The UCA Wind Ensemble, conducted by Ricky Brooks, will premiere a new composition commissioned for, and featuring, the Arkansas Saxophone Quartet (ASQ) at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the UCA Reynolds Performance Hall. The concert is free and open to the public.
The Arkansas Saxophone Quartet commissioned American composer Neil Flory to write a work for saxophone quartet and wind ensemble. The project was funded through a UCA Foundation Grant written by UCA Saxophone professor and ASQ member, Jackie Lamar.
The ASQ and UCA Wind Ensemble will premiere “Concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Wind Ensemble, ‘From the Gallows Tree.’” The composition is inspired by three Ozark folk songs.
The Arkansas Saxophone Quartet is composed of four saxophonists who also teach at Arkansas universities: Andy Wen, associate professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, on soprano saxophone; Caroline Taylor, professor of music at OBU, on alto saxophone; Brent Bristow, director of bands and professor of saxophone at Arkansas State University, Beebe, on tenor saxophone; and Jackie Lamar, professor of music at the University of Central Arkansas, on baritone saxophone.
The concert will also feature “Glory to Glory,” by upcoming composer Kevin Walczyk; J.S. Bach’s monumental organ work, “Fantasia in G Major,” transcribed for wind band by Goldman, and conducted by Graduate Conducting Intern, Les Sellers; and German composer Paul Hindemith’s “March from ‘Symphonic Metamorphosis.’”
The concert will conclude with a cornerstone work of the wind band’s repertoire, “Symphony #3,” by Italian composer Vittorio Giannini.
Founded in 1914, The University of Central Arkansas Band will celebrate its 100th birthday in 2014.
The Wind Ensemble has performed in Carnegie Hall, The U.S. Capitol, Vienna and Salzburg, Austria.