Wind Ensemble Spring 2024 Concert

• Jake Bramhall
• Drew Guettler
• E. Chapman
• Laura Dale

• Max Abelson
• Jack Fitzpatrick
• Harrison Fringer
• Lucy Grindstaff
• Carter Harrington
• Jonathan Jenkins
• Chris MacKay
• Zach Moore
• Jayan Patel
• Ben Poovey
• Zack Powers
• Paige Ray
• Luke Sbityakov
• Ben Sheldon
• Luke Tilly
• Liam Weiss

• Reese Neff
• Timothy Cho
• Bella Russ
• Margaret Lawrimore
• Will Hager

• Reese Neff
• Timothy Cho
• Bella Russ
• Margaret Lawrimore
• Will Hager

• Rico Abelson
• Ben Arcuri
• Daniel Bailey
• Charlie Ford
• Jonathan Jenkins
• Ben Poovey
• Brian Rossi
• Luke Ryan
• Igor Silva
• David Vigil
• Payton Wurst

• Cameron Kellner
• Seth Olanovich
• Nathaniel Baird
• Jack Fulp
• Katherine Fowler
• Matt Cash

“Origin was commissioned by Dr. Jeff Reynolds for the University of Toronto Wind Ensemble. As an alumna of the school and former student of Dr. Reynolds, it was an honour to compose this short fanfare to open the 2022-23 concert season at U of T. Origin is an uplifting, empowering piece that evokes the feeling of returning home to a significant place in one’s journey, reflecting on all that has changed and all that has remained. I have come to cherish the magical full-circle experiences that occur when my music is performed in spaces that were meaningful or inspiring to me as a young musician. This piece is an ode to all the people and places that leave a lasting impact on the lives of others.”

Cait Nishimura

The World is Waiting for the Sunrise is a post-World War I popular song with lyrics by American actor Eugene Lockhart, and music composed by Canadian-born pianist Ernest Seitz. The piece was written in 1918 and published on January 24, 1919. The song originally was recorded by band leader, Isham Jones and his dance orchestra in October 1922. The piece entered the national charts on November 11, 1922, and peaked at number 2 during a six-week run. It finished the year as the number 19 single for 1922. More than one hundred versions have been commercially released. Some notable performers to record a version of the original song include Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Django Reinhardt, Machito, and The Beatles (then known as The Quarrymen).

A. A. Harding commissioned Harry Alford to arrange the ballad into a euphonium feature halftime selection for the University of Illinois Marching Band. On the day of the scheduled premiere (November 3, 1934), heavy rain caused many of the spectators to leave the stands before halftime. As the first notes of The World is Waiting for the Sunrise sounded, the rain reportedly ceased, and the sun shone through the clouds long enough for the band to perform the work.

“Angels in the Architecture was commissioned by Kingsway International, and received its premiere performance at the Sydney Opera House on July 6, 2008, by a massed band of young musicians from Australia and the United States, conducted by Matthew George. The work unfolds as a dramatic conflict between the two extremes of human existence – one divine, the other evil.

The work’s title is inspired by the Sydney Opera House itself, with its halo-shaped acoustical ornaments hanging directly above the performance stage. Angels in the Architecture begins with a single voice singing a 19th-century Shaker song:

I am an angel of Light
I have soared from above
I am cloth’d with Mother’s love.
I have come, I have come,
To protect my chosen band
And lead them to the promised land.

This “angel” – represented by the singer – frames the work, surrounding it with a protective wall of light and establishing the divine. Other representations of light – played by instruments rather than sung – include a traditional Hebrew song of peace (“Hevenu Shalom Aleichem”) and the well-known 16^th-century Genevan Psalter, “Old Hundredth.” These three borrowed songs, despite their varied religious origins, are meant to transcend any one religion, representing the more universal human ideals of peace, hope, and love. An original chorale, appearing twice in the work, represents my own personal expressions of these aspirations. 

In opposition, turbulent, fast-paced music appears as a symbol of darkness, death, and spiritual doubt. Twice during the musical drama, these shadows sneak in almost unnoticeably, slowly obscuring, and eventually obliterating the light altogether. The darkness prevails for long stretches of time, but the light always returns, inextinguishable, more powerful than before. The alternation of these opposing forces creates, in effect, a kind of five-part rondo form (light-darkness-light-darkness-light). Just as Charles Ives did more than a century ago, Angels in the Architecture poses the unanswered question of existence. It ends as it began: the angel reappears singing the same comforting words. But deep below, a final shadow reappears – distantly, ominously.”

-Frank Ticheli