School of Music

Faculty of Fine Arts

University of Victoria

MUS C
Wind Symphony
UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA

Here & There

Steven Capaldo, Conductor

We acknowledge that the land on which we gather is the

traditional territory of the WSÁNEĆ (Saanich), Lkwungen (Songhees)
and Wyomilth (Esquimalt) peoples of the Coast Salish Nation.

Friday, November 23, 2018 • 8 p.m.

The Farquhar at UVic
Adults: $20 / Seniors: $15 / Students & UVic alumni: $10
 PROGRAM

Mother Earth David Maslanka

(1943–2017)

Redwood Ryan George

(b. 1978)

Only Light Aaron Perrine

(b. 1979)

Invocation and Toccata James Barnes

(b. 1949)

I NT E R M I S S I O N

Symphonies of Gaia Jayce John Ogren

(b. 1979)

City Trees Michael Markowski

(b. 1986)

Sea Songs Ralph Vaughan Williams

(1872–1958)

Machu Picchu - City in the Sky Satoshi Yagisawa

(b. 1975)
PROGRAM NOTES
Mother Earth (2003)
David Maslanka

Mother Earth was composed for the South Dearborn High School Band of
Aurora, Indiana, Brian Silvey, conductor. The commission was for a three-
minute fanfare piece. Each piece takes on a reason for being all its own,
and Mother Earth is no exception. It became an urgent message from Our
Mother to treat her more kindly! My reading at the time of writing this music
was For a Future to be Possible by the Vietnamese monk and teacher, Thich
Nhat Hanh. He believes that the only way forward is to be extremely alive
and aware in our present moment, to become awake to the needs of our
beloved planet, and to respond to it as a living entity. Music making allows
us to come immediately awake. It is an instant connection to the powerful
wellspring of our creativity, and opens our minds to the solution of any num-
ber of problems, including that of our damaged environment. My little piece
does not solve the problem! But it is a living call to the wide-awake life, and it
continues to be performed by young people around the world.

© David Maslanka

Redwood (2010)
Ryan George

Commissioned by the Collins Hill High School Band

When the Collins Hill High School Band approached me about writing
a piece for their head band director, who was set to retire at the end of
the year, they wanted something that spoke not only to this man’s love of
music but also to his love for the great outdoors. I was reminded then of
the times growing up when my family and I would go camping in Sequoia
National Park and we would set up our tents among the giant redwood
trees that grow in that region of California. These trees command attention
with their immense stature, their size the result of years gone by and storms
weathered. And yet they exude a peaceful and subtle tranquillity. This idea of
“Powerful Tranquillity” became the cornerstone that this lyrical tone poem
was created.
© Ryan George
Only Light (2015)
Aaron Perrine
Commissioned by the University of Iowa Symphony Band (Dr. Richard Mark Heidel, Director)

The melodic material for Only Light originally came from Beneath a Canvas

of Green, a recently composed large-scale work of mine written for wind
ensemble. At the time, I was not quite comfortable with how this music fit
within the larger work (it passed by much too quickly), and I knew it was
something I would eventually like to revisit.

During the next few years, I was moved by two friends’ display of strength
and courage through adversity. Through these experiences, I was reminded
of how delicate life is, and how things can change at a moment’s notice.
Reflecting upon these events inspired me to expand and ultimately finish this
previously composed music. Only Light is meant to convey a sense of hope
and healing.

© Aaron Perrine

Invocation and Toccata (1980)

James Barnes

Written in three distinct sections, Invocation and Toccata opens with an

evocative and powerful calling of primitive spirits that leads to poignant solos
by both the oboe and the euphonium. The second section is a dance —
fiery and passionate at times — exploring the playfulness of mixed rhythms
and feels, melodic and harmonic interplay between brass, woodwind and
percussion, with lines weaving in and out to create a rich web of colour and
texture. After a free-time section that begins with a strong 5/4 bass groove,
the dominant low brass reassert the powerful invocation and the work cul-
minates in a fast and strong finale signally the end of the ritual.

© Steven Capaldo
Symphonies of Gaia (2001)
Jayce John Ogren

The title Symphonies of Gaia uses language of the ancient Greeks. Sympho-
nies refers not to an established genre or form, but simply means “a sound-
ing together.” Gaia is the Titan goddess of the earth in Greek mythology, and
has since become a universal symbol for ecological stewardship and wisdom.
My most sincere hope is that Symphonies of Gaia will, in some form, inspirit
others to understand and take action against the environment crises we now
so desperately face.
© Jayce John Ogren

When I first heard Symphonies of Gaia, it was performed by the St. Olaf
Wind Ensemble conducted by the composer. The faculty conductor of this
fine ensemble, Dr. Timothy Mahr, is a first-rate composer himself, and was
also the composition teacher of the composer, Jayce Ogren. I am sure that
the excellent craftsmanship of this work was directly influenced by Dr. Mahr.
I found this work to be mesmerizing and I was immediately drawn into the
emotion of the piece. Quite frankly, I wish I had written the piece! Conse-
quently, I felt that this piece should launch the premiere of the Gillingham
Signature Series.

Symphonies of Gaia is the essence of musical integrity. It expresses some very

deep feelings by the composer. The scoring is extremely creative and the
craftsmanship is first rate. So much is said in the relatively short duration of
the work. It is music on a high level that will challenge and inspire. Here is a
work that will sustain itself in the repertoire for years to come.

© David R. Gillingham
City Trees (2012)
Michael Markowski

I had just moved from Arizona to New York City when I began sketching
the first fragments of City Trees. After being born, growing up, and living in
the desert for 25 years of my life, moving to New York so suddenly was and
continues to be one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done. I think it
has also been one of the bravest. I left my friends, my family, and my ridicu-
lously cheap rent all without much planning.

Every time I walk down a street in New York, I notice the trees shackled by
the sidewalk. Some have little fences around them, many have trash nestled
up next to their exposed roots, and others have grown so big and become
so strong that they have broken right through the concrete pavement. As I
pass beneath them, they all seem to wave their leafy pom-poms in the wind,
a thousand leaves applauding, cheering me on as if I had just returned from
the moon.

These trees have learned how to brave the concrete jungle, and it gave me
solace knowing that they had flourished in such a challenging environment.
Over time, the impossibilities of the city have become familiar, and although
I continue to learn new lessons everyday, I’ve slowly begun to assimilate,
finding my way around, discovering new places, and making friends while still
keeping close with those who aren’t close by. The music in City Trees began
to take on a growing sense of perseverance, embodied by the expansive
melodies that sweep over the pensive, rhythmic undercurrent.

For me, City Trees is a reflection of the bravery that it often takes to ven-
ture into new worlds, embrace other cultures, and lovingly encourage new
ideas. I am deeply honored to dedicate this piece to the Lesbian and Gay
Band Association. Although I may never completely understand the unique
challenges my friends have faced and had to overcome, I am inspired by the
overwhelming courage that has been so firmly planted for 30 years and that
continues to grow, perhaps slowly, but always stronger.
© Michael Markowski

Sea Songs (1924)

Ralph Vaughan Williams

British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams was encouraged from an early age
to study music and learned the piano, violin, and viola while also expressing
an early interest in composing. In 1897 he studied composition with Max
Bruch in Berlin and in 1908 with Maurice Ravel in Paris. National pride led
him to take an interest in the folk songs of England, and along with com-
posers such as Gustav Holst and Percy Grainger, Vaughan Williams began
transcribing English folk songs that he later used as the basis for many of
his compositions. He was one of the foremost activists in the movement to
collect this folk music, focusing on Norfolk, Sussex, and Essex where he col-
lected more than 800 tunes.

Sea Songs was composed in 1924, just one year after his popular English Folk
Song Suite, the first work he composed for band and in which he incor-
porated nine folk songs. In Sea Songs, Vaughan Williams created a simpler,
one-movement work in a march style. He incorporated three songs into this
work: Princess Royal, Admiral Benbow, and Portsmouth. The work was com-
posed for the Royal Military School of Music at Kneller Hall.
© US Marine Band
Machu Picchu - City in the Sky (2004)
Satoshi Yagisawa

Explaining the significance of Machu Picchu begins with remembering the In-
can empire at its zenith, and their tragic encounter with the Spanish conquis-
tadors. The great 16th century empire that unified most of Andean South
America had as its capital the golden city of Cuzco. Irresistible to Francisco
Pizarro, in 1533 he also destroyed Cuzco’s Sun Temple, shrine of the found-
ing deity of the Incan civilization. While that act symbolized the end of the
empire, 378 years later an archaeologist rediscovered “Machu Picchu”, a
glorious mountaintop Incan city that had escaped the attention of the invad-
ers. Finding the last remaining Sun Temple of a great city inspired the belief
that perhaps the royal lineage stole away to this holy place during Pizarro’s
conquest. Three principal ideas dominate the piece: I) the shimmering golden
city of Cuzco set in the dramatic scenery of the Andes, 2) the destructive-
ness of violent invasion, and 3) the re-emergence of Incan glory as the City
in the Sky again reached for the sun.

© Satoshi Yagisawa

UVIC WIND SYMPHONY

UPCOMING CONCERTS
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8 | 8 PM
Something Old, Something New...
Steven Capaldo, conductor
With guests the Naden Band of the Royal Canadian Navy
This first concert of a two-part concert series presents a modern twist on the
traditional approach to concert programming of an overture, a symphony, a
march and a concerto through new and classic works for wind ensemble.
Pre-concert talk in Senate Chambers at 7pm with conductor Steven Capaldo.

FRIDAY, MARCH 29 | 8 PM
Something Borrowed, Something Blue
Steven Capaldo, conductor
The second concert in this two-part concert series features a contemporary pro-
gram highlighting guest soloists performing works inspired and influenced by jazz
and Latin music. This final performance of the season includes Canadian premieres
and some of the most innovative and exciting wind ensemble pieces written for
the genre. Don’t miss it!
 UVIC WIND SYMPHONY

WOODWINDS BRASS
Piccolo/Flute French Horn
Jessica Shaw Calgary, AB Sarah Mullane* Calgary, AB
Brooke Clansey Powell River, BC
Flute Allie Bertholm Chilliwack, BC
Charlie Mason* Sylvan Lake, AB Joshua Ward Kelowna, BC
Taya Haldane Terrace, BC
Breanna Morissette Calgary, AB Trumpet
Connie Goetz Port Coquitlam, BC Marianne Ing* North Vancouver, BC
Ben Parker Victoria, BC
Oboe Ekaterina Della Vedova New Westminster, BC
Janie Sinn* Vancouver, BC Izzy Spencer Victoria, BC
Theresa Mothersill Vancouver, BC Jordan Smale Victoria, BC
Abha Parmar Calgary, AB
English Horn
Theresa Mothersill Vancouver, BC Trombone
Will Quinn* Calgary, AB
Bassoon Heidi Worrall Victoria, BC
Wilson Kyne* Victoria, BC Erin Marsh Campbell River, BC
Lee Whitehorne Chilliwack, BC Ben Pakosz Nanaimo, BC

Clarinet Euphonium
Alec Kan* Taipei, TAIWAN Jason Gordon* Victoria, BC
Alicia Joinson Victoria, BC Liam Mulligan Kelowna, BC
Kyle Lancaster Victoria, BC
Meghan Parker Victoria, BC Tuba
Katherine Forster Victoria, BC Aiden Fentiman* 100 Mile House, BC
Samuel He Victoria, BC Scott Gordon Victoria, BC
Jacob Tkachuk Red Deer, AB
Bass Clarinet
Alina Liang Coquitlam, BC PIANO
Xheni Sinaj Tirana, ALBANIA
Contrabass Clarinet
Zachary Smith Cranbrook, BC PERCUSSION
Lachlan Barry* Calgary, AB
Alto Saxophone Susan Main Ottawa, ON
Matt Fichter* Kamloops, BC Jesse Johnson Portland, USA
Michael Vielguth Calgary, AB Allyssa Haigh Nanaimo, BC
Karsten Brewka Victoria, BC Jennifer Fiorin Langford, BC
DJ Lochead Chilliwack, BC
Tenor Saxophone
Ayari Kasukawa Ibaraki, JAPAN

Baritone Sax
Michelle Melnicky Vancouver, BC
* Principal

DR. STEVEN J. CAPALDO CONDUCTOR
D.M.A., M.Perf., B.Ed.(Mus.), A.Mus.A.(Distinction)
Dr. Steven Capaldo has distinguished himself as one of the most respected music educators,
wind conductors and conductor educators in Australia, earning academic and musical recogni-
tion internationally.

Currently the Wind Symphony Conductor and Conducting & Music Education Visiting
Professor at the University of Victoria, Dr. Capaldo has previously held positions in Music
Education at the University of Wollongong, was a member of the Conducting Faculty at the
Sydney Conservatorium of Music as Conductor of the Sydney University Wind Orchestra, the
Conductor of the UNSW Wind Symphony, and was formerly a Music Education & Conduct-
ing professor at the University of Victoria where he was the founding conductor of the Don
Wright Symphonic Winds and taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Conducting
and Music Education.

Completing a DMA in Wind Conducting at UNLV, a Master of Performance (Orchestral

and Choral Conducting) at the University of Sydney (Conservatorium of Music), a Bachelor
of Education (Music) at the University of Melbourne, and an AMusA on Saxophone (with
Distinction), Dr. Capaldo has diverse experience working with symphony orchestras, wind
orchestras and chamber ensembles. He has established a longstanding history supporting,
mentoring and engaging in community music and music education settings as well as premier-
ing dozens of works including many commissioned works in the wind ensemble genre and is a
passionate advocate for new music and supporting new and local composers.

An active writer, Dr. Capaldo composes, arranges and transcribes music for wind orchestras,
symphony orchestras, festivals and concerts and his works have been performed by groups
in Australia, Canada, Japan and the United States, and recorded on Klavier records (US). He
has been listed as a composer in the book The Band Down Under (by Michael Burch-Pesses)
and he has been a finalist in international composition competitions. An Assistant Producer
and Co-Editor for eight Klavier Records, Dr. Capaldo became a full voting member for the US
Grammy Awards in 2010 and was Chair of the Australian Jury Panel for the 2017 Interna-
tional Eurovision Song Contest.

He has received critical praise for his ensembles and many awards for his academic & teaching
achievements including the 2018 Outstanding Contribution to Teaching and Learning Award
(UOW). As an academic, he has published in journals and presented at Australian and interna-
tional conferences in music education, conducting, and music technology.

Dr. Capaldo is highly-active as a conductor, clinician and adjudicator having worked at local,
state/provincial, national and international levels. He has adjudicated at MusicFest (Canada’s
National Music Festival), the Australian International Music Festival, Chief Conductor of the
British Columbia Honor Wind Ensemble (2007) and other honor groups, conducted concerts
with the Civic Orchestra of Victoria (Canada), and was a regular guest conductor with the
Wollongong Community Orchestra. Providing professional learning opportunities for music
educators and conductors, Dr. Capaldo has been a conducting clinician at the 2016 Australian
National Band and Orchestra Conference (ANBOC), the Chief Conducting clinician for the
2017 Qld ABODA Conducting School and an Associate clinician for the 2016, 2017 & 2018
NSW ABODA Conducting School. In 2018, Dr. Capaldo was an ANBOC conducting clinician
and conducted the Qld State Honours Ensemble at ANBOC.
 A seasonal celebration presented by the
University of Victoria Choirs

Gloria Over 250 singers from the

University of Victoria’s
Chorus, Chamber Singers,
& Vocal Jazz Ensemble
with guests
the UVic Brass Ensemble

S AT
DEC
2 0 1 8
1 7 PM
Doors at
6:15 PM
Christ Church Cathedral
Admission by donation
Plan to arrive early. This annual event fills to capacity.
UVIC
www.uvic.ca/music/events
www.christchurchcathedral.bc.ca
 UPCOMING EVENTS
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 24 | 1-3 PM (Free)
Clarinet Masterclass with Shawn Earle
Join an open clarinet masterclass with Shawn Earle, clarinet instructor at UVic,
featuring performances by clarinet majors from the School of Music.
Phillip T. Young Recital Hall

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 25 | 7 PM (By donation)

UVic Vocal Jazz Ensemble: Fall Showcase
Twilight: Between the Blues & Bebop
Wendell Clanton, director
Expect a fun-filled evening featuring original arrangements and timeless classics
performed by studio groups and combos.
Phillip T. Young Recital Hall

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27 | 12:30 PM (By donation)

Tuesdaymusic
Take an afternoon break to enjoy a concert of varied repertoire
and instruments featuring UVic School of Music students.
Phillip T. Young Recital Hall

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28 | 8 PM (By donation)

String Chamber Concert
A concert featuring UVic School of Music string students from the
chamber music class of the Lafayette String Quartet.
Phillip T. Young Recital Hall

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29 | 8 PM ($10-$20)

Don Wright Symphonic Winds: Life, Legends & Loss
Michael Keddy, conductor
An evening of concert band repertoire performed by student musicians
from all across the UVic campus. Works include One Life Beautiful by Giroux,
Sorcery Suite by Barnes, Loch Lomond by Ticheli, and more.
The Farquhar at UVic, University Centre

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30 | 12:30 PM (By donation)

Fridaymusic
A concert of new works by School of Music composition students.
Phillip T. Young Recital Hall

To receive monthly updates about School of Music events by email, contact: concert@uvic.ca

uvic.ca/music/events