The Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band (Erin Bodnar, director) presents "Scenes and Portraits," featuring music by Gustav Holst, Martin Ellerby, Carl Maria von Weber, Viet Cuong, David Maslanka, and Benjamin Horne, plus the West Coast premiere of a new work by Ryan Lindveit. With Solomon Encina and Yuman Wu, graduate conductors; Kyle Grant, alto saxophone; Luqi Wang, clarinet; and guest graduate conductors Noah Scanlan and Nicholas Renaud.
Program
University of Washington Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band present:
“Scenes and Portraits”
Thursday April 30, 2026 7:30 pm Meany Hall
Erin Bodnar, conductor
Solomon Encina, graduate conductor
Yuman Wu, graduate conductor
Kyle Grant, alto saxophone
Luqi Wang, clarinet
UW Symphonic Band
Erin Bodnar, conductor
Cane River Murals (2012) ……………….....………....................……Martin Ellerby (b. 1957)
Spring Planting (Spiritual)
Wash Day (Scherzo)
Noah Scanlan, guest graduate conductor
Baptism, Wedding & Funeral (Triptych)
Nicholas Renaud, guest graduate conductor
Honky Tonk (Blues)
Pecan Harvest (Celebration)
Second Concerto for Clarinet (1811) ……….............……….Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826)
Allegro
Luqi Wang, clarinet
Solomon Encina, graduate conductor
John and Jim (2024)…………..................….….................…..……………. Viet Cuong (b. 1990)
With UW Wind Ensemble and members from the UW Concert, Campus, and University Band
INTERMISSION
UW Wind Ensemble
Dr. Erin Bodnar, conductor
Concerto for Alto saxophone and Wind Ensemble (1999)…………David Maslanka (1943-2017)
Song: “Fire in the Earth”
Kyle Grant, alto saxophone
Yuman Wu, graduate conductor
Hammersmith: Prelude and Scherzo (1930)……….....…...........…..…Gustav Holst (1874-1934)
Deep River (2021)…………………….............................……………Benjamin Horne (b. 1995)
Brilliant Brushstrokes (2025)……….…………............…….........…..…Ryan Lindveit (b. 1994)
West Coast Premiere
Program Notes
Cane River Murals (2012) ……………….....………....................……Martin Ellerby
Cane River Murals was commissioned by and dedicated to the Northwestern State University Wind Symphony, Natchitoches, Louisiana, William E. Brent, conductor, for the 100th anniversary of their band program. The work is based on the African House Murals by Clementine Hunter that are housed and preserved on the Melrose Plantation. Ellerby also used the idea of the Cane River to bind five separate movements together, flowing as it does through the whole scenario, as do bells in their various symbolic guises. The movements are as follows:
Spring Planting (Spiritual) A kind of miniature overture, the river motif is announced immediately and combined with the spiritual Deep River, which is partially quoted, forming the basis for the opening.
Wash Day (Sjherzo) A scene depicting much activity and individual endeavor set in a swing tempo. There are ‘improvised’ patterns in the percussion and even a wash board employed to convey the mood suggested by the mural.
Baptism, Wedding & Funeral (Triptych) In three sections linked without a break but the outer ones sharing common material, this opens with delicate textures and lyrical solo contributions.
Honky Tonk (Blues) A mono-thematic movement, the simple blues melody, heard initially on solo saxophone, finds its way into more involved orchestrations and denser textures until a full tutti rendition is delivered, followed by a swift but exhausted coda.
Pecan Harvest (Celebration) A bright and optimistic concluding movement, highly charged and rarely without a change of time signature every bar.
Second Concerto for Clarinet (1811) ……….............……….Carl Maria von Weber
The Clarinet Concerto No. 2 in E-flat is described as the more symphonic of Weber’s two concertos for the instrument. It fully exploits the expressive range of the clarinet, from dark Romanticism to virtuosic fireworks, and moves through the entire tessitura of the instrument, exploring both the rich, deep register and the piercing upper range. The three-movement work includes an Allegro and a Romanze, in addition to the lively Polacca . In this final movement, Weber uses rather large leaps to embellish the clarinet melody, which is usually made up of flashy, sparkling rhythms. The melody is often dotted and syncopated to give a somewhat cheeky character to the music. The work finishes with one of the most glittery, virtuosic passages in the clarinet repertoire, and it is appropriately marked “brillante.”
John and Jim (2024)…………..................….….................…..……………. Viet Cuong
I first heard the name Obergefell in 2015 when the case that bears it, Obergefell v. Hodges, was decided by the Supreme Court. Among the most important in history for queer Americans, this landmark ruling granted marriage rights to all same-sex couples. At that moment, Obergefell was etched in history. For those writing about the law, the name would thereafter be written in italics, and today it’s as much a shorthand for the case law of marriage equality as it is the name of a man. But at its core, the case begins with two people.
John Arthur and Jim Obergefell were married in July of 2013. They had been together in a loving relationship for 22 years, and Jim was caring for John as he faced the end stages of ALS. In the last year of John’s life, they traveled on a medical plane to Maryland -- one of just a handful of states where same-sex marriage was legal at the time -- to be married. The marriage ceremony was conducted on board the plane before they returned home to Ohio for their last months together. John passed away that October, and, because Ohio did not recognize their marriage as legal, Jim had to challenge the state in court to be listed as John’s surviving spouse on his death certificate. The state appealed, and the court battle worked its way through the legal system until 2015, when Jim and his team were victorious before the Supreme Court. Their efforts ensured that the relationships of same-sex couples, including my marriage to my husband, would be seen as equal under the law. For that I am deeply and personally grateful.
John and Jim is my effort to pay tribute to the men whose love and devotion gave rise to great change, and I do so by interpolating source material from an iconic piece of traditional wedding music: Pachelbel’s Canon in D. In my youth I adored Pachelbel’s Canon, and I learned a piano arrangement of it when I was 11 years old. For months I would play the piece every morning before school, endlessly repeating its bass line while improvising melodies when the treble clef’s music ran out. Through these explorations, I discovered some basic principles of music composition, and it was through the Pachelbel that I began composing in earnest. It was also around that time that I first learned of its use in weddings, as it was the frequent soundtrack to reality TV shows chronicling the weddings of straight couples. At the time it saddened me that music I found so beautiful was emblematic of something that, according to the law, I could never have. It feels fitting then, that in the year of my own wedding to my partner of 11 years, reframing (and perhaps reclaiming) the Pachelbel should provide the inspiration for a celebration of marriage equality.
My piece is a conversation between two alternating phrases, one of which uses melodic fragments and harmonic progressions from the Canon in D as source material. In the Canon, Pachelbel establishes a single bass line and layers it with several melodies, two of which are quite iconic but never performed simultaneously in the original. I disassembled and rewrote these to work harmoniously with one another upon the arrival of the piece’s climax, which appears after several minutes of what I think of as the music finding and piecing itself together. Ultimately, I believe John and Jim sounds like both a departure and nod to the piece that first inspired me to compose. All of this takes place in a reverberant atmosphere, where notes linger and continually echo around one another, symbolic of both the persistence and impact of people like John and Jim.
John and Jim was commissioned by The Columbus Pride Bands and the Queen City Freedom Band of Cincinnati for the 2024 Pride Bands Alliance Annual Conference, where it was premiered on July 20, 2024, by Dr. Jon Norywota and the combined concert bands. Heartfelt thanks to the Pride Bands Alliance for this opportunity to tell my story and celebrate John Arthur, Jim Obergefell, and the progress that has been made in the name of love.
- Program Note by composer
Concerto for Alto saxophone and Wind Ensemble (1999)…………David Maslanka
This concerto turned out to be a good deal larger than I would reasonably want. As I got into the composing, the ideas became insistent: none of them would be left out! The format of songs and interludes arises from my other recent works for saxophones (Mountain Roads for saxophone quartet and Song Book for alto saxophone and marimba), and suggests a music that is more intimate than symphonic. There is a strong spiritual overtone with quotes from Bach chorales, and from my own works Hell’s Gate and Mass. A story is hinted at which has the Crucifixion right smack in the middle -- the climax of the third movement quotes the “Crucifixus” from the Mass. I don’t know what the story is, only that it wants to be music and not words.
I. Song: “Fire in the Earth”
Walking through a Montana field on a brilliant late fall day, three images came in rapid succession: a distant row of red plant stems caught by the morning sun, snow on the surrounding high mountains, green grass at my feet. The following poetic image came:
Fire in the earth
Snow in the heavens
New green grass in the middle of November
This is a quiet, emotional music – sometimes not so quiet – contained by a very simple song form.
- Program Note by the composer
Hammersmith: Prelude and Scherzo (1930)……….....…...........…..…Gustav Holst
Hammersmith’s mood is the outcome of long years of [Holst’s] familiarity with the changing crowds and the changing river: those Saturday night crowds, who were always good-natured even when they were being pushed off the pavement into the middle of the traffic, and the stallholders in that narrow lane behind the Broadway, with their unexpected assortment of goods lit up by brilliant flares, and the large woman at the fruit shop who always called him ‘dearie’ when he bought oranges for his Sunday picnics. As for the river, he had known it since he was a student, when he paced up and down outside William Morris’s house, discussing Ibsen with earnest young socialists. During all the years since then, his favorite London walk had been along the river-path to Chiswick. In Hammersmith, the river is the background to the crowd; it is a river that goes on its way unnoticed and unconcerned.
- Program Note by Imogen Holst
Deep River (2021)…………………….............................……………Benjamin Horne
Deep River is an arrangement of the traditional spiritual of the same name for wind band. This arrangement is inspired by a popular art song version by Henry Burleigh. His low baritone voice as well as renditions by singers such as Paul Robeson are the motivation for this version's use of solo tuba for the song's initial presentation. Other allusions to Burleigh can be found through the work.
Deep River for wind band opens with solos from various voices evocative of short testimonies before we begin the song. The low voice of the tuba then leads us in with the first verse as others join in. At the conclusion of the lyric "peace," an alto saxophone solo "crosses" us over into a new place where the song starts again, but livelier featuring the entire saxophone section.
- Program Note by the composer
Brilliant Brushstrokes (2025)……….…………............…….........…..…Ryan Lindveit
Brilliant Brushstrokes is inspired by an overwhelmingly colorful and bold painting that the Knoxville-born artist Beauford Delaney (1901-1979) painted on a fragment of his old raincoat when he was living in Paris in 1954. Delaney’s raincoat fragment overflows abstractly with swirls, rings, splotches, and lines of forest green, deep orange, bright yellow, fire-engine red, hazy gray, spacious white, peaceful azure, and deep ocean blue. Upon closer viewing, the seams and pockets of the cut-up raincoat are also visible, revealing that the fanciful artwork is the result of Delaney’s resourcefulness in the face of limited money and art supplies.
As a fellow artist, I find Delaney’s unrelenting and restless impulse to be creative even when he lacked proper materials to be almost inspiring as the painting itself. Although Brilliant Brushstrokes is tightly constructed around only a few melodic gestures, the music constantly cycles through changes in instrumental texture, density, harmony, and energy. Musical phrases are often cut off abruptly with a quick down-up gesture that I view as related to the stitched seams on the raincoat. Overall, the composition uses the vast and variegated color palette of the wind ensemble to capture the inventive spirit and brilliant dynamism of Delaney’s brushstrokes, splatters, and daubs.
- Program Note by composer
UW SYMPHONIC BAND
Flute
Naomi Cho, Fr., Flute Performance, Auburn
Ananya Sai Parlapalli, Fr., Biochemistry & Flute Performance, Spokane, WA
Rob Rosenthal, Fr., Flute Performance, Evanston, IL
Gabriel Rui, Fr., Engineering Undeclared, San Francisco, CA
Emily Wen, Fr., Flute Performance, Sherwood, OR
Xiage Zhang, Gr., Flute Performance, Shanxi Province, China
Oboe
David Kelly, Fr., Pre-Sciences, Chelan
Meagan Paxman, So., Pre-Sciences, Vancouver
Brandon Tsai, So., ECE, Shoreline
Bassoon
Arina Pushkina, So., Materials Science Engineering, Woodinville
Clarinet
Ezra Agpaoa, So. Music Education, Everett
Willow Chartrand, So., Biology (MCD), Los Alamos, NM
Matilda Gauss, Sr., Material Science and Engineering, Bellevue
Nick Hildebrand, Fr., Microbiology, San Pedro, CA
Audrey Jamrowski, Fr., English, Port Orchard
Andrew Kester, Fr., Pre-Science, Aurora, CO
Arman Vega, Fr., Geoscience, Pasco
Bass Clarinet
Conrad Gauss, So., Electrical & Computer Engineering, Bellevue
Saxophone
Polina Dorogova, Jr., Psychology & Music, Gig Harbor
Kaua Roberton, So., Music Education, Spokane
Daniel Song, So., Chemical Engineering, Bothell
Yu Wang, Fine Art, Taipei, Taiwan
Josh Williams, Fr., Music Education, Zillah
Trumpet
Deneil Betfarhad, So., Pre-Sciences, Westport, CT
Nico Masputra, Jr., Neuroscience
Vaughn B. Schnelle, Sr., Music History, West Seattle
Arjun Sur, Fr., Pre-Sciences, San Diego, CA
Reimer Wolf, Fr., Mechanical Engineering, Oahu, HI
Horn
Andrew Chen, Community Member, Othello
Cole Dickson, Fr., Engineering, Snohomish
Yihan Li, Jr., Horn Performance
Arya Nagvekar, Fr., Pre-Sciences, Redmond
Trombone
Steve Teng, So., Pre-Science, Taipei, Taiwan
Robin Yi, Fr., Pre-Humanities, Santa Cruz, CA
Bass Trombone
Isaiah Ikeda, Fr., Medical Laboratory Science, Spokane
Jason Lai, So., Mechanical Engineering, Camas
Euphonium
John Yi, Community Member
Tom Lewis, Sr., Mechanical Engineering: Mechatronics, Snoqualmie
Tuba
Sam Charney, Gr., Astronomy, Swarthmore, PA
Robin Ding, Fr., ECE, ZhuHai, China
Percussion
Brian Chen, Mechanical Engineering, Taipei, Taiwan
Kendall Johnson, Gr., Mechanical Engineering, La Conner
Alexander McLean, So., Environmental Science, Snoqualmie
Jaden Zika, Jr., Psychology, Livermore, CA
Piano
Oliver Schoonover, Gr., Music Composition, Tallahassee, FL
String Bass
Lexi Vance, Gr, Environmental Health Science, Tucson, AZ
Graduate Conductor
Noah Scanlan, Gr., Architecture, Ridgecrest, CA
Nicholas Renaud, DMA, Langley, BC, Canada
Brass from UW Campus, Concert and University Bands
Natalie Lai, trombone
Benjamin Ratner, trumpet
UW WIND ENSEMBLE
Flute/Piccolo
Brooke Bart, Jr., Scandinavian Studies & Music, Endwell, NY
Tracia Pan, Sr., Flute Performance & Statistics, Bellevue
Grace Playstead, Gr., Flute Performance, Olympia
Claire Wei, Jr., Flute Performance, Bellevue*
Oboe
MinhThi Butler, Sr., Oboe Performance, Hoquiam*
Max Bolen, So., Marine Biology & Music Education, Ballard
Will Cummings, Fr., Linguistics & French, Chehalis
Aika Ishizuki, Fr., Pre Sciences, Seattle
Bassoon
Levi Beck, Fr., Music Performance, Snohomish
Annika Fisher, Ju., Anthropology, Lake Forest Park
Ryan Kapsandy, Sr., Bassoon Performance
Rian Morgan, Sr., Nutrition (FSNH), Des Moines
Clarinet
Ezra Agpaoa, So. Music Education, Everett
Caitlin Dong, So., Biology (MCD) & Music Performance, Englewood, CO
Alex Gee, Sr., Mechanical Engineering, Camas
Arthur Gim, Jr., Mechanical Engineering, Bothell
Luqi Wang, Gr., Music Performance, Dalian, China*
Eric Zhu, Fr., Engineering Undeclared, Guangdong, China
Jason Liu, Community Member, Mathematics, Camas
Bass Clarinet
Akshat Ghuge, So., Informatics, Dallas, TX
Michael Stella, Jr., Political Science, Puyallup
Saxophone
Kairui Cheng, Fr., Computer Science, Bothell
Curtis Chung, Sr., Mechanical Engineering, Sunnyvale, CA
Kyle Grant, Jr., Music Education & Saxophone Performance, Sumner*
Kaua Roberton, So., Music Education, Spokane
Katherine Zundel, Sr., Saxophone Performance & Mathematics, Clinton
Trumpet
Meier Eagan, Music Education, Seattle
Hans Faul, Sr., Trumpet Performance, Seattle*
Erika Berreth, Ju., Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Redmond
Antti Mannisto, Sr., Physics, Bellevue
Kevin Nguyen Thomas, So., Trumpet Performance, Spokane
Horn
Ethan Hicks, Fr., Music Performance, Anacortes
Cassidy Rea, Fr., Music Performance, Vancouver*
Olivia Stall, Fr., Pre-Social Sciences, Bothell
Ben von Jess, Jr., Music Education, Renton
Trombone
Owen Fang, Fr., Trombone Performance, Redmond
Richie Torres-Antúnez, Jr., Music Performance & Applied Math, Mattawa*
Neal Muppidi, Sr., Music Performance
Bass Trombone
Evan Mao, Jr., Computer Science, Redmond
Euphonium
Aidan Borlet, Fr., Pre-Science, Austin, TX
Simona Yaroslavsky, Jr., Psychology/Law, Societies and Justice, Mercer Island*
Tuba
Dylan Aagaard, Fr., Tuba Performance, Debary, FL
Chris Seay, DMA, Tuba Performance*
String Bass
Jason Lai, So., Mechanical Engineering, Camas
Percussion
Monaka Kakuta, Fr., Music Performance, Shoreline
Colin Lehman, So., Music Education, Moses Lake
Ivy Moore, Jr., Music Performance & Bioresource Science & Engineering, Norfolk, VA
Hazel Salvaggio, Jr., Music Performance, Manhattan Beach, CA*
Xander Swanson, Fr., Music Performance, Marysville
Piano
Oliver Schoonover, Gr., Music Composition, Tallahassee, FL
*principal
Biographies
Kyle Grant is a saxophonist at the University of Washington who studies under Dr. Michael Brockman. He has performed with the UW Wind Ensemble for three years and notably traveled with the group to Woosong University in Korea in 2024. He has also appeared with the Husky Marching Band, UW Symphony Orchestra, and Modern Music Ensemble. As a saxophonist, he has performed at the 2025 North American Saxophone Regional Conference and is a member of the 204th Army Reserve Band.
Kyle is excited to perform David Maslanka's Concerto for Alto Saxophone—a staple of the saxophone repertoire and one of his favorites. In January, he performed the work with pianist Kiwa Mizutani at the Wind Ensemble Concerto Competition, where he shared it with colleagues and faculty.
Tonight, he will be wearing traditional Korean attire known as hanbok as a tribute to his heritage. A male hanbok is a traditional Korean outfit consisting of a short jacket (jeogori) and loose-fitting pants (baji), designed for both comfort and elegance. Worn for centuries during formal occasions and celebrations, it reflects Korean cultural values of simplicity, harmony, and respect.
Luqi Wang is a clarinetist currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Washington. He holds a Master of Music in Performance from the University of British Columbia and a Bachelor of Music in Performance from Brandon University. Active as a solo, chamber, and orchestral musician, he has appeared in music festivals across North America and Europe. He has performed a wide range of repertoire in recitals and collaborative settings, and continues to develop a versatile artistic profile as both performer and educator. His major teachers include Ben Lulich, Jose Franch-Ballester, Michelle Anderson, and Dr. Cathy Wood.
Solomon Encina is a Graduate Assistant at the University of Washington, where he is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) in Instrumental Conducting. Solomon holds a Bachelors of Music degree in Instrumental Performance in Percussion from California Baptist University. He also holds a Masters in Music Education degree from Azusa Pacific University where he studied under Dr. Alexander Koops and Dr. John Burdett.
Solomon is a native of the Southern California region, where he has taught and arranged music for several high quality institutions. Most recently, he served as the Director of Bands at Los Osos High School in Rancho Cucamonga, CA, where the band, orchestra and color guard program regularly received high distinction awards at festivals throughout the state under his direction. During this time he also performed as a percussionist with several touring groups throughout the United States and as a guest conductor of the European Tour for Southern California Ambassadors of Music. After several years as a high school educator, Solomon is thrilled to begin pursuing his highest academic aspirations by attending UW to study under Professor Timothy Salzman.
Solomon Encina has affiliations with the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA), the California Music Educators Association (CMEA), and the Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association (SCSBOA). Solomon Encina is proudly endorsed by the Vic Firth Company and is a part of the Vic Firth Education team.
Yuman Wu is a Graduate Assistant at the University of Washington, where she is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) in Instrumental Conducting under the mentorship of Timothy Salzman and Erin Bodnar. At UW, she serves as the conductor for UW Concert Band, assistant conductor for the UW Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band, and contributes to the Husky Marching Band. She also assists in teaching the undergraduate conducting classes, working closely with music education majors. As a conductor, multi-instrumentalist, and educator, Yuman enjoys playing music from all cultural backgrounds, innovating new ideas, and leading the music industry forward with inclusivity. She was recently selected as one of five conductors for the prestigious 2025 U.S. Army Band Conductors Workshop, where she conducted The U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own” in a public performance at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall in Washington, D.C.
Yuman holds a Master of Music in Wind Conducting from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, where she studied with Dr. Harlan Parker and served as Teaching Assistant for Secondary Instrumental Conducting. She also earned a Master of Science in Business Analytics from Cornell University. Yuman completed three Bachelor's degrees in Music, Statistics, and Economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Erin Bodnar is Visiting Associate Professor of Music and Director of Concert Bands at the University of Washington where she conducts the Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band, leads the graduate wind band conducting program and provides administrative leadership for the UW Bands. Previously, Dr. Bodnar directed the Wind Symphony and Orchestra at the University of North Florida. Under Dr. Bodnar’s baton, the UNF Wind Symphony performed at the Florida Music Educators Association Conference in January 2025, and the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles in Buñol, Spain in July 2019. The UNF NuMIX, co-directed by Dr. Bodnar and Dr. Venet, performed at the College Band Directors National Association Southern Division Conference in February, 2022. Prior to her appointment at UNF, Dr. Bodnar was Director of Bands at Graceland University for four years during which time the Symphonic Band performed at the Iowa Bandmasters Association Conference. During 2013-2014, Dr. Bodnar was the conductor of the Wind Symphony and Orchestra at Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand. Dr. Bodnar maintains an active schedule as a guest conductor and clinician, traveling to Argentina, Thailand, Indonesia, and throughout the United States and Canada. Dr. Bodnar has contributed to A Composer's Insight: Thoughts, Analysis and Commentary on Contemporary Masterpieces for Wind Band, Volume 5, the GIA Teaching Music Through Performance Series for Volume 7 and the revised Volume 1. She excelled at teaching both middle and high school band in Alberta, Canada for which she received the Keith Mann Young Band Director’s Award and the Edwin Parr First Year Teacher Award. Dr. Bodnar has presented at conferences in Canada, the United States, Scotland, Thailand and Austria. Her research interests include conducting pedagogy and motor cognition, and her articles have been published in the Journal of Music Teacher Education and Music Perception. An avid runner and group fitness instructor, Dr. Bodnar has completed 63 marathons, including 6 Boston marathons, ten 50 km races and one 100 km race.