepared and presented a session with five works from five different cultures. The Japanese piece by Yo Goto was inspired by Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and played on the word relationship of lunar and lunatic. Fantasma Lunare was inspired by Beethoven but rarely overtly quoted Beethoven. It is a striking original work that would ring a chord, as it were with many types of listeners. We often don't get to hear original Korean band music and Koh Chang-su changes this with his Pansori'c Rhapsody based on the traditional Korean two-person dramas played out by voice and drum. Both are difficult pieces but offer something fresh to the repertoire.

Two session put on by the Conductor's Guild on technique and a lunch meeting regarding the schools network, brought us to a great dialogue with three prominent composers: Jennifer Higden, Gary Carpenter and Steven Bryant. Martin Ellerby, himself a prolific writer of wind music, moderated the session. For a full review of this session, see my blog entry on the WASBE web site.

The ended with dinner sandwiched between two concerts by very prominent American Bands: The Keystone Wind Ensemble under Jack Stamp and the North Texas Wind Symphony under Eugene Corporon. The first was a loud but well-played concert that included a trumpet feature by Joseph Turrin entitled Chronicles and Jack Stamp's Symphony No. 1: "In Memoriam David Diamond." Both were exciting and engaging works that brought the audience to their feet.

The North Texas performance was as polished as you might expect from this outstanding ensemble. The highlight was a new piece by Steven Bryant, Ecstatic Waters that successfully paired electronic sounds with winds. Many have tried this combination and I was not alone in thinking that this may be the first if not only successful work that combined the two. Again, not an easy piece, but very engaging both for the novelty of the concept but also for the pure expression of the music.

WASBE Day 4

2009-07-08T21:57:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,

Another day in Cincinnati has come to and end. I have to admit that it started a little slow. The result of experiencing the local whiskeys until a little too late last night.

When I did get into the university, I attended a very informative session on the current activity in South and Central America in the Wind Band movement. It is interesting to hear how national governments are adopting a strong attitude toward instrumental music in an effort to keep kids busy and weapons out of their hands! I also learned of a number of composers who are beginning to write wind music from the many South American cultures.

I was then given the privilege of introducing the open rehearsal of the International Youth Wind Orchestra. The conductors are H. Robert Reynolds, Frank Battisti and Donald Hunsberger. They are all working standard repertoire (Linconshire Posy, the Holst Suites and Hindemith's Symphony in Bb) in a project that will result in a comprehensive DVD set that looks at the rehearsal process of these three icons and their approach to these four standard works.

The rehearsal itself was followed up by a forum where these gentlemen expressed their views on the works at hand, conducting in general and answered questions from the audience. It was truly amazing to benefit from the experience and wisdom of these three men.

The session was followed by a short concert by the Westlake High School Wind Ensemble from Austin Texas. This group is truly an amazing high school ensemble and they played an interesting program. Who knew that Carter Pann (of Slalom fame) could write something slow and expressive!

I had the opportunity to have dinner with Odd Terje and we were able to catch up on a lot of things. We then returned for a pre-concert talk ad an amazing performance by the Royal Northern College of Music Wind Ensemble. They played a mostly very contemporary programme that included a number of current and ex RNMC faculty composers. The performance ended with a truly exciting performance of Metropolis by Adam Gorb.

The reception and concert also allowed me an opportunity to finaly meet Joseph Turin and to thank him for Jazzalogue and to discuss saxophone repertoire with an up and coming composer at the RNMC and to talk in more concrete terms with Adam about the proposed sax quartet! Off to bed, so I don't sleep through the proceedings tomorrow. I have sessions to review on the WASBE blog and meetings to go to!

WASBE Day 3

2009-07-08T05:32:00.000-07:00

There was a discussion two years ago in Killarney about whether it was possible and whether any composer in their right mind would write a piece for wind band that never went louder than mezzo piano. I'm still not sure what the answer is but Adam Gorb gave it a good try.

Tuesday morning started with the second repertoire session hosted by the Royal Northern College of Music and their three directors, Tim Reynish, Clark Rundell and Mark Heron. They presented 6 works from the UK for winds, one of which was a piece by Adam called Tranquility. This pieces stays below mezzo piano through much of it's probably 6 minute duration but it does climax significantly stronger. There is some beautiful quite writing though. The piece ends with a series of gorgeous quiet brass chords and is, so far, one of my favourite pieces from the reading sessions. The rest of the session included a great new(ish) piece by Kenneth Hesketh called The Guilded Theatre and pieces by two new composers to me: Emily Howard and Duncan Ward.

I attended and reviewed a session on rehearsal strategies later in the morning. It was hosted by a wonderful high school band from Texas and run by Gary Hill and Clark Rundell. Some brilliant insight to rehearsal techniques in light of current research on neuroscience and cognitive psychology. If you want to read more about this one, go to the WASBE blog.

The two concerts de jour began with the Frysk Fanfare Orchestra. Many PSWE members had the opportunity to hear them in Singapore and know that this is essentially a European invention that is an extended brass/saxophone section from the wind band. There are a couple of instrument that we don't usually have in the band like Eb Tuba and a fluglehorn section but otherwise, they are very similar. The players in this group are truly outstanding and they presented an extremely well prepared concert that focused primarily on Dutch composers. The highlight for me came in the form of two pieces by Marco Pütz. One was a rescoring for a piece that he written for wind band called Die Judenbuche and the other was a premiere of Four Earth Songs for Soprano and Fanfare Band based on the poetry of Graeme King.

The second concert was given by the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music Chamber Players. Again the program was exceedingly well prepared and performed. The first half introduced me to a Martinu and an Ibert work. La Revue de Cuisine was by Martinu was particularly entertaining.

WASBE Day 2

2009-07-06T21:30:00.000-07:00

Well,

Day 2 is behind me (just barely). The day started with a great repertoire session of music from South America. Unfortunately, the band from Brazil that had originally planned to be here couldn't make it, so most of it was done via video. Some interesting music is being composed south of the equator and we may see some of it show up on a future PSWE concert!

Following that session was a workshop on interpreting and performing Sousa marches. Keith Brion and the New Sousa Band did a wonderful workshop for an hour and a half on repertoire that is often seriously underrated in Canada.

The afternoon offered up an open rehearsal with the Royal Northern College of Music with Tim Reynish and Clark Rundell. Some interesting insights on rehearsing Vaughan Williams and Gorb! I look forward to hearing them in concert tomorrow night.

A wonderful dinner with Mark and Jennie Morette was followed by a concert by a very good Spanish ensemble. Some solid Spanish music was performed in addition to one Russian work. Pieces that caught my ear were Concertango for Alto Sax, Jazz Trio and Wind Ensemble by Luis Serrano Alarcón and Wind of Yemen by Boris Pigovat.

Of course there were many other meetings with friends old and new either at the display booths or over a drink in the bar. I had the opportunity to meet Mike Christianson of the Gotham Wind Symphony and was told by Jens Lindemann that he is working on the US premier of Trajectories. I wish him the best with that and hope that it comes to fruition!

WASBE Day 1

2009-07-05T20:58:00.000-07:00

Well, Day 1 is done.

As people continue to trickle in, old connections are being re-established and the music has started to flow.

After the opening ceremony, two high school groups performed: one from James Logan High School in California and the other from Lockport township in Indiana. Both were amazing school level ensembles - something we don't hear much at WASBE conferences. They played challenging programs that included premiers of works by Brett Abigaña and Jonathan Newman and impressive performances of Bells for Stokowski by Michael Daugherty, Song for Lyndsay by Andrew Boysen Jr., and Redline Tango by John Mackey.

The evening performance was by Keith Brion's New Sousa Band. It included a feature performance by PSWE friend Jens Lindemann. He played up a storm and wore a jacket that would make Don Cherry jealous. This group is made up of pro players with the specific aim of presenting Sousa concerts as they were originally presented some 100 years ago. Highlights, beside's Jens's performance of Air Varie on "Hope Told a Flattering Tale", included Humoresque by Sousa and John Beck's performance of Xylophonia. We may just see a couple of the pieces I heard today show up on future PSWE programs!

It was nice to reconnect with a number of PSWE friends such as Glenn Price, Adam Gorb, Marco Pütz and Odd Terje Lysebo. it's also been great to start to make new contacts who may come home to meet the band in coming seasons!

Summer in Cincinnati

2009-07-05T05:25:00.001-07:00

What does a band director do on summer vacation? Go to a band conference of course! I'm sitting in my hotel room in Cincinnati right now anticipating the beginning of the bi-annual WASBE conference. For those long time followers of PSWE, you know that WASBE is the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Wind Ensembles and PSWE performed at this same conference back in 2005 in Singapore.

This week's activities look particularly impressive. There will be more than 14 concerts by groups like the New Sousa Band from the US, the Royal Northern College of Music Wind Ensemble from the UK, the Frysk Fanfare Band from the Netherlands, the Brazil Wind Orchestra, the CCM Chamber Players from right here in Cincinnati, The North Texas Wind Symphony and the US Marine Band. We will be treated to performances by high school ensembles for the first time in my memory and will get to hear and participate in discussions about repertoire, conducting rehearsal technique and every other aspect of the wind band world. It looks to be an exciting week.

I'll try to update this blog on a daily basis and will also be writing reviews of a number of sessions for the WASBE blog. I hope you enjoy!

The News

2009-05-19T09:00:00.000-07:00

Attached is a link to an article done by Jessica Barrett of the North Shore News. Both Noel MacDonald and I were interviewed for the article and Ms. Barrett is able to make us both sound like we know what we are talking about. No small task! Thanks to the North Shore News and Jessica Barrett for this exposure!

Here's the article.

You missed the concert?

2009-05-13T17:40:00.000-07:00

It's OK. Take a deep breath. Yes, the band was in top form. Yes, the music was amazing. Yes, our soloists left the audience in awe. But it's not a lost cause.

We will be playing the concert again this coming Friday night at Kay Meek Centre in West Vancouver. Same repertoire. Same amazing musicians. If anything, it should be an even better performance with one concert and another rehearsal under our belts.

Don't miss this opportunity! We can't do the concert a third time. This is your last chance.

Tickets can be bought on line.

This is how to get to the theatre.

See you there.

I'll be looking for you!

Moving Pictures

2009-05-03T11:31:00.000-07:00

Film makers have known of the power of music from day one. Even before they'd figured out the technology of including sound on film, organists were hired to accompany the playing of silent movies. The great big band leader, Count Basie, got his start in the music business playing for the movies.

These days, movie producers pay big bucks to add a level of emotion that is not possible with visuals alone. There is a long line of outstanding composers that have either written for the movies or have made a career of writing for the movies.

John Williams is likely one of the best known names in the movie soundtrack business with titles like Star Wars, ET, Jaws, and Indiana Jones on his resume, it is unlikely that you can't sing at least one John Williams theme. There have been many composers that have been known for their concert writing that have also written for film. Dmitri Shostakovich is one of the most famous early composers for film. Much of what he wrote for film hasn't been heard by western ears but is slowly being discovered in Russia. He explored the role of the composer in the film process. In todays world, most composers write to an already formed visual product. Shostakovich wrote the music to an opera that he wanted to present as an animated film. The music existed first and he asked an animator to produce the film to his completed music.

John Philip Sousa, known as the March King, thought along the same lines. He wrote music that he hoped would be used by movie producers. To my knowledge, it was never used, but he did create some highly visual music that is a delightful departure from his prolific march output.

Come to Evergreen Cultural Centre on May 9th or Kay Meek Centre on May 15th to hear PSWE perform the music of some of these and other incredible composers for film.

OK, I'll Bite...

2009-03-27T15:41:00.000-07:00

Blog readership has gone up significantly in recent weeks. I'm not posting as regularly as I'd like but I'm seeing plenty of hits, particularly from California and other parts of the US. The primary target of this blog is people who attend our concerts and members of the band. What are folks from further away looking for when you access the blog. Please comment below and perhaps, I can build content that you will find interesting and useful on a more regular basis.

How to Get your PSWE fix

2009-02-28T07:47:00.000-08:00

Although you won't see PSWE as a whole in a public concert until May, we are keeping busy over the coming months. Here's what's going on:

A number of members of PSWE will be involved in Coquitlam's Water's Edge Festival on March 7th and 8th. The PSWE brass section has formed a group named West Coast Brassworks and will be performing a wide variety of music from 10-11am on the Lakeside Stage at Larfage Lake on Saturday, March 7th. You can then sprint down the path to Glen Pine Pavillion to catch Sax Noir at 11am. Sax Noir is a wonderful sax quartet made up of PSWE members Debbie Webb, Val Crocker and Chuck Currie and Ward Blair. Their performances are always captivating and entertaining.

A rare opportunity to hear an innovative work by Canadian Composer R. Murray Schaeffer is also part of the Water's Edge Festival. The piece Music for Wilderness Lake is in two parts and is performed by a trombone ensemble assembled around Lafarge Lake. Part 1 - Dusk - will be performed at 5pm on Saturday, March 7th and Part 2 - Dawn will occur at 7:30am the next morning. PSWE trombone players and our talented (and potentially very wet) Associate Conductor will be performing.

For More info on Waters Edge Festival, go to their extensive web site.

On April 2nd, PSWE will be working with the elementary band students of the North Vancouver School DIstrict. This is an annual event where PSWE members work directly with the students to teach them ways to improve their skills on their instruments and then all of the members of the band perform on a concert to help model those skills in a concert setting. If you have children in the North Vancouver Elementary School bands, you are encouraged to bring them to this event at Boundary School and Lucas Centre. More information is available through their school band teacher.

Busy times! If we don't see you before, make sure that you reserve May 9th or May 15th for performances of Moving Pictures at Evergreen Cultural Centre and Kay Meek respectively!

Guy's Gallimaufry - aka Music; The Food of Love - Part 2

2009-02-19T09:14:00.000-08:00

Guy Woolfenden is another well respected english composer with a long history of creating wonderful music for a myriad of ensembles but his specialty is in theatre music - in particular, theatre music associated with Shakespeare. He as written for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Comedie-Francaise, the Burgtheater, the Teatro Stabile and the Norwegian National Theatre.

The Woolfenden work that the we will present this weekend is Gallimaufry and is, as is quoted in The Winter's Tale, "a hotch potch made up of all the scraps of the larder." It is a collection of music that has been used in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Henry the IV in 1982. As one would expect, it is full of scenic imagery including the pomp of royalty to an all out tavern brawl.

So, join King Henry and Falstaff and other Shakespearean favourites in PSWE's musical celebration of the world of the Bard at the Evergreen Cultural Centre on February 21st at 8pm Tickets are available on line or at the Evergreen Cultural Centre Box Office.

Music: The Food of Love - Part 1

2009-02-10T20:22:00.000-08:00

The Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble will be presenting an exciting concert of music that comes directly or indirectly from the inspiration of Shakespeare. Some repertoire is from the ballet, some from the theatre and some simply from the god of drama who would have inspired Shakespeare himself.

Rather than tell you about the music that you will hear and the background of each piece, I am going to give you a little background on the composers whose music we will present on February 20th.

Edward Gregson is a name that should be familiar to those of you who have followed PSWE over the years. Among other works, he is the composer of the title track of our "Festivo!" CD that came out in 2001. He is a prolific composer having written for band, orchestra, choir, chamber ensembles, theatre, film and television. He has taught composition at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and served as their Principal for 12 years before retiring in 2008. He was recently awarded an Honourary Doctorate from Manchester University to add to an impressive list of other honourary degrees and fellowships from other British universities.

His work is dramatic and exciting. It is accessable on a first listen but gives the audience member a reason to come back for multiple listens. Each time you will discover something new. "The Sword and the Crown" will be presented on February 20th and is drawn from incidental music that he composed for the Royal Shakespeare Company. It incorporates a number of sounds and effects that draw out the imagery of the plays they were written for. It doesn't take a very active imagination to be able to "see" the scenes that this music was written for.

I expect that you will enjoy listening to Gregson's "The Sword and the Crown" as much as we have enjoyed rehearsing it. If you do like it, you will also enjoy listening to our recording of "Festivo" available at the Evergreen Cultural Centre Gift Shop and on line at Amazon.com.

See you February 21st at 8pm at the Evergreen Cultural Centre!

Why do you go to band concerts?

2009-01-06T13:05:00.000-08:00

Or, why don't you go to band concerts?

Yup, I'm talking concert band, wind band, wind ensemble. I have to admit, I don't go to a lot of band concerts myself. At least not locally. Maybe this has to do with the busyness of my life when I'm at home, maybe there are other reasons. I don't go to the symphony much and I rarely go to the opera. I will catch a couple of concert each year that come through town and I do make a point of going to conferences where I can hear great concerts. I listen to a lot of music on CD and from download sites and obviously, I'm involved in making music many hours of each day.

What I'm interested in is what makes other people get out the door to hear a good concert of wind band music. Is it that the ensemble is good? Is it that the quality of the repertoire is good? Do you want to be challenged as an audience member? Or do you want to hear familiar melodies? Are you looking for variety or do you know what you like and that is what you want to hear? Do you want to hear great soloists? Do you want to hear other ensembles rather than hearing the whole band all the time? By this, I mean do you want to hear guest ensembles and groups formed of members of the full ensemble? Do you want to learn something from your experience? Do you want escape from the daily grind?

This line of questioning could go on forever. Press the comment button below and respond to any or all of the questions. Give me your thoughts on other aspects of the concert experience.

Happy New Year!

Marc

The joys of the Christmas Season

2008-12-11T08:02:00.000-08:00

As much as I love the Christmas season, it is one of the busiest times of the year. Extra rehearsals, concerts to perform, concerts to attend, shopping, extra family events, work events and of course, my students favourite activity of mine - preparing their first term report cards. It's all made that much more enjoyable with the sounds of a particular playlist that only gets listened to for one month each year: the Christmas tunes!

This is all my way of saying, the blog traffic has been notably low of late, thank you for bearing with me. And, you really need to get a little live Christmas music in your life and you have not one, but two opportunities to do so this season. We will be performing our annual seasonal offering: Sleigh Ride and Other WInter Sport at the Evergreen Cultural Centre on Saturday, December 13th at 8pm. This will celebrate the great outdoors in the winter and commemorate the 100th anniversary of Leroy Anderson's birth.

We are also going to perform at the Kay Meek Centre in West Vancouver on December 20th at 8pm in conjunction with the Langley Children's Chorus. The PSWE portion of the concert will be similar to that of the Evergreen concert but not identical.

We would love to see you at both concerts in the coming weeks. If you are too far away to join us this time around, have a wonderful holiday and hopefully we will see you in February!

BCMEA Wrap-Up

2008-10-26T13:45:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who attended our session at BCMEA yesterday and thanks to BCMEA for having us. I hope that everyone who was there got something out of the session. I would enjoy hearing any comments that you might have regarding the session. Did you enjoy the music? Did you enjoy the performance? Will there be repertoire that we presented that you will perform with your own ensembles? Did you find the repertoire to be at the right level? Too easy? Too hard? Would you be interested in hearing PSWE at a BCMEA session again in the future? If so, would there be specific repertoire that you would like to hear or would you rather hear PSWE present on a topic such as rehearsal techniques, seating the ensemble, or perhaps instrumentation issues? Any thoughts that you have are more than welcome. Please feel free to respond via the comment link below (preferred) or privately via email at info@pswe.ca.

Special thanks go to Northwest Music, Ariel Music, G&M Brand, Studio Music and Maecenas Music for providing the materials and to Adam Gorb and the Royal Northern College of Music for making it possible for Adam to be in attendance.

PSWE and Adam Gorb at BCMEA

2008-10-24T07:56:00.000-07:00

The British Columbia Music Educators Association is presenting their annual conference today and tomorrow. It looks like there will be some good sessions for band folk. Adam Gorb is presenting this morning and, judging by his notes, this should be an excellent session. Tomorrow morning, PSWE will be presenting a session on contemporary band repertoire from the UK. Adam will be helping out and adding his comments as PSWE plays nine works from the pens of seven different composers. All works are playable by school bands at various different levels. Both of these sessions will occur at 10:15am: Adam's today and PSWE's tomorrow (Saturday). Hopefully we will see you there. If you read about this on on the blog, make a point of coming by and telling me. I always like to know who is reading.

Special thanks to Northwest Musical Services, Ariel Music, Maecenas Music, G&M Brand Music, and Studio Music for their support of the PSWE session on Saturday and to the Royal Northern College of Music for getting Adam here to present.

Adam is here! And What a Show!

2008-10-19T09:03:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who was at Evergreen Cultural Centre last night. I'd picked up Adam at the airport just after noon yesterday, got him settled into his hotel, got him dinner and headed to Evergreen. After a brief sound check, we were ready to play.

Daniel Tones navigated his way through the fortress of percussion instruments to prepare to begin Elements. After a brief nod, we were off. Everyone played brilliantly. There are always spots in a piece like this that all hell can break loose. The intricate rhythms and balance of the various instruments in the ensemble can make it treacherous if one person makes a small mistake. When you are rehearsing a piece with a soloist, your time with the soloist is usually limited as well, making the co-ordination of solo part with ensemble feel under-rehearsed. Outside of one long measure - which is marked "chaotic" - hell never broke loose! In fact the were many exciting and many beautiful moments throughout the half-hour work. This was likely the sixth performance of this piece and the first one on this side of the Atlantic. Adam was very pleased with how it came off.

The second half was a gas. Midnight in Buenos Aires was stunning, Candlelight Procession was moving, Burlesque was brilliant and Dances from Crete was a smashing success (pun intended). It was so great to hear the results of the short but intense rehearsal run up to this concert. Special thanks go to Danny for being such a great soloist and so easy to work with, Scott and DJ for putting in all their hard work for their special roles - I look forward to the next opportunity to have you both work with us and hope that there will be more for you to play, Alan R. for again organizing the move of more percussion gear than we have ever had on one stage, and Adam for writing such great music and coming all the way from Manchester to hear us play it.

I hope that I'll be able to get some pictures up on the blog in the coming days and also hope that maybe a soundbite or two will make here if I can figure out how to do that.

On to BCMEA and Christmas!

Dress Rehearsal

2008-10-17T06:42:00.000-07:00

Last night was our dress rehearsal in the concert hall. It was good to discover that we can, in fact, fit every piece of percussion gear that we need on stage! It's a tight fit, but with a large shoe horn, we can do it. We also had a group from Heritage Woods Secondary School com and listen to the rehearsal. I had a chance to speak with them before the rehearsal got going and I understand that many of them will be back tomorrow night for the full performance. They had to leave before the rehearsal was finished. I hope that they enjoyed the music and learned something along the way. By the way, if you are a student from Heritage Woods, the answer to question three was Bass Clarinet.

The band seems to be fine shape, our soloist is sounding amazing and I think that we have enough dinner plates left to make it through the concert. Hope to see you there! 8pm, Evergreen Cultural Centre, Coquitlam, BC.

Perspective

2008-10-08T07:53:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been unable to see the forest for the trees? Probably not. You're smarter than I am.

I've been looking at the finer details of Elements as I continue to prepare for our October 18th concert. The last post about math and music is a case in point. It is fascinating to see how a good composer can link so many elements of a work (pardon the pun) together to form a complete piece.

I guess the subconscious mind has been working away during my sleep time. I popped on a recording of Elements on the way in to work this morning and started hearing things that I've never heard before. The third movement really does sound like water! That may sound strange and obvious given that the title of the movement is Water, but I was hearing the whale sounds and slow movement of the current deep below the ocean's surface as I listened. I also have thought that one cabasa stroke at the beginning of the third movement seemed out of place until this morning. There are no other passages for cabasa for miles around, there is almost nothing else happening and BAM! cabasa. Cabasa is typically a hollow metal cylinder with chains around it that fits in ones hand. This morning it was obvious that this was the striking of the match that ignited the fire movement.

At first, I was disappointed in myself for missing these, what are now, obvious things in the piece. The more I thought about it however, the more I realized that this is true of any great piece. You can come at it from many different angles and see or hear many different things. What first catches your attention may distract you from other aspect of the piece and that is OK. That is what makes one persons experience different from the next and allows the piece to become a constant voyage of discovery.

Thanks, Adam!

Math and music (and Gorb)

2008-10-07T19:40:00.000-07:00

As a music educator, I am often demonstrating to students the relationship between music and the many other realms of human intelligence. If you read Howard Gardener, he explains that performing music is the only activity that activates all types of intelligence. One of the most commonly heard connections between music and other forms of intelligence is the connection between music and math.

Math relates to music in so many different ways. Music has structure the way a building has structure. One section is built upon another. The piece or building will fall apart without each piece in it's proper place. You feel this in a well composed piece of music when you have the sense that there is no other possible way for the piece to be written. One passage is the logical product of the passage preceding it. A truly great work leaves you with the feeling of constantly rediscovering something that you may have never heard before - that feeling that you get when you might state "Of course! Why didn't I think of that?"

Adam Gorb is a true master of this kind of logic. I find his music to be accessible yet it is always full of surprises. It is accessible, not because he writes with familiar tunes or in a style that is common - often this is far from the truth. But even the most esoteric of his music has a logic to it that makes sense. He uses repetition and melodic and rhythmic themes to hang his form together so that everything makes sense. This is particularly true in "Elements," his percussion concerto. This is not a piece that has a memorable melody, yet I constantly find myself with passages of the piece running through my head. The first measure of the piece presents a very distinct rhythm that is the glue for much of the first movement. It is originally stated in the solo percussion part, but then gets tossed around by the other instruments in the ensemble and is often mixed with many of the other ideas in the movement. In his works, "Dances from Crete" and "Midnight in Buenos Aires," Gorb plays on melodic patterns and rhythms that are stylistically distinct and obvious parts of Greek music and the Tango. It is what he does with these ideas that makes the music exciting and novel.

The more I advance as a musician and continue to learn about all aspects of music, the more I come back to my personal musical roots. As a musician, I am a drummer first and from that, constantly fascinated by rhythm. Rhythm is also extremely closely related to math. The simple quarter note, half note, etc. note names recall fractions as does the time signature that you find at the beginning of a piece. The truth is that these rhythmic fractions and time signatures are a simple expression of the complex numerical relationships of time throughout a piece of music. It is common for a composer to shift between rhythms and time signatures based on the common elements of each. A famous example of this is the relationship between 3/4 time and 6/8. Both time signatures have 6 eighth notes in every measure but where the accents are quite different. If you know the song "America" from West Side Story, you will know this relationship as the rhythm alternates between 6/8 and 3/4. I think that Adam Gorb must have a very strong background and fascination with math because he takes these relationships to a very different and sometimes complex level.

In his piece "Elements," he is constantly shifting time signatures and tempi. There are times when the shifts seem very abrupt, but they always make sense, whether you can figure out what is going on or not. An example of this comes from the first movement where triplets in one section become eighth notes in the next, effectively increasing the tempo by 1/3. It feels as if we suddenly shift gears and speed off (hopefully not leaving anyone in the dust!) In the second movement, the feel is almost as if there is no beat. The music floats and there are often different note groupings that layer on top of each other to create a shimmering texture. They key to this section however is that the pulse, at least amongst the musicians is extremely strong and the beat shifts around a constant eighth note. It is fascinating to study and to hear.

If all of this talk of math gives you hives and scares you, I can empathize. It scares me! Do you need to understand it all to enjoy the piece? No. To go back to the architecture analogy, you can certainly enjoy the look of a beautifully designed and constructed building without a degree in engineering. For some it is the mystery of how art is created that is the magic. For others, the fascination is in pulling it all apart to see how it works.

You will, of course, enjoy all of the pieces mentioned above and more at Evergreen Cultural Centre on October 18th at 8pm. If you're lucky, you will also get the chance to run into the composer of all of this wonderful music, as he will be coming from Manchester, England to hear this extravaganza!

WCAMS - Listening List

2008-07-26T10:39:00.000-07:00

Some of you know that I get to hang out with an incredibly cool bunch of people each summer for one week. They are the members of the West Coast Amateur Musician's Society and they have an annual camp at Trinity Western University in Langley, BC. This camp allows people to explore their musical talents, old and new. They get an opportunity to play in chamber groups orchestras, choirs, solos, duos and (my unbiased favourite) the Wind Ensemble! It is too late to participate this year, but definitely check out their web site and think about attending next year. Break your kids, bring your parents, bring your grandparents! If you are in the area and are looking for something to do this evening, head to the Atrium at Trinity Western University at 7pm and check it all out.

I promised the members of the Wind Ensemble that I would post a recording list of their repertoire for tonight's concert. They will be performing the following three pieces. Below each are recommended recordings for each:

Poem by Scott Boerma
WASBE 2007 - Repertoire Session 1 - Dublin Concert Band

Ghost Train - 1st Movement by Eric Whitacre
Luminaries - North Texas Wind Symphony
Wind Tracks - University of Florida Wind Symphony

Second Suite in F by Gustav Holst
Basic Band Repertory - Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra
Passions - North Texas Wind Symphony
Holst/Handel/Bach - Cleveland Symphonic Winds
Holst - Dallas Wind Symphony

All of these recordings can be found on Amazon.com or at Mark Custom Recordings. Some are also available as digital downloads from the iTunes Music Store.

Summer Listening

2008-07-24T07:25:00.001-07:00

I just got a note about a radio show that might interest you. If you live in the Atlanta area, you may already know about WABE's Summer Winds program that will run for the next few weeks on Tuesday nights at 9pm. It is hosted by Dr. Scott Stewart of Emory University and will "celebrate the rich and varied repertoire of the wind band/ensemble, including music from the early Renaissance through the current day." If you are not in the Atlanta area (like myself) you are not out of luck. Log on to their web site and listen on line!

Happy summer and happy listening!

Even the kitchen sink!

2008-07-15T21:43:00.000-07:00

What do boobams, xylophone, pedal bass drum, congas, bongos, tomtoms, cowbells, woodblock, temple blocks, suspended cymbals, marimba, waterphone, sizzle cymbal, thunder sheets, junk metal, tambourine and vibraphone have in common?

If you read the last post, you will probably guess correctly that these instruments are somehow all involved in Adam Gorb's Elements - Suite for solo percussion and symphonic wind ensemble. In fact they are all played by one person, our soloist. I'm going to save talking about who is going to play all of these instruments for a later post and focus this time on what all of these instruments are.

You may know that percussion instruments can be divided into multiple different families. They are all, by definition, instruments that are struck in some way but the resulting sounds can be very different. One family of instruments is the pitched keyboard instruments. In this piece, our trusty soloist plays xylophone, marimba and vibraphone. The xylophone and marimba are both made of wood. The xylophone being the higher, little brother of the marimba. The vibraphone is a metallic instrument that has quite a long ring to it and is manipulated with a pedal to dampen the ring and a rotating fan to create a vibrato effect. These instruments are often confused and many people use the word xylophone to indicate any number of pitched keyboard percussion instruments.

We then have a number of metallaphones, or non-pitched (or more correctly - instruments without specific pitch) instruments made of metal. These include the cowbells, cymbals, thunder sheets and junk metal. these are all struck with wooden sticks or yarn mallets and, although they do not have a specific pitch, they do have a myriad of sounds and relative pitches. The cowbells and cymbals are common instruments but the thunder sheet and junk metal are more rare. A thunder sheet is a large piece of sheet metal that is shaken to imitate the sound of thunder. Junk metal is just that: pieces of metal of varying shapes and sizes, often scavenged from an auto wrecker. Trust me, when you go to an auto wrecker and ask for pieces of metal to play and jump into the dumpster with stick bag in hand, you get some strange looks. But you also get some very cool sounds!

Then we come to the family of instruments most commonly referred to as drums. In this piece, we have a bass drum from a drum set played with a pedal, we have congas, bongos, tom toms, a tambourine and boobams. The drum set bass drum, I'm sure everyone has seen. Congas and bongos are also quite common. They are the drums used in many Latin American styles of music. The congas are 2 1/2 feet tall and are played with the hands. Their little brothers are the bongos and they are quite a bit smaller, connected in pairs and played with the fingers. The tambourine is a universal hand drum with jingles mounted around the shallow wooden shell. Tom toms are often double headed drums most commonly found on drum sets. Finally, the boobams are the most rare of all of the drums that will be used. They come in sets and are best described as high pitched bongos with very long shells or tubes.

This leaves three remaining instruments. The woodblock and temple blocks are resonant wood instruments, the temple blocks coming in sets of relatively pitched blocks. The most interesting of all of these instruments is the waterphone. This doesn't really fit into any group of instruments and is best described by looking on the creator's web site. Essentially, a series of relatively pitched metal rods are attached to the perimeter of a metal disk that are then struck and bowed creating a quite eery effect.

It's truly an amazing array of instruments that will have to be heard live to truly get the full effect. The variety of sounds coupled with the almost dance like way that the soloist moves through and around them all to play is an exciting aural and visual experience. But, you have the chance to see and hear it all on October 18th, at Evergreen Cultural Centre!

Adam is coming!

2008-07-14T14:24:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it? Neither can I! He's really coming. It's true. Adam is coming to our city! He'll even be at our next concert.

I know, you're asking yourself that all important question. Not how did they manage to get him. No, not even is he going to perform. Yes, the question is: "Who is Adam?"

Adam Gorb is one of the most refreshing composers to come out of the UK in quite some time. His music is incredibly varied and always interesting for the players and the audience. He writes music for advanced ensembles based on challenging themes. Towards Nirvana explores the life of Siddhertha Guatama, the Buddha. Yiddish Dances is a "party piece" that is a romp through various Klezmer dances. Adrenaline City is a concert overture written for a number of US military bands that pushes everyone to the limit.

Not everything that he has written is for advanced bands. In most cases, composers of advanced literature don't do well when writing for younger musicians. They either dumb it down in every aspect and the music is simply bad or they don't understand the requirements of young musicians and can't make it easy enough for them to play. Adam is able to create quality music that is interesting for even the youngest of musicians. My faves include Parade of the Wooden Warriors, Candlelight Procession and Sunrise and Safari. Each of these are simple from a technical standpoint but have quirks that keep everyone on their toes.

Adam is coming to Vancouver in October to hear PSWE's performance of Elements his concerto for percussion and winds. We will also be performing Burlesque for clarinet choir and Midnight in Buenos Aires a fantasia on the "darkness, violence, mystery and seductive passion that is all an intrinsic part of the Tango." He will be visiting university music programs in Vancouver and Calgary while he is here and presenting at the British Columbia Music Educators Conference.

Stay tuned for more on Adam, his music and future happening in PSWE.

Do you see things?

2008-05-07T08:37:00.000-07:00

When you listen to music, I mean. Many people are very visual when it comes to perceiving music. A particular piece of music might conjure up certain images. Maybe the pieces is associated with a time in your life and you see images of your past. Maybe, the piece has been used in a movie and you see a scene replayed in your head. Or maybe, you see shapes and colours that you associate with particular moods that are sparked by the music.

Synesthesia is a particular neurological condition where one associates colour with sound. The person will hear a particular frequency or timbre and "see" a particular colour or hue. There are folks that study the relationship between frequency of light (colour) and frequency of sound (pitch) and claim that they are very much related.

What does this all have to do with PSWE? Saturday night's concert will be all about the relationship between the visual and the aural. What do you see when you hear a particular piece of music? Almost all of the pieces that will be performed have been inspired by works of art, whether they be paintings, architecture, textile design, or dramatic set design. Each composer has been inspired by the visual and translated that image into sound. In turn, the sound, hopefully will inspire imagery in your minds eye.

Bring your creative bent and we'll supply you with doodling supplies. Feel free to draw to your hearts content as music-scapes unfold before you.

Evergreen Cultural Centre: Saturday, May 10: 8pm

Looking Ahead

2008-04-26T13:01:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since my last post. Seems like I start a lot of posts that way. I guess that's the nature of the game when PSWE is my love but not my day-job! One way of ensuring that there is always something new to read on the PSWE blog is to comment. You will often find that certain topics take on a life of their own and there is a thread of comments offering a variety of thoughts and opinions. Think of it as your gentle (or not so gentle) way of kicking me in the #%% to keep things active!

I'm in the throws of programming next season (and to a point, the next few seasons). This can e a very lonely business and I often don't have a true sense of how successful I've been in answering the needs of the audience and the ensemble until the last note is played on concert night. Along with the next season(s), I'm also thinking ahead to our next CD.

As I know that both audience members and ensemble musicians read this blog, this is your opportunity to influence what you hear or play over the coming year or three. Comment publicly to this blog by hitting the comment button below. You can do so anonymously if you feel uncomfortable putting your name out there publicly. By commenting publicly you may trigger others to react and we can get a true dialogue going. If you still feel uncomfortable, feel free to email me at info@pswe.ca.

I look forward to hearing from every last one of you, even though I know many of you read the blog from far off countries and continents. You may have heard music that fits our programming that you think our audiences should hear.

Cheers,

Marc

YouTube

2008-02-25T18:27:00.000-08:00

OK,

I've been faced with a conundrum. I was told today that excerpts from three pieces on Saturday night's concert were filmed and placed on YouTube. On one level, I am flattered that someone thought enough of the performance that they would take the time to film it and place excerpts on YouTube. Perhaps this is someone who read yesterday's posting and thought that they would help spread the word and build the audience by giving it more profile in the YouTube community. If these are this person's reasons, I have to thank him for his efforts.

On the other hand, what has happened is theft. The work of the composers, publishers, arrangers and performers has been stolen and distributed without any of their permission. Is PSWE going to loose revenue or are the members going to suffer financial hardship because of this act? I very much doubt it. Are the composers going to lose income over this? Are the publishers going to lose sales? It is highly unlikely that any of this will happen. The important point is that none of the people who have ownership of this property have been consulted. Mr. Marshall has not heard our recording of his piece yet. Perhaps, when he hears it he will claim that we were so far off the mark from his intentions, that he asks for the archival recording to be destroyed. Again, I very much doubt that this will happen but, he has the right to protect his intellectual property. By posting this video to YouTube, that right has been taken away from him.

I don't know the person who took this video. I have a name and brief profile. I have to assume that no harm was intended and hope that our best interests were the motivation behind recording and publishing these videos. I would have to ask people to think twice about recording the concerts of others without their permission. If you are interested in recording's of our music, we have four CD's for sale that we will gladly get to you. If there are enough people who are interested in seeing our concerts in video format, we can investigate archiving them and getting permission from all stakeholders for distribution in this format. But until that happens, please respect the rules of the theatre and do not record, in any way shape or form, concerts that are not your own.

If you have comments or responses to this, please click the comment link below and let us know your thoughts.

Concert Wrap Up

2008-02-23T23:35:00.000-08:00

Thank you to everyone who attended tonight's concert on both sides of the proscenium. To the band, I constantly throw very challenging repertoire at you and it never ceases to amaze me how well you pull it all off! Both from a technical and musical standpoint, I consider tonight to have been a big success.

To the audience, thank you for supporting us. Your role in the concert experience is no less challenging than the musicians. where the musicians have six to eight weeks to get to know a work and come to an understanding of it, you get one shot! To digest something as complex as Chris Marshall's Renascence in one listen is a daunting task. I truly hope that you were moved by Mr. Marshall's brilliant writing and Jane and the band's outstanding playing.

I have to say that I was disappointed in tonight's turn out. I appreciate each and everyone who was there and had a chance to speak to many of you. If you have ideas on why tonight's attendance was atypically low or what you think would draw larger audiences, please let me know privately by emailing info@pswe.ca or commenting here on the blog. Comments to the blog can be made anonymously if you desire.

Our last performance of the season will be on May 10 and will include, among other things, Mussorgsky's great Pictures at an Exhibition. Encourage your friends to come out to a concert experience that you cannot get anywhere else!

Concert Tonight!

2008-02-23T09:52:00.000-08:00

Just writing to remind you of this evening's performance at the Evergreen Cultural Centre. Rehearsals have been progressing wonderfully and this should prove to be a very exciting performance. On the program are:

Alfred Reed's Awakenings from Three Revelations from the Lotus Sutra
Frank Tichelli's gorgeous setting of Amazing Grace
Bob Margolis's Terpsichore

and the World Premiere of Christopher Marshall's Renasence with Jane Hayes on piano.

Concert begins at 8pm at the Evergreen Cultural Centre in Coquitlam.

See you there!

The Review(s) are(is) in!

2008-02-12T12:03:00.000-08:00

Hi folks,

The International Trumpet Guild Journal's most recent edition has published a review of Trajectories. Here it is:

From ITG Journal

Vol 23, No 2

January 2008

Paciﬁc Symphonic Wind Ensemble (with Jens Lindemann) - Trajectories
PSWECD 006 (CD); info@pswe.ca;http//www.pswe.ca

This is a terriﬁc release of exciting new wind band repertoire, all composed by Canadian Fred Stride. Music Director Marc Crompton has put together a professional ensemble, based in British Columbiaʼs Lower Mainland, that plays with a polished sound and technique reminiscent of such groups as the Dallas Wind Symphony and the Presidentʼs Own. The orchestration and tone colors for which Stride calls are remarkable, and his music is imbued with jazz elements, reminding this listener of such
contemporary writers as Michael Daugherty, Michael Torke and Eric Whitacre. The ﬁnal work on the disc is the only one that features trumpet: the thirteen-minute Trajectories, written for and performed here by Jens Lindemann. This acrobatic showpiece is a perfect vehicle for Lindemann to demonstrate the musical and technical skills for which he is known. The piece is in two main sections. The ﬁrst part, lyrical and contemplative in nature, is based on an atonal six-note pitch class that undergoes much transformation. The second part features wide leaps, much use of very fast multiple tonguing, and a moto perpetuo feel - deﬁnitely not a piece for the soloist who is faint of heart! This is a very enjoyable recording of new and interesting wind ensemble music, and the listener receives the added bonus of getting to hear Jens Lindemann perform at
his ﬁnest.

(Peter Wood, assistant professor of trumpet, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL)

The Interview

2008-02-06T21:07:00.000-08:00

At long last, the interview has been posted on the PSWE Web Site. It is about 20 minutes long but well worth the listen. Chris Marshall sheds light on his composition in a way that only the composer can. I hope you enjoy hearing what he has to say and are enjoying your homework! :)

One update to the homework post: I have found a recording of Resonance on Chris's website. It is definitely worth a listen! It is here.

See you you on the 23rd!

Pre-Concert Homework

2008-02-01T11:35:00.001-08:00

Congratulations! You have continue reading despite the scary title to this post. I know that my students would have probably broken into an immediate rash, shut down the computer and run hard and fast.

I am more excited about the World Premiere of Renascence than I have been about the performance of a piece in quite a while. This piano concerto by Christopher Marshall (pictured to the left), has an amazing balance of tension, release, passion, angst and beauty. It speaks to rebirth and is the focal work on our February 23rd concert.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Chris last weekend and we did a short interview that dealt with the origin of the piece, his thoughts about it and the significance of the title. This interview will be posted on the Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble web site in the coming days and I encourage you to give it a listen.

This is not your homework, however. Some prior listening will help make your first exposure to Renascence even more poignant. First, I encourage you to find a recording of Schubert's song cycle Die Schöne Müllerin. In particular, you want to listen to Trockne Blumen. All of the melodic and harmonic material in Renascence is based on this piece. Not that I'm a Schubert expert by any stretch, but I am particularly enjoying the recording by Malcolm Martineau & Michael Schade that I purchased from the iTunes Store. Only 99¢ for the one movement and $9.99 for the full disc.

Secondly, you need to go to Chris's web site and listen to the recordings he has posted there. They will give you a taste of his writing style. In my estimation, his two best works are missing from his web site collection. They are Resonance, which was recorded by the International Youth Wind Orchestra at the WASBE conference in Killarney, Ireland last summer, and Renascence which hasn't been performed yet!

Even though, this is a wonderful work that will be a moving experience for an uninitiated first time listener, listening to the recordings recommended will help to put the piece in perspective for you.

Happy listening and see you at the Evergreen Cultural Centre on February 23rd!

Renascence

2008-01-21T06:08:00.000-08:00

I've heard that well placed spelling mistakes in web documents attract attention and make people remember your site better. The title of this post is not that. Many people asked me why the misspelling of the word Renaissance as PSWE went to work on Christopher Marshall's latest work. In fact, this is a quite purposeful use of an alternate spelling of the word. Marshall's piano concerto is about rebirth and has little, if anything to do with the historical Renaissance. In fact, the work is more of a Neo-Romantic piece than anything else.

The upcoming performance of the Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble will feature local piano virtuoso, Jane Hayes in the world premier of Christopher Marshall's piano concerto in addition to other significant works that are based on the theme of rebirth. Three Revelations on the Lotus Sutra by Alfred Reed, Terpsichore by Bob Margolis and Frank Ticheli's moving setting of Amazing Grace will round out this programme.

Come celebrate the anticipated arrival of Spring with the Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble on February 23rd at the Evergreen Cultural Centre at 8pm. Check back here at the PSWE blog for more on the music and our soloist as we get closer to the performance.

Concert Tonight

2007-12-08T07:49:00.000-08:00

I'm guessing that you all thought I'd dropped off the face of the earth to never post again. It has been a much busier fall than I'd anticipated and unfortunately, the PSWE Blog fell by the wayside for a bit. Hopefully, over the Christmas break I'll be able to get my momentum going again.

I track the traffic to the blog and can tell when people are checking and when they're not. I can't tell exactly who you are unless you identify yourself but I'm guessing tat there are a few folks who log on on a regular basis just to see what's new. I thank you for sticking with me.

Tonight we have a wonderful concert coming down the pipe and I'm hoping that you have plans to attend. We'll celebrate the season with a plethora of Christmas favourites and a number of pieces celebrating the joys of Christmas weather. You'll have to be there to find out what that is all about. We'll also be sharing some personal memories of Christmas past.

Please join us tonight at Evergreen Cultural Centre at 8pm. There are still a few tickets available at the box office, or on line.

Portraits: Follow Up

2007-10-28T08:26:00.001-07:00

It's Sunday morning after the Portraits concert. If you are reading this as an audience member, thank you for being there. It was disappointing to see a smaller than normal turn out and we very much appreciate every one of you who were there. If you are a band member, thank you so much or all of your hard work and for a wonderful performance last night. I thought that you sounded better than ever, especially on the first half.

I would love to hear from everyone that was at the concert last night, on either side of the footlights. I had some wonderful discussions with a number of audience members after the concert and I would love to continue to hear your honest opinions of what you liked and disliked about the concert. It is only with your feedback that we can truly work to further improve out offerings.

I feel bad that I haven't been able to keep the blog posts as regular of late. My life, particularly at the school that I work at, has been very busy. Among other things, we are preparing for a musical that opens on November 6th. If you are interested in seeing what should be a quite good production of My Fair Lady go to the St. George's web site for more details.

I hope to get back to a more regular posting routine soon as we start preparations for our Christmas offering on December 8. It will be a mix of seasonally inspired repertoire and Christmas favourites.

Heritage Woods Secondary "Retreat"

2007-09-22T14:09:00.000-07:00

I'll be writing about the other movements of Caricatures in the coming days but thought I'd tell you all about a project that we were all involved in over the last few days.

We were approached by Heritage Woods Secondary School to participate in their in-house "retreat" this weekend. Originally Kathy Fester, the music teacher at the school, had asked for the same kind of workshop event that we involve ourselves in for may different schools and school districts. We have a number of our players provide instrumental clinics on the ins and outs of playing the various instruments in the band and then we perform a concert with or for the school involved.

When Kathy asked this of us last spring, we said, of course we can do it. Then she told us the dates. Performing a concert after 2 rehearsals is not something that any group wants to do. Especially when it is new music to the players. We talked about ways of making it happen without the concert but still making it a worthwhile activity for the kids. We decided to go with an open rehearsal kind of concept where we would rehearse the music that we are playing for the October concert in front of the students. I talked about the music and the types of things that we were working on as we rehearsed and allowed the students an opportunity to ask questions and get involved with the rehearsal by providing their input as we went. We returned this morning to provide the instrumental technique sessions and I got to work with their bands.

The students were wonderful. They were thoughtful and attentive. they provided insightful comments both in the session and in writing. From everything that I've been told, they were enthused and excited by what they heard and were excited to work with the members of the band this morning.

What they don't know is what a great experience the event seems to have been for the band. Although many of our members are teachers and work with music students on a daily basis, for a couple this was the first time that they had given workshops. They seemed as inspired as the kids at the end of the day today. The rehearsal itself allowed many of the members another insight into the whys of what we do ad gave them some more background on the music. Our normal rehearsals typically try to fit in as much playing and work as possible and I rarely step back and talk about the music or explain why I'm asking for certain things. Spending the time discussing this with the students helped some to understand the music better.

What I got out of the whole event was reading and listening to the comments of some of the kids. Getting there perspective was eye opening. We spend so much time fixing things in rehearsal that we don't often take that step back. To hear that the kids notice that we obviously love to play and love the music is refreshing. To hear that we always play in tune and never make mistakes is flattering (wish it were true!) And hearing that we prepare diligently for every rehearsal and are thoroughly warmed up before the first note of the rehearsal reaffirms that we are the role models that we want to be. The comments that we are so "old" and "experienced" also put a new perspective on things!

If anyone from Heritage Woods reads this blog, let us thank you for inviting us into your home. It was as inspiring for us as it seems to have been for you.

Thank You.

Salvador Dali

2007-09-15T10:18:00.000-07:00

Caricature

def. according to dictionary.com "A representation, especially pictorial or literary, in which the subject's distinctive features or peculiarities are deliberately exaggerated to produce a comic or grotesque effect."

Jere Hutchison has done just that in his work Caricatures III. He has taken a look at 9 prominent figures in the world of the arts and has represented them, in an exaggerated way in music.

The first of these figures is Salvador Dali. He has chosen to focus on likely the most recognized work by Dali, the painting, The Persistence of Memory. You will recognize the melting clocks that were so prominent in much of his work around this time. I am no art historian but if you want to find out more about Dali and surrealism there are many places on the web to do so. A good starting place is the Wikopedia article.

So how does a composer portray a surrealist in musical terms? There are three key musical elements that Dr. Hutcheson uses to achieve the effect of melting clocks in this movement. The first of these elements that you will hear is the time keeping of the vibraphone and bells. They chime regularly throughout the movement slowly moving up every few measures. Next, you hear a series of slow moving chords on these sweeping crescendos and decrescendos. For non-musicians, this means that they slowly get louder and softer. Rhythmically, they intentionally move seemingly in no relationship to the time keeping of the bell sounds. The third and final element of all of this is the type of chord that is used in the piece. Every chord in the piece is an augmented triad. This is a chord that is pretty rare in most music. It has a sound that doesn't really know where it wants to go. Some chords sound like they move specifically towards other chords. Others sound like they serve as arrival points. They are static. An augmented triad does neither. It feels like it wants to move without really knowing where it wants to go. This seems to fit the sound of these melting clocks extremely well.

I'll move on in future posts to talk about the other movements. If anyone has anything to add, please feel free to click on the comment link below and be sure to join us at the Evergreen Cultural Centre on October 27th at 8pm to hear how it all comes together.

Portraits

2007-09-01T10:15:00.000-07:00

Well, with PSWE starting rehearsals this week, I thought it would be appropriate to start talking a little more about the first program of the season. Portraits will be the first concert of an image based season and will explore musical portraits of a number of interesting people.

The works will include Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Aldridge Grainger, Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar as transcribed by Earl Slocum and Caricatures III by Jere Hutchison. Each work looks at people in different ways.

The first piece, Lincolnshire Posy, is a collection of folk songs from Lincolnshire, England. These "posies" were collected and recorded by Grainger at a time when many of his contemporaries were doing the same. It was the fashion at the time to preserve a nation's cultural heritage by using the newly invented recording devices to collect authentic singing of folk songs as sung by the people in their fields, pubs, homes and workplaces. What makes Lincolnshire Posy and Grainger unique amongst them all was that Grainger tried to present the personalities and character of the folk singers as much as the text of the song. He did not tidy them up to make them pretty like Vaughan-Williams or Holst might. He tried to set the folk songs in their most raw form. This meant that there was a lot of inconsistency in terms of rhythm and, at times, counterpoint. You truly get the feeling that the these songs are being sung to you over a back fence or in a dark pub somewhere in the English countryside.

The second work is also about people but is a rather different group. Each movement of Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations uses initials or nicknames and refers the composer's friends. As the people that each movement is about are only referred to in this cryptic manner, the entire work is a puzzle in figuring our the owners of each enigmatic movement.

The final piece is descriptive of a set of people that should be much more familiar to those of us who didn't live in England roughly a hundred years ago. Jere Hutcheson's Caricatures III is descriptive of some of the great figures of the 20th Century. Can you imagine what Salvador Dali's famous painting The Persistence of Memory would sound like? It might be easier to hear Stephen King's The Shining especially if you've seen the movie but what about Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions? Also included in this suite are musical depictions of Sammy Davis, Jr., Gertrude Stein, Marcel Duchamp, Felix Mendelssohn, Alexander Calder, and Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

I'll get into the pieces in more detail in future posts, but make sure that you mark October 27th on your calendar as on of the great "social" and musical events of the year. 8pm, Evergreen Cultural Centre, Coquitlam.

Naxos Podcasts

2007-08-10T06:59:00.000-07:00

One of the things that gets my day started off on the right foot is half an hour on the exercise bike with my iPod. Sometimes I listen to great music and sometimes I keep up to date on a number of podcasts that I subscribe to. I wonder sometimes how helpful watching the Jamie Oliver video podcasts is though as I often get off the bike with the urge to grill a steak or make a boat-load of fresh pasta!

One of the podcasts I subscribe to is from Naxos. Raymond Bisha hosts a large series of episodes which highlight recordings from their recording catalogue. You may recall from my post on where to buy wind ensemble recordings that Naxos is one of the labels that I suggested. It is no accident that some of the podcast episodes focus on band recordings. Raymond, when not working for Naxos, is also very involved with the Toronto Wind Orchestra.

It was with great pleasure that I found out that the latest episode was an interview with Tim Foley of the "President's Own" US Marine Band regarding their CD of the music of Charles Ives. The interview talks a little about the Marine Band and it's incredible history and a lot about Ives with excerpts from the CD. For those of you who a regular PSWE audience members, you will recognize the music right away. The episode begins and ends with excerpts from Variations on America.

What I find most interesting about this CD, besides the fact that is superbly well performed and recorded, is that the Marine Band also released a CD a couple of years ago on their in-house label of the music of Ives. This CD is distributed for free to libraries and schools but is not available for purchase by the general public. I wonder if this is a re-release of the same recordings.

Regardless of the origins of this recording, the podcast and CD are well worth checking out. Do swing by the Naxos Podcast website. If you are unfamiliar with podcasts, there is a link to help to get you started. You don't need an iPod to listen to podcasts. You'll find more podcasts than you may ever be able to listen to as they cover a huge array of music.

Also check out the CD itself. Good listening!

Finding Recordings

2007-07-26T09:37:00.000-07:00

I am currently teaching at the West Coast Amateur Musicians Society Camp at Trinity Western University in Langley. I was asked yesterday where to find recordings of wind ensemble music and promptly went back to my room and wrote a two-page article on the subject. As I was writing, it struck me that we're on the same topic here and it might help readers to read this article. Some of the information duplicates what has already been said but some of it may be new. If you have any additional information to add, please do so!

Here's the article:

Wind Ensemble Recordings

There has been an explosion of recordings of large wind groups over the last 20 years as recording costs have gone down and made it possible for pretty much anyone to record a CD. In the mid-eighties, you’d have to work hard to find recordings of the Eastman Wind Ensemble and even harder to find recordings of the world’s only Wind Ensemble presenting a full season with paid musicians, the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra.

There are now a number of recording companies with significant catalogues of wind recordings and there is a growing number of ensembles distributing their music digitally via services like iTunes.

Before I go into the actual labels that you should be looking for, I should briefly deal with an item of terminology. You will find, as soon as you start to scratch the surface of the wind music world, that the terms wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, wind band, concert band, symphonic band, symphonic wind orchestra… are used by various people to describe the same thing. Likewise, terms like wind ensemble can be used to describe a much smaller entity. As an example, the Omnibus Wind Ensemble, is an outstanding dectet (sometimes larger) out of Sweden. Definitely worth checking out as they have some amazing recordings of operatic overtures and an entire disc of Frank Zappa’s music, but not the larger wind ensemble that you might be expecting. Suffice to say that you may have to do multiple web searches to find a specific group or to find all of the recordings of a particular piece if you are only using one of the terms listed above.

Back to recordings. Following is a list of labels and sources of music for large wind ensembles. This is by no means comprehensive but it does serve as a good starting point. The major labels will be carried by any retailer that sells classical music, but the specific CDs may have to be special ordered. As much as I try to support local business, I’m finding more and more, that I have to shop online for my specific tastes in recordings.

Mercury Living Presence
This is the label that the Eastman Wind Ensemble was first recorded on. The history of the Eastman Wind Ensemble and their first director, Maestro Frederick Fennell, is an entirely different discussion. Suffice to say that these recordings were – and often still are – considered the reference recordings for so much of what is considered the cornerstone repertoire for winds. They were superbly recorded and an performed and an excellent starting point for any collection.

Chandos
The Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra under the direction of Timothy Reynish and Clark Rundell started recording for Chandos at least 10 years ago. They have an extensive library now of te music of Grainger (in 2 volumes), Holst, French music, German music, Nordic music, Russian music, etc. Again, it is all superbly recorded and the multiple CDs I own, are superbly performed. Of particular note is the Grainger Works for Winds, Volume 4 that includes what has been dubbed, the consummate recording of Lincolnshire Posy.

Naxos
Naxos has recently released a couple of CDs of wind music. I don’t have much experience with this catalogue yet but it seems that there is a new commitment to wind music here and they offer solid recordings at amazingly low prices.

Klavier Records
Klavier was one of the early labels to get off the mark with wind music. They have recorded a growing number of ensembles but put themselves on the map with the Cincinatti College Conservatory of Music and North Texas Wind Symphony under the direction, at different times, of Eugene Corporon. They tend to specialize in newer repertoire for winds but the catalogue is ever expanding to include repertoire from all eras.

Mark Custom
This has got to be the largest catalogue of wind recordings around. Mark Morette spends more time listening to wind concerts tan anyone I know. He records the major conventions including the Mid-West Band and Orchestra Clinic and the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE) Conference. Much of the catalogue is live recordings but there is a large number of “studio” recordings as well. The catalogue offers a wide variety of repertoire at very reasonable prices. All orders must be done from their web site at www.markcustom.com. My personal favourite recording in their catalogue is of the Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble at te WASBE Conference in Singapore in 2005. OK, I’m biased!

iTunes
iTunes is growing as a source of wind music as more people choose to release their CDs digitally. I have found a number of recordings on line and purchased them. The downside to using an online service is that, more often than not, there are no liner notes, so you have to go to something like www.allmusic.com to find out more about the CD. But, you can’t beat the price and if you absolutely have to listen to a piece at 3am, nothing is faster!

Lincolnshire Posy

2007-07-19T08:41:00.001-07:00

Lincolnshire Posy is one of the great masterworks for Wind Band. It was written by Percy Aldridge Grainger in 1937 as a collection of musical wildflowers from Linconshire County in England. This six part setting of folk songs that Grainger himself had collected was more a portrait of the people who sang the songs to him than a traditional setting off the folk song itself.

The Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble will be performing this masterwork on it's fall concert and as such, you should have a chance to get to know the work. No collection is complete without at least one recording of this piece.

The easiest recordings to get your hands on, given that you are sitting at your computer right now, would be from the iTunes store. There is a recording done by Eugene Corporon and the North Texas Wind Symphony in the Composers Collection series and there is another recording by the UCLA Wind Ensemble under the direction of James Westbrook. I will admit to not having heard either of these but know the work of Maestro Corporon. His recordings are always technically very clean but can be inconsistent in the level of passion that is brought to the music. At the very least, his recording should be accurate.

The recording that was, and by many still is, considered THE REFERENCE, is that of Frederick Fennell and the Eastman Wind Ensemble recorded in 1958 for Mercury Living Presence. Fennell knew Grainger and this is likely the closest recording we have to Grainger himself performing the work.

I was told by a respected colleague that the best recording of Lincolnshire Posy was recorded by Timothy Reynish and the Royal Northern College of Music on Chandos under their Grainger Edition Series (Lincolnshire Posy can be found on volume 4). I was very sceptical. How can one label a recording as the unequivacly the best? That would be like saying that there is one recording of Beethoven 9 that is the consumate performance. Nonetheless, I went out and purchased it and found myself agreeing. It is a great recording in every respect.

One of the more interesting performances of this work I've heard was by the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra at the WASBE conference in Singapore in 2005. It was interesting in that it was clearly not a copy of the Fennell interpretation that I've come to know and love. It is worth hearing this different view on the work. Unfortunately, this was the only concert not recorded at this conference but the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra and their conductor Douglas Bostock did record the work two years earlier on the CD Best of British Vol. 1 (KOSEI PUBLISHING COMPANY KOCD-8011). I've not heard the recording but is getting good reviews.

There are many recording of this work that are worth hearing and it is impossible to collect them all, but I would encourage you too get your hands on one or two and get to know the piece before October 27th, when you will hear (or play) the piece live at the Evergreen Cultural Centre in Coquitlam, BC.

Happy listening!

Homework

2007-07-16T11:11:00.000-07:00

I'm back in Vancouver now and am starting to go through withdrawal. After a week of a minimum of two concerts a day, most of which presenting music that I didn't know, I'm turning to recordings for my fix. If you are a band member or an audience member, there is nothing like the summer time to explore new recordings so I'll offer up a few suggestions over the coming few posts.

This post will focus on my favourite American recording company (and my favourite Americans), Mark Custom Recording Service, out of Clarence New York. Mark Morette hears more concerts than anyone I know, most of them involving wind bands and the for vast majority of them, the mics are on. From this year's conference, I have ordered CDs of the concerts of the following:

Irish Youth Wind Ensemble
University of Louisville Wind Ensemble
Royal Irish Academy of Music Percussion Ensemble / and Percussion Ensemble Crescendo
Nanset Wind Ensemble
International Youth Wind Orchestra and Evelyn Glennie
Swiss Army Symphonic Wind Band
and two others

There were rumours also of the repertoire sessions being recorded and there is work on getting a DVD available of the Nanset recording of the Shostakovich opera that I've been raving about. These would both be well worth the purchase if they come available.

I also purchased much of a set of recordings that Tim Reynish has recorded of live performances of much of the repertoire he has introduced or commissioned in the last few years. You may know that Tim's son died a few years ago in a hiking accident , leaving behind a very young child and wife. In his memory, Tim has commissioned a number of composers from around the world. If you want a full list of the pieces, you can go to his web site. These particular recordings include works by some fascinating voices from such places as New Zealand, Hungary, Ireland, the UK, Luxembourg, Sweden and the US. Particular favourites of mine include Resonance by Christopher Marshall, Marsch from Verusche über einen Marsch by Marcel Wengler, and Adam Gorb's Dances from Crete.

Other series of CDs available on Mark Custom include a series of recordings of repertoire for young band recorded by William Berz at Rutgers University and a number of CDs of works by various major composers who have written for wind band. Ones that come to mind are the Ithaca recordings of the music of Karel Husa and Dana Wilson (separate projects) and the Miami recordings of Grainger in 4 CDs.

If this catalogue alone doesn't get you through the summer, I'd be very surprised. But for those who want to beyond this one recording company, I'll follow up with posts on other CDs and series that you must know. Until then, see you at www.markcustom.com.

The Priest and his Servant Balda

2007-07-14T01:08:00.001-07:00

I am not an opera fan but this is very much worth checking out. With luck, there will be an opportunity to see this production in Vancouver in the not too distant future.

Balda Blog

An amazing day at WASBE

2007-07-13T03:35:00.000-07:00

WOW!!!!!! How many days in a lifetime can one have a wonderful morning walk taking pictures of deer across the street from the hotel, then attend one of the most inspiring masterclasses ever by Dame Evelyn Glennie (after which, getting to meet her and discuss a possible trip to Vancouver), hear a brilliantly informative and entertaining session on new repertoire by Tim Reynish, attend an afternoon concert, walk into town to an early evening performance of Stravinsky and Ball at the beautiful Killarney Cathedral, have a couple of pints and dinner with a friend, and then attend the most amazing Shostakovich Opera/Animated Movie/Puppet Show I have ever seen to end the evening in the bar with Chris Marshall, Adam Gorb, Tim Reynish, Brandon Green and a new Israeli composer friend Avner Hanani? What a great day!

WASBE Day 2

2007-07-10T01:45:00.000-07:00

I'm learning a lot in Killarney. Most importantly, it may be quite possible to survive quite well on an all Guiness diet. Well, you could become well preserved anyway!

But seriously, I may run into big problems with this conference. I may discover too much music that I need to perform. I have just returned from a repertoire session of chamber ensemble music. There were a number of pieces on that that I thought were well worth programming. Robert Spittal's Consort for Ten Winds and French Dances Revisited by our friend Adam Gorb stood out as did an arrangement of an antiphonal organ work for wind dectet by Soler and arranged by Guy Woolfenden. It was also interesting to get a sense of a catalogue of works for smaller wind groups that is being edited and sold by Bastiaan Blomhert of the Netherlands.

Last night's concert was particularly full of worthy repertoire that may soon show up on a PSWE concert. Of particular note was the European premiere of Karel Husa's Cheetah. It captures the chase of a cheetah in the hunt. Also inspiring was Joan Tower's Fascinating Ribbons and a Morton Gould piece entitled Fourth of July that I thought sounded more like Ives than much of Ives. This concert was presented by the University of Louisville Wind Ensemble and their conductor, Robert Speck.

As important as the repertoire that I am being exposed to is hearing things that I truly don't want to repeat or are certainly giving me cause for reflection. Stage deportment, repertoire pairings, use of encores and conducting gestures are all being analyzed. If you want to read more about the conference, do go to the WASBE web site for my and many other reviews of concerts and sessions.

From Day 1 of WASBE

2007-07-08T21:50:00.000-07:00

Well, this is what it's all about. First day at the WASBE conference in Killarney, Ireland and I've reconnected with friends from all over the world. It's flattering to hear so many people still talking about our performance in Singapore and really cool to see so many Europeans who had had to give Asia a pass due to the distance. I reconnected with a friend that I'd met in Sweden who was part of the organization of the Dutch Music Week concert we did at the Vogue in 2004. Apparently, we were one of the very last Dutch Music Weeks ever. The group that ran it folded shortly after their visit to Vancouver!

So far there have been two concerts, an opening reception and countless Guiness. The concerts have been by the Irish Youth Wind Ensemble and the University of Cincinatti CCM Chamber Players. Both were outstanding concerts. The Irish youth played quite a varied program with a couple of premiers by Irish and UK composers. A particular highlight was the premiere of Image in Stone by Stephen McNeff. This was a song cycle for Mezzo-Soprano and small wind ensemble. It was stunningly beautiful with brilliant orchestration. Unquestionably, it is the most effective work that I've heard for solo vocalist and winds. There isn't a lot to compare it to but this is certainly the top of the heap.

The CCM concert featured some incredibly well played chamber works by Krommer, Enescu and Bird. There was also a brilliant transcription of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker. What I found so stunning about the performance was the consistency of the phrasing and unity of concept throughout the performance. Unfortunately, these are qualities that are absent in far too many wind performances. It was inspirational to hear them here.

Today brings the first of the repertoire sessions, meetings, research sessions and concerts by the Gothenburg Symphonic Band and the University of Louisville Wind Ensemble. Should be a great day!

Summer Break

2007-07-05T07:54:00.000-07:00

Summer break is never truly a break. I'll continue to post over the summer. Hopefully we'll have comments and questions to the blog. I'll be heading off to the WASBE conference tomorrow and will hopefully get a chance to write a couple of time from there. This is the conference that PSWE played at in Singapore in 2005 and is being held in Killarney, Ireland this year. It will be an excellent opportunity to hear new repertoire and meet new people and old friends. I'll be writing for the conference website and podcasting interviews for them. If you don't see me here, you'll find me at the WASBE website.

ClarinetFest Report

2007-07-05T07:42:00.000-07:00

Wow, can this band play! It always amazes me how well PSWE can play when the lights come up. It shouldn't, but it does. I guess that it's at least partly because we rehearse on an evening nearer the end of the week than the beginning and we can be drained from all those non-PSWE things in our lives. Last night's performance had an energy, a drive, a passion that is what music is all about but that we don't always achieve. Following is a collection of photos taken backstage after the concert (and one taken at rehearsal the night before.) Thank you, Diana, for these.

ClarinetFest Update

2007-07-03T08:50:00.000-07:00

We had our first rehearsal with Eddie Daniels last night. What an amazing musician! He has big ears, as they say, doesn't let much get by. Although he seemed to be fighting reeds - not uncommon when changing climates and elevations - he was amazingly facile and inventive. Each time we got to a cadenza-like passage or other solo section, he created something completely new. This is going to be an exciting performance.

Tonight, Eddie is back for more rehearsal on his piece, Paganini in Metropolis, and Tom Puwalski is in from Baltimore to play his Klezmer medley. Should be a busy and exciting rehearsal.

I don't think that the concert is open to the public, but if you are in any way into the clarinet, you will want to register for the conference. Things get going tomorrow and run until the eighth. Our concert is on Wednesday at 8pm at the Chan Centre.

Who Are You?

2007-06-30T13:13:00.000-07:00

As I write each blog post, I wonder who I am talking to. There's obviously some appeal to what is being written but without knowing who you are, it is hard to know what to write. I know the following:

1) From the comments, I know that there are members of PSWE who take the time to write in to the blog and let us know their thoughts.
2) I subscribe to Google Analytics to track readership in the blog. From there I know that the PSWE blog has been visited by 45 different people from Canada, USA, Brazil, the UK, Japan, India and Singapore. Most of those people have returned to the site.
3) By far, the greatest number of visitors are from the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. Our visitors from BC are from Vancouver, Burnaby, Delta, New Westminster, North Vancouver, Coquitlam, Victoria, and Williams Lake. Many of these folks, I assume, have been to a concert or play in the band.

For those from around the world, who are you? What do you want to know about PSWE? Why did you drop by and visit the blog? Why did you come back?

For those of you locally, who are you? Are you looking for more information about our season? What do you want to know? Have you ever been to a PSWE concert? Why or why not?

The more you tell us about yourselves, the more we can provide information that you want to read!

Looking forward to meeting you all.

Pomp and Singers

2007-06-30T11:36:00.000-07:00

Last night PSWE performed for the second biannual Coastal Sound International Choral Festival. This was our second time playing for the opening ceremonies and boy has this festival taken a huge step forward. Although the first event in 2005 was professional and well attended, this year was out in Convocation Hall under a glass roof at the top of Burnaby Mountain on the Simon Fraser University Campus. As we played national anthems for the processional, a few hundred young singers paraded through the congregation carrying the flags of Australia, Cuba, Denmark the USA and Canada. The hosting Coastal Sounds choirs welcomed their guests with native songs and rhythms and the vocal septet from Cuba, Novel Voz, got the audience worked up into a grooving frenzy. We performed Frank Ticheli's Blue Shades with our own Mary Backun working the crowd into a frenzy of her own. That was the first event of 6 days of choral concerts and workshops. Visit the festival website for more information.

Remember that if you live in the Vancouver area, PSWE will be playing one more time before we take our summer break. We'll be at the Chan Centre on Wednesday evening, July 4th, for the International Clarinet Society's ClarinetFest. Soloists with the band will be Mary Backun, Tom Puwalski and Eddy Daniels. Should be an exciting show!

What do you want?

2007-06-26T06:35:00.000-07:00

It's the time of year for many who's year runs from September to June, to be looking to the future and reflecting on the past. You've been reading about the 2007-08 season and I hope that you're as excited as I am by what's coming down the pipe. As these plans get finalized, members of the PSWE board and I start thinking further into the future and start thinking bigger picture.

You may know that PSWE is a volunteer organization. Everyone donates their time and skills to the band and it is a labour of love. In the last couple of years, the band has spent many hours thinking and talking about what we want as individuals out of the band. What is it that fulfills the band members and what is it that gets us in the car at the end of a long work day to come out to rehearsal each week?

What is going through my head at this point is: what is it that gets you, the audience members, out to concerts. Some of you are regular attendees. You may be friends or family members of band members. You are their to support no matter what the concert is. Some of you are more sporadic and pick and choose the concerts that you will go to. What is it that gets you to some concerts and not to others? What is it that gets you to bring friends out to certain concerts but might not to others? What turns you on? And what turns you off? (about PSWE of course)

Your comments are very valuable to us. As much as PSWE loves playing the music that we do, performances are meaningless without an audience. Finding a balance between the needs of our audience and the needs of the musicians is crucial. Click on the word comment below and leave your thoughts.

2007-2008 Season is Announced!!!!!!!

2007-06-18T07:14:00.000-07:00

Well, at long last we can announce the season for our upcoming year at Evergreen Cultural Centre. There are a number of things we still have up our sleeves and if our grant applications pay off, who knows where you might see us and doing what (well, we know but we can't tell! - Yet) This is what you have to look forward to:

October 27, 2007, 8PM - PORTRAITS
This will be a program of music that explores personalities. We will look at Elgar's secret buddy-list in Enigma Variations; meet some of the folk singers that Grainger got to know while strolling the hills of England in Lincolnshire Posy; and get to know some very famous people in Jore Hutcheson's Caricatures.

December 8, 2007, 8PM - HOLIDAY SNAPSHOTS
Do you have an old shoe box (physical or digital) with favourite memories of holidays past? PSWE will take a trip down memory lane to remember our most memorable holiday seasons. Come see and hear what Christmas past looked like for us.

February 23, 2008, 8PM - RENASCENCE
You're probably asking yourself about my ability to spell. Well it's correct and it is synonymous with the word renaissance. Click here if you don't believe me. This concert will feature a brand new piano concerto by Kiwi composer Christopher Marshall. In fact it's so new that, as of this post, I'm still getting revisions. Local piano virtuoso and head of the Kwantlen University College School of Music, Jane Hayes will be our featured soloist. You'll have to come back to the blog or come to the concert to see how the rest of the program unfolds.

May 10, 2008, 8PM - MIRROR IMAGE
The various visual and performing arts often inspire each other. There are may musical works that have been inspired by paintings. Most people know the famous work by Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition. All of the repertoire on our final program of the season have been inspired by visual art in some way. Did you know, however, that there are many great visual artists that have used music to get the creative juices flowing. We will explore how visual art is inspired by music and give you a chance to respond to the music that is inspired by art. Quite literally, a mirror image, where the music is the mirror.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Concert Collection packages:
$72 adult, $60 student/ senior, $40 child
Single Tickets
$25 adult, $20 senior, $15 student, $12 child

Tickets are through the Evergreen Cultural Centre Box Office. Click the link on the left.

More Beach Photos

2007-06-07T16:58:00.001-07:00

OK, So I can't seem to upload more than 5 pics at a time. Here are the rest!

PSWE - The Next Generation

Beach Photos

2007-06-07T16:50:00.000-07:00

As requested, here are some candid shots of the band taken during our photo shoot on Saturday. Sorry for the delay, but I wanted to make sure that I had the photographer's permission to post them:

What I've been up to

2007-06-02T17:55:00.000-07:00

It's been a fair bit inactive here on the blog. This has not been because nothing has been going on. On the contrary, PSWE life has been very active. I won't get into all of the details as each one will, I'm sure, become a post in the future but this is the Cole's Notes version.

After we wrapped the concert on May 5th, we went into heavy grant writing mode. We have a professional helping us, but if you've ever written a grant application, you know that the amount of information that needs to be gathered for the first application to an organization is immense. We have put in two major applications and hope that they will add a few thousand dollars to our project budgets. Keep your fingers crossed. I'm sure that I'll celebrate or curse here when we get the news in late August/early September.

We are also in the midst of assembling all of our 07-08 season promotional information. This involves writing a fair amount of copy for the Evergreen Cultural Centre season brochure and assembling images that will help get our message out there. We spent 3 hours at the beach this morning, decked out in our concert blacks, having photos taken. If that doesn't get a reaction, I don't know what does! Lots of great photos though and I'm sure that you'll see them in our print ads, programs and on the web over the coming years.

Finally, we are in the midst of preparing for 2 big concerts at the beginning of the summer. We will be playing for the opening of the Coastal Sound International Choral Festival and the International Clarinetfest. I wrote about both in a previous post. I don't have info on tickets for either, but if you are interested in attending either one, write me a comment or e-mail and I'll find the info. The choral festival is at Simon Fraser University and the clarinet festival is at the Chan Centre at the University of British Columbia.

Concert Wrap-Up

2007-05-06T15:21:00.000-07:00

What a great concert last night! I was so impressed with our soloists and thought that the members of the Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble played an extremely good performance. I have to say that I was dreading this weekend as we lead up to it. It came at a particularly busy time for me. I had school concerts this week in addition to our annual performance of our school jazz ensembles at our school's fair on the Saturday afternoon. On top of that, I had a family member go into hospital mid-week and we really weren't sure what was happening for a few days. Having said that, performing music is the absolute best therapy. You have to live in the moment to perform at your best.

This week has also given me ample opportunity to reflect on the live performance experience. It is interesting to talk to performers after a performance. Some equate the group success with their individual performance. If they miss a note, the entire performance of the entire ensemble can be labeled as poor. Others are better able to remove themselves from the individual performance and experience the ensemble's performance as a whole.

I had a discussion with a particular performer on last night's concert and this person was very displeased with the individual performance. My response was that musicians are particularly good at obsessing over minor "failures" in their performance rather than rejoicing in their many successes.

We also live in an age where we listen more to recordings than live performances and those recordings are often heavily edited. Our own recordings are no exception. If we have an opportunity to correct elements of a recorded passage, we will. Unfortunately, we then expect the same level of technical perfection from our live performances. This is not a healthy expectation. Of course, we always strive to perform at the highest technical level. We want to play the notes on the page as the composer intended them and we don't want technical flaws to distract the audience from the music. But often, the effort and emphasis placed on technical perfection can rob the live performance of the excitement, emotion and expression that the composer was striving for in the first place.

In any event, last night's performance was entitled Passion, and I believe that the performance lived up to the title. It had some truly moving moments that was not seriously effected by technical flaws.

The one other thing that I left the concert continuing to wonder about is audience attendance on this particular concert. Despite the fact that we always have exciting soloists, good repertoire and the band plays as well, if not better than other concerts of the season, this is traditionally the least attended concert of our season. If any audience members who were at the concert, or, perhaps more importantly, were not at last night's performance can help me understand this, we can work toward a solution that allows us to continue to fulfill our mandate of supporting music education and still have a full (or near-full) house. Please feel free to comment or send me an e-mail directly at info@pswe.ca.

Planning a Season

2007-04-28T10:22:00.000-07:00

It's been over a week since my last post and it'll likely be more than a week until my next. The good news is that the lack of activity here has been caused by plenty of activity behind the scenes with PSWE (oh yeah, and with my family and job at St. George's - the one that pays the bills!)

I finally got to meet our two soloists that I have not yet worked with. Neal and Yoobin came to rehearsal this past week to rehearse the Arutunian Trumpet Concerto and the Chaminade Concertino for Flute. Wow! Of course, I knew that all of our soloists were outstanding. I think that I commented in an earlier blog that we had a particularly strong set of auditions this year but you never know for sure who is going to walk in the door after the selection process is done. In some cases, the audition is the result of an enormous amount of effort and is the best playing the person has ever done. Other times, this is one of many auditions that the student has done and they have experience playing solos with other ensembles. I think that, although both of these soloists are very different people and players, they will each perform a well prepared and exciting rendition of their respective pieces. Neal, Yoobin and our third soloist, Nick, will offer up three contrasting works from very different traditions. I'm looking forward to their performances!

So, my non-rehearsal time has been spent preparing for next weekend's concert and preparing next season's offerings. I was excited to receive my second comment to a blog posting. It asked how I come up with programmes for PSWE concerts. That is not a question with a simple answer as each program offers something different and may have different requirements put on it. For example, the annual Christmas programme is the easiest and hardest concert to plan. On one hand, there is so much Christmas music that can be played that I could simply chain an hour and a half worth of Christmas carols, and BAM!, there's your concert. I'm sure that some people would be quite happy with that. I think though, that every concert has to have some sort of thread to it that connects the music into a meaningful package. With the current popularity of digital music purchasing, we have gotten away from thinking of a concert or CD as a complete artistic unit. Particularly in the field of live music performance, this is one aspect of the experience that differs from your typical iPod experience. The advantage of living an hour away from work is that I can usually listen to an entire album of music. Even then, it is not concentrated listening and rarely is it uninterupted. The concert experience lets you devote 90 minutes to simply listening to a complete package of music. There is one break and that is planned to give your ears (and perhaps your bladder) a rest.

How then do you take the theme of Christmas and translate that into a 90 minute experience that has as much flow and architecture as any great piece of music, play or movie? Regular audience members also know that I like to include something new in every program. We might present a new setting of a familiar Christmas piece or we may, like we did last year, offer a newly scored work for wind ensemble based on a Christmas or winter theme by a local composer (in this case Chris Nickel).

Many concerts start with a desire to play a specific piece of music. Last fall, we performed a concert entitled Fear. That particular programme idea came from two separate events. I had the great fortune to be introduced to a composer from Luxembourg by the name of Marco Pütz a few years back. Long time audience members will remember our World Premiere of his Dance Sequence. When we were discussing his writing a piece for me, I got to listen to many of his other works for wind band. Meltdown struck me as one of the most intensely fear-filled piece I had ever heard. I had returned to my recording of that work many times before I found an opportunity to perform it (note to bass trombone players: I'm still looking for the right moment to play his bass trombone concerto!) I also purchased a CD of the University of Minnesota Wind Ensemble when my daughter, Katie was two or three. It included a performance of Jeffrey Brook's Dreadnought. This is the only piece that Katie has ever DEMANDED that I turn off. It completely freaked her out. Interestingly, it was a piece about fears and more specifically, the composer's children dealing with fear.

These two pieces seemed to fit well on a concert together. From there, I had to assemble other pieces dealing with fear. There are many great works that have been used in soundtracks to horror movies, pieces about war and there is a whole catagory of music that simply scares performing musicians due to their technical demands. There was no lack of repertoire to choose from in this case so the challenge was to create something that would not be totally exhausting for the audience members. One can sit on the edge of their seats for only so long! The other works included a piece dealing with the bombing of Dresden in World War II, Night on Bald Mountain by Mussorgsky and a work that played with images of wax museums and other similar landmarks of Niagara Falls.

One idea that played out quite nicely this season was that there was also an overall structure to the season. Each concert dealt with a mood: Fear, Joy, Cool and Passion. It will be hard to come up with a structure for a full season again but it is something that remains in my head as I put together the concerts.

I have had the pleasure of meeting new composers and learning about or supporting the creation of new works. I'm looking forward to exploring some of these leads in the coming seasons. In particular, it is highly likely that you will hear a new work for piano solo and winds by Kiwi composer, Christopher Marshall in the coming season or two. Likewise, we have had a Khazak composer move to Vancouver who has some very intruiging works that he has written for wind band. You will likely get to hear some of his work soon as well.

As this post is getting rather long, I will likely follow up with more on programming in future posts. Again, pleas feel free to send me comments, questions or complaints by pushing the comment link below. Hopefully I'll see everyone who reads this blog on Saturday and hear from you at info@pswe.ca or via comments soon!

Youth Soloists

2007-04-11T19:34:00.000-07:00

About seven years ago, members of the Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble noted that there was a lack of opportunities for woodwind, brass and percussion students to solo with a professional ensemble and there were no opportunities for anyone in the Vancouver area to solo with a professional level wind ensemble. There are a number places for pianists and string players to get this type of experience but a wind player, particularly one who wishes to perform some of the wonderful solo repertoire that is only available for band, can't find a place to play.

In late 2001, the word went out to many of the local professional wind players with private students and a number of young instrumentalists submitted audition recordings and applications to perform their pieces with us. From this first batch of applications, two finalists were chosen. One was an amazing grade 9 flutist by the name of Ahn Phung from Chilliwack. She was an extremely confident player who performed the Chaminade "Concertino for Flute." Since performing with us, she has gone on to solo with the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, has won a number of awards at the local and provincial levels and is now studying at the University of Calgary. Our second winner was a 15 year-old oboist, Karin Walsh. Karin also played a wonderful rendition of the Mozart Oboe Concerto. She has since completed studies at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and has returned to Vancouver to take up a position with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Over the past six years, more than a dozen high school and post-secondary student musicians have performed as soloists with PSWE - all of them going on to further their music studies or become active participants in their musical communities at the universities that they have attended.

So, is it simply some feeling of duty that motivates the members of the Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble to continue to offer this opportunity year after year? Or, is there something more to the experience that benefits the members of the ensemble?

The fact is, that working with these musicians is an inspiration to us in the ensemble. The passion for music and the enthusiasm with which they often play is infectious. The vast majority of us played in bands at their age and can relate to the experience of playing with professional musicians for the first time. Many of us think back and wonder if we were capable of doing what these stellar young players are doing when we were their age. The reality is that in most cases, we couldn't!

We also get to play different repertoire than we do through the rest of the season and often play works that we are unfamiliar with but get exposed to great solo repertoire for our own instruments.

What does the future hold for our Youth Soloist Competition? We hope to be able to become yet more of a training ground for young soloists. This year, we have implemented an adjudication review in which each applicant, successful or unsuccessful, gets feedback on his or her audition. Those that were unsuccessful in their application this year will know why and will be able to use that knowledge for a more successful future application, either for next year's competition or for anything else they might audition for.

We hope, in the near future to be able to start offering a cash award to the finalists so that we can help them in a more concrete way to further their musical studies.

Hopefully, we will see you out at our next concert, Passion, on May 5th, where this year's winners will strut their stuff. This should prove to be one of our most exciting concerts of the year! Log on to pswe.ca or Evergreen Cultural Centre for concert and ticket info.

What the heck is a Wind Ensemble?

2007-04-04T08:03:00.000-07:00

For those of you have stumbled on this blog or have been aware of the Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble but have never been to a concert, you might wonder what we do. What the heck is a Wind Ensemble? What kind of music do you play? Well, let me attempt to answer that.

The easiest comparison to make is that we are a lot like the high school band you perhaps played or play in. You might also compare us to a marching band in a parade or at a football game. These comparisons are fair because the instrumentation is fairly similar. We have flutes, oboes, clarinets, basoons, saxophones, trumpets, french horns, trombones, tubas and percussion instruments all playing in the band. We also have some of the less common wind instruments playing like alto and bass clarinet, euphonium, and piccolo. We even let a string bass player, a piano player and sometimes a harpist perform with us.

The problem with comparing PSWE to a school band or marching band is that many of us have strong memories of these bands that are not particularly good. Sitting through a child's marathon school concert, being supportive but wondering if they will ever make a sound that you recognize or sitting on a street curb and being blasted by the sheer power of a marching brass section can be anything but musical experiences. There is every description and level of all types of bands, so what makes a Wind Ensemble, more specifically the Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble, different?

The term Wind Ensemble, in the way we use it, was coined by Frederick Fennel in 1952, when he established the Eastman Wind Ensemble at the Eastman School of Music in New York. Of course, there are all types of wind ensembles ranging from 2 players to 200 but Maestro Fennell used it to describe a specific collection of wind and percussion players who essentially play one player per part. This is different from what was happening in the Susa Band, military bands and many other bands at the time. The idea was that Maestro Fennell would supply 1 flute player per part for a flute section. This means that if there were 2 flute parts in a piece of music, only two flute players would be used. Prior to this (and in most bands to this day) if you have 14 flute players, 7 play each part. Obviously, the bands will sound very different with these significant changes in instrumentation and balance.

Maestro Fennell then sent out an invitation to 400 composers of the day and asked them to write for his ensemble. He supplied the instrumentation of the ensemble. The stipulation was that the instrumentation of the music that they write would be anything of that instrumentation or smaller. If someone composed a piece for wind octet, he would play it. If someone wrote for an orchestral wind section - that does not typically include saxophones or euphonium and will usually on have 2 clarinet players - he would play it. This is a significant change to what was happening elsewhere in that the performing group would change to fit the music not the music change to fit the ensemble.

The other significant change that this brought about was that composers started to see the wind ensemble as more of an artisitic medium. Although groups of wind and percussion players have been around for centuries, they have been in non-standard instrumentations and have been performing functional duties such as playing ceremonial music and announcing the hour on watch towers. You will find that the vast majority of truly artistic music for wind ensemble has been written in the last 50 years.

This has an impact on the programming of PSWE. Although we do play music from various traditions and do play transcriptions of music written for other types of ensembles, the majority of our music is contemporary in nature. If you are used to going to orchestral concerts, you have certain pieces and composers that you will hear on a regular basis. It would be rare to see an orchestral season with no Beethoven or Mozart. Although there is some standard repertoire composed by Holst, Grainger, Vaughan Williams and others in the wind ensemble repertoire, there is much less given the history of the music that we play. You will get to hear new compositions on a regular basis. New compositions will incorporate more contemporary compositional techniques and will reference today's society much more.

Pop culture of the 20th Century gave us jazz and rock music. We will often hear references to this music in our repertoire as the composers that are writing for wind ensemble grew up listening to this music. Michael Daugherty's "Motown Metal" is a classic example that incorporates sounds of the car industry and combines them with grooves of from the R&B music of Detroit. Eric Whitacre references comic book and action movie characters in "Godzilla Eats Las Vegas." These are references you are unlikely to hear in Bach.

I think of the music that we play as the large ensemble classical music of our day. It is exciting, new, and relevant to our time. Not that we don't recognize our heritage and play the music that got us to this point. Transcriptions of Bach organ works, opera overtures and Susa marches do get played regularly. The bulk of our programming is modern, contemporary work.

When you come to our next concert, you will hear the music of composers of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. You will hear the music of Cecile Chaminade who was born in 1857 and you will hear the music of Scott McCallister who was born in 1969. You will hear very traditional sounding music and you will hear music inspired by Led Zepplin. Hopefully it is music that will excite you and move you! (pswe.ca for concert times and dates.)

Passion 2

2007-04-01T12:17:00.000-07:00

Where did we leave off? Right, Ives and Nickel. Well, Charles Ives, "Variations on 'America.'" Originally written for pipe organ when Ives was only 18. This is a very young age to be writing such mature works compared to many composers. Based on the tune, that we know in Canada as "God Save the Queen," this set of variations is quirky and fun and demonstrates ideas that were going to become a big part of Ives' style later in life. One of the most exciting parts of the piece is a trumpet line that was originally written for the pedals on the organ. The organist must have had pretty quick feet to pull that passage off!

Vancouver's community of composers is growing and more of them are interested in writing for large wind instrumentation. If you have been following PSWE for the last few years, you'll know about our work with Jon Korsrud, Christopher Nickel, and most recently and extensively, Fred Stride. In fact we have just released a new CD featuring Fred's music for Wind Ensemble. More on that in a future blog entry. On the May 5th concert, we will be presenting the world premiere of a piece by Larry Nickel. Larry is a prolific composer who has recently completed graduate work at the University of British Columbia in composition after a number of years teaching a highly successful high school music programme. His multiple movement work is based on the personalities of his grandchildren and their activities. "Jason's Game," "Sibling Rivalry" and a unfinished (at the time of this post) third movement will stimulate and amuse you, particularly if you have children or grandchildren or have ever been a kid yourself! If you want to find out more about Larry Nickel, head to his website at canuckcomposer.com.

Please don't hesitate to comment on the items you read on the blog or e-mail me at info@pswe.ca to ask questions or suggest other blog topics.

Passion

2007-03-31T07:31:00.000-07:00

We're preparing for our last concert of the season at Evergreen Cultural Centre in downtown Coquitlam and the theme this time around is Passion. This came from the passion of youth as we were looking at themes for the concert that has featured the winners of our Youth Soloist Competition for the last six years. I'm not going to announce winners here as that needs to be done with all the entrants first and then published on our website but I can tell you that this year's entrance were full of passion. Those that were listening to the tapes agreed that in any other year, most of our entrants could have easily won the competition and what separated the wheat from the chaff was the passion in the performance. What I can tell you is the remaining repertoire on the program, and you'll have to come back to the website to see who won and what they are playing.

Any programme entitled Passion has to include music by Percy Aldridge Grainger. If you know nothing of his work or personality, you must see the movie "Passion" starring Richard Roxburgh and Barbara Hershey from 1999. Although it's not a particularly goood movie, it is a good caricature of what I believe Grainger was like. He was a brilliant pianist but put greater emphasis on the passion of the performance the technical cleanliness of the performance. The passion comes out in his writing as well. His wind band setting of "Country Garden" is a classic example. His piano setting of this work was one of his best sellling pieces and became, to many, what he was known for. He felt that this was certainly not one of his greatest achievements so when he set it for wind band, he got back at those who didn't recognize his more substantial works by inserting a number of fairly violent dissonances and "ugly" chords. His "Colonial Song" is what the band is preparing and now and it is about his love for his native Australia. It is one of his most passionate works.

We are also preparing a work by French composer Eugene Bozza entitled "Children's Overture." This is an intriguing and fun piece that incorporates a number of child songs and musical gestures. It was written for the American Wind Symphony and their director, Robert Boudreau. This is an interesting work given the nature of the American Wind Symphony itself. This is a wind band that is essentially an extended orchestral wind section, not your standard wind band instrumentation. This means that the saxophones and euphonium get a break and we incorporate non-standard instruments to the wind band like trumpets in C. It's a piece full of playful energy and enthusiasm. If you'd like a sneek peak (listen) to this piece, I'd highly recommend the Chandos recording "French Wind Band Classics" (CHAN 9897) by Tim Reynish and the Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra.

We'll also be premiering a new work by Vancouver composer Larry Nickel and the classic Charles Ives work "Variations on 'America.'" but you'll have to come back to get the goods on those pieces.

There's a lot in store for PSWE in the coming months, so stick around!

Welcome

2007-03-30T14:32:00.000-07:00

This is the first post in what I hope will be an active part of the Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble's (PSWE) web presence and will give added background and value to our audience and supporters. There are a number of reasons why you might be reading this blog. Hopefully you've come from the PSWE web site and you've come to find out more about what we are up to. You already know who we are and have been to at least one of our concerts. If this is the case, please read on and feel free to comment or e-mail us directly at info@pswe.ca to ask questions to be answered on line.

Perhaps you've stumbled upon this blog through a web search and have no idea who we are. If this is the case, then you need to know that we are forty musicians who live in and around Vancouver, Canada. We love the repertoire for the wind band (also referred to as concert band, wind ensemble, symphonic band, etc.) and donate our time and expertise so that we can share that love of the repertoire with our audiences. If you have played in a school band in North America or a youth band in many other parts of the world, you know, essentially, what I'm talking about. Many of our members are professional musicians or professional music educators and we play music that is standard repertoire for this type of ensemble, and we play music that is contemporary and often writen specifically for us.

The third group of people that are likely to be reading this blog are the performing members of PSWE. If this is you, than please feel free to comment on the postings, add your own take on what is being written or write to me to address a new area of inquiry. I often take for granted the why's of what we do but often they're not so obvious to others. If you're wondering why we're performing a certain piece, or would like to discuss other aspects of our offerings or wind ensemble music in general, feel free to e-mail me through info@pswe.ca or my personal e-mail address.

So, given that it is early in the day and I'm about to go pick up my daughter at school, I leave the actual toast to the launch of the blog until later. For those who care, and I know some do, it will likely be a dram of Glenmorangie, Sherry Wood Finished Single Malt Scotch. See you back here very soon!