Exciting Ticheli pieces enliven Purdue Bands Showcase
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Five unique concert band works by Frank Ticheli - from "Angels in the Architecture" to "Vesuvius" - will be featured in the opening concerts of the annual Purdue Bands Showcase weekend Friday (April 20) through April 22.
Ticheli, a popular contemporary composer, will rehearse with all five of Purdue's concert ensembles and guest conduct them in free performances at Elliott Hall of Music. The Purdue Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band are featured at 8 p.m. Friday, April 20. Varsity Band, Collegiate Band and Concert Band are featured at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 21.
The weekend wraps up with a free performance by the Purdue Philharmonic and Symphony Orchestras at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 22, in Elliott Hall of Music.
Ticheli finds inspiration in widely different mediums, from ancient Roman festivals to magical, mischievous images of Halloween, from the birth of his first child to Emily Dickinson poetry.
Jay Gephart, Director of Bands at Purdue, purposefully picked a wide variety of works for audiences to enjoy.
Friday night audiences will hear the Symphonic Band, under the direction of Ishbah Cox, perform Ticheli's "Wild Nights," while Gephart's Wind Ensemble will tackle "Angels in the Architecture," with guest soprano soloist Karen Goff from the Bach Chorale.
Saturday night audiences will hear "Joy Revisited" performed by Varsity Band, "Abradacabra" performed by Collegiate Band and "Vesuvius" performed by Concert Band.
"Joy Revisited" is one of a set of tunes inspired by a singular event – the birth of Ticheli's first child. "The intense feelings that most any father would feel on such a day were, in my case, accompanied by a simple little tune which grabbed hold of me in the hours preceding her birth and refused to let go throughout the day and many days thereafter. Until I jotted it down in my sketchbook it did not release its great hold on me."
The Ticheli tunes will be packaged on the concerts with a variety of other tunes. Some of those planned for Friday night are Leroy Anderson's "Buglar's Holiday, an Artie Shaw "Clarinet Concerto" featuring Cameron Cecil and Michael Daugherty's "Fever" from Lost Vegas. Saturday's concert also features "The Echo Never Fades" by David Gillingham, "Variations on a Korean Folk Sun" by John Barnes Chance, "Centoaph" by Jack Stamp, and Symphonic Dance No. 3 "Fiesta" by Clifton Williams.
The Purdue Philharmonic and Purdue Symphony Orchestra, both directed by Andrew King, conclude the weekend of music with a free 2:30 p.m. Sunday concert at Elliott Hall.
Highlighting the Philharmonic's set is Sergei Rachmaninov's "Symphony No. 2."
The Showcase weekend is sponsored by Purdue Bands & Orchestras which offers a variety of free concerts. For more information www.purdue.edu/bands
Contact: Kathy Matter, 765-496-6785, kcmatter@purdue.edu