The Sinfonians
This work was commissioned by the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America. It was the first in a series of instrumental pieces to be commissioned by the Sinfonians and was dedicated to Archie N. Jones, former president of the fraternity and later director of that organization's foundation. Williams conducted the first performance of The Sinfonians at the fraternity's national convention in Cincinnati, Ohio, in July 1960. 

The march opens with an extended fanfare introduction before the horns state the familiar Sinfonian theme: "Hail Sinfonia! Come, brothers, hail!" The melody is then completed, embellished, and extended in the style of the composer. In a 1982 international survey, The Sinfonians received more votes than any of Williams' other works.

- Program Note from Program Notes for Band

Sheltering Sky
The wind band medium has, in the twenty-first century, a host of disparate styles that dominate its texture. At the core of its contemporary development exists a group of composers who dazzle with scintillating and frightening virtuosity. As such, at first listening one might experience John Mackey’s Sheltering Sky as a striking departure. Its serene and simple presentation is a throwback of sorts –- a nostalgic portrait of time suspended.

The work itself has a folksong-like quality –- intended by the composer –- and through this an immediate sense of familiarity emerges. Certainly the repertoire has a long and proud tradition of weaving folksongs into its identity, from the days of Holst and Vaughan Williams to modern treatments by such figures as Donald Grantham and Frank Ticheli. Whereas these composers incorporated extant melodies into their works, however, Mackey takes a play from Percy Grainger. Grainger’s Colonial Song seemingly sets a beautiful folksong melody in an enchanting way (so enchanting, in fact, that he reworked the tune into two other pieces: Australian Up-Country Tune and The Gum-Suckers March). In reality, however, Grainger’s melody was entirely original –- his own concoction to express how he felt about his native Australia. Likewise, although the melodies of Sheltering Sky have a recognizable quality (hints of the contours and colors of Danny Boy and Shenandoah are perceptible), the tunes themselves are original to the work, imparting a sense of hazy distance as though they were from a half-remembered dream.

The work unfolds in a sweeping arch structure, with cascading phrases that elide effortlessly. The introduction presents softly articulated harmonies stacking through a surrounding placidity. From there emerge statements of each of the two folksong-like melodies –- the call as a sighing descent in solo oboe, and its answer as a hopeful rising line in trumpet. Though the composer’s trademark virtuosity is absent, his harmonic language remains. Mackey avoids traditional triadic sonorities almost exclusively, instead choosing more indistinct chords with diatonic extensions (particularly seventh and ninth chords) that facilitate the hazy sonic world that the piece inhabits. Near cadences, chromatic dissonances fill the narrow spaces in these harmonies, creating an even greater pull toward wistful nostalgia. Each new phrase begins over the resolution of the previous one, creating a sense of motion that never completely stops. The melodies themselves unfold and eventually dissipate until at last the serene introductory material returns –- the opening chords finally coming to rest.

- Program Note by Jake Wallace

Variations on a Korean Folksong
Variations on a Korean Folk Song is based upon a folk tune that the composer learned while serving the U.S. Army in Seoul, Korea. The tune is known as Arrirang, a song of love and heartbreak that can be found in many variations, with an origin that may date back 1000 years. In autumn 1966, for the Journal of Band Research, Chance said: “I became acquainted with the folk song while serving in Seoul, Korea, as a member of the Eighth U.S. Army Band in 1958-59. The tune is not as simple as it sounds, and my fascination with it during the intervening years led to its eventual use as the theme for this set of variations.”

- Program Note adapted from University of Texas Wind Symphony concert program, 30 November 2016

Pageant
Pageant, op. 59 (1953) is the composer’s third work for band, commissioned by Edwin Franko Goldman for performance at the nineteenth annual convention of the American Bandmasters Association. The premiere was on March 7, 1953, by the University of Miami Band with Persichetti conducting.

The composer’s manuscript sketches show that Persichetti had originally intended to title the work Morning Music for Band -- the opening horn motive and the first theme in the clarinet choir have a serene, pastoral quality that evokes thoughts of sunrise. The opening horn call provides the motivic basis for the rest of the work, germinating long phrases supported by chordal harmonies. The phrases are passed around amongst various small choirs of instruments, exploiting the plethora of timbral and textural combinations possible in an ensemble of wind and percussion instruments. The tonal centers shift as often as the instrumentation, landing on a B-flat major chord that transitions into the second part of the work, the “parade.” In the Allegro second section, the snare drum provides a rhythmic version of the melodic material to follow. This section utilizes polytonality with multiple key centers existing in the music at the same time.

- Program Note from University of North Carolina Charlotte Wind Ensemble concert program, 20 October 2021

Pacem
As is the case with most of my compositions, I wrote Pacem – A Hymn for Peace for a friend who also happens to be a musician. The work was composed for Patrick Brooks and his wind ensemble at Idaho State University. The thematic structures of the piece are based on the second movement of my Consort for Ten Winds, which impressed at a chamber recording session I led in 1999. I intended Consort to be a contemporary reflection of older music, and for the second movement to reflect the beautiful, imitative motet style of the Renaissance composers I admire, such as Josquin Des Prez and Palestrina. While many of the stylistic and inherently lyrical elements of Consort are retained in Pacem (the title in Latin for "peace"), the large-scale instrumental forces of the symphonic wind ensemble presented opportunities to expand the music proportions of Pacem.Rather than simply an "arrangement" of the earlier chamber work. Pacem became an original piece unto itself. The musical propositions of Pacemrange from the introspective to the epic, reflecting the scope of humanity's persistent, hopeful and often difficult struggle toward the realization of personal and universal peace.

Pacem is a musical expression of humankind’s desire for universal peace among all people, as well as the personal peace that comes from within. “Pacem” is the Latin word for “peace.” The choice of Latin is significant for two reasons: 1) as a kind of tribute to the Franco-Flemish Renaissance composers, whose music strongly influenced this work, and 2) as a symbol of the universality of humankind’s desire for peace –- a collective desire that cuts across geographic, religious, ethnic, historical, or other boundaries. The reflective, more peaceful moments in the work represent our hope for personal peace. The stronger, maestoso statements of the main theme convey a hopeful optimism for the realization of peace among all people. Other statements are more conflicted and ambiguous and remind us that achieving universal peace requires persistence and struggle, and that it remains an unrealized challenge in the world.

- Program Note by composer

Tempered Steel
As we grow stronger and more resilient through hardship, we become "tempered." Tempered Steel is a celebration of our triumph over these unavoidable hardships and obstacles that we regularly face. It rejoices in the tenacious and unrelenting resolve that is part of us all. As the title implies, the metallic sonorities of the wind band are continually explored and developed throughout the work, while the "tempest" is a symmetric hexachord that is exposed and developed through a variety of juxtaposed gestures and themes. 

Tempered Steel was "forged" in 1997 as the first work to be commissioned by the Big 12 Band Directors Association. It was premiered by the Baylor University Wind Ensemble at the College Band Directors National Association convention in Kansas City, Missouri, that year.

- Program Note by composer

Piccolo
Elijah Ondrish

Flute
Eliseo Hernandez
Amanda Reed
Alyssa Brannon
Evelyn Taylor
Liam Earnest
Jessica Twardesky
Rachel Moeller

Oboe
Quentin O'Brien
Emily Nash

Eb Clarinet
Alex Proctor

Bb Clarinet
Adam Williams
Mollie Barrett
Alexia Redmond
Andrew Sowders
Maelee Zerkle
Reagan Fairbanks
Aimee Farga
Trevor Crisp
Eduardo Mata

Bass Clarinet
Addison Gearhart
Willis McClure

Bassoon
Shaun Knox*
Eleanor Margraf
Lorelei Wilkerson

Alto Saxophone
Elizabeth Laird*
Josh Burke
Ava Boedicker
Hannah Huddle

Tenor Saxophone
Noah Salmon

Baritone Saxophone
Brenden Stein

Trumpet
Nick Forlow**
Luke Brewster**
Elijah Hash
Jack Mantonya
Eliana Peron
Alexandria Preston
Madison Valentine
Evan Frank
Courtney Woerlein

Horn
Mitchell Hemme**
Elliana Jobe**
Ash Behn
Emma Clement
Rowen Raynes
Meghan McGuire
Tre Myers
Brayden Adamisin

Trombone
Jacob Palumbo*
David Franklin
Sky Spiriti
Peyton Gray
Matthew Ross
Kirsten Bates

Euphonium
Zephyr McQuade*
Andrew Jenkins
Benjamin Bates
Meg Gierula

Tuba
Braeden Scheirer*
Xavier Bucher
Jamie Chester
Noah White

Percussion
Sarah Hertenstein*
Zion Bateman
Zachary Hallam
Brooke Guyton
Matthew Graves
Jayden Hall
Anna LeHoty
Joshua Boyd

(*) Denotes Principal
(**) Denotes Co-Principal