Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band: Transformation

The Wind Ensemble (Timothy Salzman, director) and Symphonic Band (David Stewart, Yuman Wu, directors) present a program of music by Ricardo Mollá, Yasuhide Ito, Ryan George, Zhou Tian, John Mackey, and others. With special guest, artist-in-residence John DiCesare, tuba.

Program

University of Washington Symphonic Band
David Stewart, Yuman Wu, conductors

Caccia and Chorale (1976) - Clifton Williams (1923-1976)
Aurora Awakes (2009) - John Mackey (b. 1973)
Machu Picchu (2005) - Satoshi Yagisawa (b. 1975)

University of Washington Wind Ensemble
Timothy Salzman, conductor

Amaia (2024) – Ricardo Mollá (b. 1992)
1. Gazteluga Txe
2. Amaia’s Letter
3. The Final Element
John DiCesare, tuba

Gloriosa (1990) – Yasuhide Ito (b. 1960)
1. Oratio
2. Cantus
3. Dies Festus
David Stewart, conductor

Program Notes

Composer Clifton Williams provided the following program note on this work: “While it remains open to question whether music can convey any message other than a purely musical one, composers often tend to attempt philosophical, pictorial, or other aspects within a musical framework. Such is the case with Caccia and Chorale, two title words borrowed from Italian because of their allegorical significance. The first, Caccia, means hunt or chase, and is intended to reflect the preoccupation of most people in the world with a constant pursuit of materialism. The Chorale is, by contrast, an urgent and insistent plea for greater humanity, a return to religious or ethical concepts.”

John Mackey holds a Master’s degree from The Juilliard School and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with John Corigliano and Donald Erb, respectively. His works have been performed at the Sydney Opera House; the Brooklyn Academy of Music; Carnegie Hall; the Kennedy Center; Weill Recital Hall; Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival; Italy's Spoleto Festival; Alice Tully Hall; the Joyce Theater; Dance Theater Workshop; and throughout Italy, Chile, Japan, Colombia, Austria, Brazil, Germany, England, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. John has received numerous commissions from the Parsons Dance Company, as well as com¬missions from the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, New York City Ballet’s Cho¬reographic Institute, the Dallas Theater Center, the Alvin Ailey Dance Company, the New York Youth Symphony, Ailey 2, Concert Artists Guild, Peridance Ensemble, and Jeanne Ruddy Dance, among many others.
Aurora Awakes is a piece about the heralding of the coming of light, with the com¬poser’s principal inspiration coming from Aurora, the Roman goddess of the dawn, a mythological figure frequently associated with beauty and light. Built in two substantial sections, the piece moves from a place of remarkable stillness to an unbridled explosion of energy – from darkness to light, placid grey to startling rainbows of color. Direct musical quotation from two diverse sources are also found in the work. The first is an ostinato-based on the familiar guitar introduction to U2’s “Where The Streets Have No Name.” Though the strains of The Edge’s guitar have been metamorphosed into the insistent repetitions of keyboard percussion, the aesthetic is similar – a distant proclama¬tion that grows steadily in fervor. The other quotation is a sly reference to Gustav Holst’s First Suite in Eb for Military Band. The brilliant Eb chord that closes the Chaconne of that work is orchestrated (nearly) identically as the final sonority of Aurora Awakes – producing an unmistakably vibrant timbre that won’t be missed by aficionados of the repertoire.
Aurora Awakes won both the American Bandmasters Association’s 2009 Ostwald Prize and the National Band Association’s 2009 William D. Revelli Award.
—program note by Jake Wallace

Satoshi Yagisawa graduated from Musashino Academia Musicae's Composition Department and completed the master's program at the same university's Graduate School of Music Research. He is currently an associate professor at Kobe College and a visiting professor at Nagoya University of Arts, where he teaches composition, wind music and music theory. His major works are well-loved not only in Japan but also in the United States, Europe, and various Asian countries. On November 9, 2019, his piece was chosen for the "Fanfare to Welcome Their Majesties" at the National Celebration for the Enthronement of the Emperor and Empress, and his music was also selected for the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. One of his compositions was chosen as a test piece for the historically prestigious Certamen Internacional de Bandas de Música Ciudad de Valencia in Spain. He received the 21st Japan Wind and Percussion Academy Award in the Composition and Arrangement category in 2011 and the JBA Shitaya Encouragement Award that same year.

Explaining the significance of Machu Picchu begins with remembering the Incan empire at its zenith, and its tragic encounter with the Spanish conquistadors. The great 16th century empire that unified most of Andean South America had as its capital the golden city of Cuzco. Francisco Pizarro, while stripping the city of massive quantities of gold, in 1533 also destroyed Cuzco’s Sun Temple, shrine of the founding deity of the Incan civilization. While that act symbolized the end of the empire, 378 years later an archaeologist from Yale University, Hiram Bingham, rediscovered “Machu Picchu,” a glorious mountaintop Incan city that had escaped the attention of the invaders. At the central high point of the city stands its most important shrine, the Intihuatana, or “hitching post of the sun,” a column of stone rising from a block of granite the size of a grand piano, where a priest would "tie the sun to the stone" at winter solstice to ensure its seasonal return. Finding the last remaining Sun Temple of a great city inspired the belief that perhaps the royal lineage stole away to his holy place during Pizarro’s conquest. After considering these remarkable ideas, I wished to musically describe that magnificent citadel and trace some of the mysteries sealed in Machu Picchu’s past. Three principal ideas dominate the piece: 1) the shimmering golden city of Cuzco set in the dramatic scenery of the Andes, 2) the destructiveness of violent invasion, and 3) the re-emergence of Incan glory as the City in the Sky again reached for the sun.
—program note by composer

Ricardo Mollá is a Spanish trombonist, composer and conductor living in New York City.
He received his bachelor’s degree in trombone at the Conservatorio Superior de Música Oscar Esplá in Alicante (Spain) and the Hochschule für Musik, Theatre und Medien Hannover (Germany) with Javier García and Jonas Bylund, respectively. Personally invited by Joseph Alessi, principal trombone of the New York Philharmonic, he was awarded a scholarship by the Artists’ Society of Spain (AIE) and Foundation JONDE-BBVA to study at the prestigious Juilliard School of New York where he is [2024] pursuing a master’s degree in classical music. His debut as a soloist was in Carnegie Hall (Recital Weill) after winning the first prize in the New York Artist International Competition. As a trombone soloist, he has performed in the Lucerne Festival (Switzerland), the ManiFeste IRCAM of Paris (France), the Spanish Brass Festival (Spain), the Recontre International des Cuivres (Belgium), Letnia Akaemia (Poland), the FOCUS! Festival of New York (U.S.A.), and the International Trombone Festival. He has collaborated with many professional orchestras, playing under the baton of conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Simon Rattle, Riccardo Chailly, Fabio Luisi, Alan Gilbert, Heinz Holliger, Matthias Pintscher, David Robertson, and Esa-Pekka Salonen, among others. In the field of pedagogy, Mollá has been invited to give courses, masterclasses, and talks in Europe, North America, South America and Asia. Ricardo currently [2024] splits his time between working as a trombone soloist, composing and giving talks about stage fright. Throughout his career Ricardo has received awards in more than twenty national and international competitions, including the Concurso Permanente Juventudes Musicales of Spain, the INTERMUSICA International Competition (Austria), Die Hannoversche Börse der Musiktalente (Germany), the Recontre International des Cuivres de l’IMEP (Belgium), the Concorso Internationale Citta di Chieri (Italy), and the International Virtuoso Competition (USA).
Amaia is a story of transformation and personal growth set on the Cantabrian coast of northern Spain. The young protagonist, Amaia, embarks on a dreamlike journey through emblematic places such as Gaztelugatxe and San Sebastián, with the aim of learning to control the four natural elements: water, earth, fire, and air. Throughout her adventure, she encounters mythical beings from Basque mythology, such as the Lamiak, Olentzero, and Basajaun, who teach her valuable lessons about the elements and life. The plot reaches its climax in a battle against a devastating storm at the ‘Peine del Viento’, where Amaia fights not only against the forces of nature but also against the emotional pain caused by the loss of her father, who died at sea. This battle symbolizes her internal struggle and her process of overcoming. The story of Amaia is an allegory of the maturation process and facing pain, showing how, through the overcoming of external and internal challenges, a girl can find the strength to move forward and renew herself.
The work was commissioned by Joseph Awad and dedicated to Carol Jantsch, principal tubist of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
—program note by composer

Yasuhide Ito, professor at Senzoku Gakuen College of Music, has earned international acclaim for his compositional endeavors. He has more than 1000 works including more than 90 wind band works. "Gloriosa” (1990 Ongaku No Tomo Sha; Bravo Music, international distributor) is one of the most frequently performed masterworks in the world, having the distinction of appearing in a standard Japanese high school music textbook. “Festal Scenes” (TRN) saw its US premiere with Ito himself conducting, marking his first international appearance at the 1987 ABA-JBA joint convention. Ito’s compositional talent covers a variety of musical media. His piano ensemble series, “Guru-guru Piano” (Ongaku No Tomo Sha, 8 volumes) expands the scope of four-handed performance. His 2001 opera “Mr. Cinderella” received much critical acclaim and greatly impacted the Japanese opera scene. By request from his hometown of Hamamatsu, he composed music for the official city song rededicated in 2007. In honor of those affected by the tragic East Japan Earthquake, Ito collaborated with famous poet Ryoichi Wago, offering songs of gifts and prayer. His kindness and generosity through music has touched many lives. Ito’s distinguished musical career includes guest conducting the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra for their ‘Asian Concert Tour 2002’ on behalf of maestro Frederick Fennell, and the International Youth Wind Orchestra at WASBE 2005 in Singapore. He is in high demand as a guest conductor, clinician, lecturer, and educator in Asian countries such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea and Singapore, and gives　clinics for WASBE and other band festivals worldwide. Ito was born in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan in 1960. His musical career began with childhood piano lessons and later compositional studies while in high school. He graduated from the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music with a bachelor of music degree in composition. Ito's musical talent has been recognized through awards at the Shizuoka Music Competition (piano, first prize, 1980), Japan Music Competition (composition, third prize, 1982), the Competition for Saxophone Music (1987) and the Bandmasters Academic Society of Japan (the Academy Prize, 1994; Research Branch Prize, 2012).
In the beginning of the Edo era (1603~1867) of Japan, the original melodies of many chants that Kirishitan (Christians) had sung were getting distorted, and their texts were also corrupted as the Tokugawa Shogunate Government banned Christianity. For example, the Latin word Gloriosa changed to "gururiyoza." The first movement, Oratio, is composed on the theme of a Gregorian chant and consists of 13 variations in the form of a chaconne. The second movement, Cantus, is based on the Chant of Saint Juan which had been sung by the Kirishitan, and Dies Festus, the third movement, is based on a transformed melody of the folksong Nagasaki Bura-Bura Bushi.
This work was commissioned by The Sasebo Band of Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (Nagasaki prefecture).
—program note by composer

Biographies