Conference Program

judithsaxton.com timothyolsenorganist.com 

saxtonolsenduo.hearnow.com

Judith Saxton has 30 years’ experience as an international trumpet concert and recording artist, chamber and orchestral musician, liturgical improvisor, and educator.  Celebrating 20 years at Shenandoah Valley Bach and Eastern Music festivals, she is a Conn-Selmer Clinician/Alexander Technique teacher for Free Flow Studios NC/online and guest residencies world-wide.

Timothy Olsen serves a joint faculty position as Kenan Professor of Organ at UNCSA and Associate Professor of Organ at Salem College. A prize winning organist with a number of recordings to his credit, he is a frequent workshop presenter for the American Guild of Organists, and performs frequent solo recitals nation-wide.

Please visit our website: https://trompettessoniques.com/

 Trompettes Soniques has commissioned two pieces for trumpet ensembles, both written by female composers, to be performed at this 2022 conference.

 Amy Dunker, Composer

The Awakening of Mother Earth, 2021.  (Octet: 4 Trumpets in Bb, 2 Cornets, 2 Flugelhorns)

“The Awakening of Mother Earth is a celebration of everything that gives and nurtures life. Whether it is in the indigenous cultures of the Americas or other belief systems, many cultures refer to the earth as our mother and the “giver of life to all earthly creation,” we must treat her with the utmost care and respect.

 Creation is not an easy process, often fraught with difficulty and sometimes pain. The music is dissonant at times with strong counterpoint, but ultimately triumphant. The ending is a quotation of the “Ave Maria” by Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179), one of the earliest known female composers and a Catholic Benedictine Sister at the monastery of Disibodenberg (Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany). The first line of her chant to the Virgin Mary pays homage to Mother Mary as the “authoress of life.”

 The music of Amy Dunker (b.1969), Professor of Music Theory, Composition and Trumpet at Clarke University, resists easy categorization. From avant-garde improvisation to minimalistic sound sculptures to neo-romantic echoes, Amy delves deeply into the nature of human experience.  Her works have been performed throughout North America, South America, Europe, and Asia.   

Zae Munn, Composer

Hestia Climbs down off Her Pedestal, 2022. (Octet: Bb Piccolo Trumpet, C Trumpet, 5 Bb Trumpets, Flugelhorn)

Hestia Climbs Down Off Her Pedestal was commissioned by Trompettes Soniques in 2022. In Greek mythology, Hestia was the goddess of the hearth, domesticity, sacrifice, and hospitality. In this modern-day retelling, we see Hestia on her pedestal, she climbs down from the pedestal and has several adventures, then she pauses to reflect on the pedestal from afar. Finally, she returns to the pedestal but on somewhat different terms.

Bio: Zae Munn has taught theory and composition for many years at Saint Mary’s College in South Bend, Indiana. In the summers she directs the Summer Composition Intensive there. She has many works for large and small instrumental ensembles, two operas, and a number of choral and vocal works. All are available through various publishers and music distributors and are listed on her website zaemunn.com.

Lucy Nesbitt is a Certified Holistic Life Coach, Life Skills Counsellor and Life Skills Workshop Facilitator. She will be graduating as a Professional Counsellor through Rhodes Wellness College’s diploma program in August 2022. Lucy has a background in facilitating Diversity and Inclusivity meetings through her college, as well as youth crisis response. Lucy has a Bachelor’s of Music from the University of Toronto in French Horn Performance and is an alumni of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, University of Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra and National Youth Orchestra of Canada. She has been an active freelancer and music teacher in her community throughout her life. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and her own mental health, Lucy decided to take a step back from her pursuits and acceptances at the New England Conservatory of Music, the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music as well as the Glenn Gould School in Toronto in order to pursue her passion as a helping professional. It is Lucy’s hope and dream to bridge the gap between traditional education in the arts and modalities present in holistic coaching, counselling and educational services. Lucy hopes to participate in facilitating a shift both in the narrative around mental and emotional wellbeing, as well as to make a difference in the ever-increasing reports of mental health distress in the arts.

Lucy’s private practice is called Resonant Energy Therapy. She is currently supporting her community by offering life coaching and counselling sessions to folks of all walks of life, and providing experiential life skills workshops, talks and clinics to youth orchestras and arts organizations in Canada. New clients for coaching, counselling and trauma informed music lessons for folks of all ages and levels are most welcome. Organizations are also invited to register for workshops at any point. 

For more information and registration, you are invited to explore her website at www.resonantenergytherapy.com or to check out her social media platforms on both Facebook and Instagram @resonantenergytherapy. To get in touch with Lucy directly, please email resonantenergytherapy@gmail.com.

Lucy also moderates a platform called Musician Mindfulness which provides support specifically catered for professional musicians and students of music. You can visit her website www.musicianmindfulness.ca for blog posts and her Instagram @musicianmindfulness.

Performers: James Boldin (horn), Claire Vangelisti (soprano), Richard Seiler (piano)

Program Notes

            The inspiration for The Castle-Builder was a baby shower invitation! My friends Dan and Aja Gianola-Norris were expecting a baby, and, since they are both musicians, I thought a piece of music would be the perfect gift. I had heard Dan give a trumpet recital where he brought in Aja at the end to join him on voice, and I remember thinking that this was a great combination. I also knew that Dan made arrangements so they would have something to perform together. Hence, the instrumentation I chose for this piece, alto, cornet, and piano. I used cornet instead of trumpet because I wanted a more mellow sound, with a little less resistance than what I associate with the trumpet sound, and therefore a better blend with the voice. As I searched for an appropriate poem to set, I came upon a wonderful poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow which seemed to have been made for the occasion! – Lauren Bernofsky (2007) http://www.laurenbernofsky.com/

            There is No Music More was composed in the fall of 2018. As it took shape, the composer’s friend, Thomas Clifton Ritter, suddenly passed away from heart failure. Tom was more than a friend; he was a musician and composer whose criticism, comments and advice were always welcomed and constructive. More than that, he was a most accomplished photographer who traveled the world, capturing both meaningful and artistic images. In his later years he focused mainly on the beauties found near his home in northeastern Louisiana. Appropriately, the set is dedicated to his memory.

            This set of songs was written for Trio Mélange in residence at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Members include Claire Vangelisti, soprano; James Boldin, horn; and Richard Seiler, piano. Their talents and interpretive abilities were the original motivation in undertaking this journey into the poetry of Christina Rossetti.

            The poems are connected by concerns of the common end we all share: death. And with the sudden passing of Mr. Ritter, the effort was driven with renewed, yet saddened energy. Their very personal nature, a trait of the poet, helps to bring meaning into all our lives.

            It is the composer’s hope that these songs, poignant, yet at times showing some of the wit which makes us truly human, will bring some thoughtful satisfaction to both performers and audience alike. – Roger Parks Jones (2018) https://www.windrep.org/Roger_Jones

            Huntsman, What Quarry? was completed in July 1990, at the request of hornist, Gregory Hustis, principal horn of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. The composer chose to set two complementary poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay – one celebrating the visceral joy of hunting, the other a poignant, understated protest against the gratuitous violence of the sport. Both songs are meditations on the psychology of hunting, but in his music, Mr. Sargon has explored the full range of conflicting emotions aroused by this controversial pastime.

            Huntsman, What Quarry? is the more traditional of the two, in the sense that it adheres to the 19^th century tradition of joy in hunting. Stated from the hunter’s point of view, the poem emphasizes the sense of conquering and domination that spur his activity. – Simon Sargon https://simonsargon.com/

            Composed in 2009 for her doctoral dissertation, Gina Gillie’s To the Seasons is a four-movement work for soprano, horn and piano which sets four poems by William Blake.  These four poems, “To Summer,” “To Autumn,” “To Winter,” and “To Spring,” address each of the seasons in colorfully characteristic ways, expressing unique personality traits and revealing interesting glimpses into the interaction of the seasons with the people of the land.

“To Summer” contains two key musical elements which weave together throughout the movement.  The stark open chords in the piano represent the harshness and heat of Summer’s unrelenting character, while the horn solo represents the attempts of the narrator, speaking for the people, to calm and relinquish said heat.  The voice adopts the tone of the poetry, fierce and forward when speaking of Summer’s angst and softer and more lyrical when seeking to persuade and flatter.  Throughout the movement, the voice and horn interact with the piano as they attempt to persuade Summer to behave more pleasantly, and the movement ends with a blending of the two musical components, representing an acquiescence of the request. – Gina Gillie https://sites.google.com/a/plu.edu/gina-gillie—hornist-composer-vocalist/

“Staff Sergeant Katie Stephen joined the West Point Band in December 2019, previously having served in the Army regional bands. Prior to serving, Kaite received her Bachelor’s of Music from Florida State University in 2015, and a Master’s of Music and Chamber Music from the University of Michigan in 2017.

Sergeant Shannon Walsh-Chargualaf holds a D.M.A. from Indiana University (2020), M.M. from Northwestern University (2017), and a B.M. from Indiana University (2014). Shannon currently performs in the 1st Cavalry Division Band Bass Quintet, Ceremonial Band, and as a ceremonial bugler. Additionally, Shannon enjoys historical performance practice and teaching local students.

Specialist Raini Polk is from Del City, Oklahoma. She holds an M.M. from Oklahoma City University (2021), and a B.M. from the University of Central Oklahoma (2019). Raini currently performs with the 282nd Army band in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. She is an experienced hiker and enjoys traveling around the United States.

Specialist Stephanie Rasch-Chaves holds a M.M. from Shenandoah University (2018), and a B.M. from Stetson University (2016). Stephanie currently performs in the 1st Cavalry Division Band Brass Quintet and Ceremonial Band. Additionally, Stephanie is part of their Public Affairs Office and manages their social media presence.

Sergeant Abby Weaver Burnett is from western Pennsylvania. She holds a M.M. from The University of Akron (2019), and a B.S. in Music Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (2017).  Abby currently performs in the 1AD Band’s Gladiator Brass Quintet and serves as tuba section leader. Abby enjoys a life of traveling, baking, and working with young musicians. 

Staff Sergeant Brianna Williams holds a B.S. in Music Education and a M.A. in Euphonium Performance from Marshall University. Active across the country as an educator, performer, and clinician, Brianna is the first female Euphonium Instructor at the U.S. Army School of Music.

Sergeant First Class Brooke Stevens has served as an Army Musician since 2012. She has a D.M. in Brass Pedagogy from Indiana University (2014), with a minor in Music Theory. As the Corps’ production lead, Brooke has composed and arranged music performed at the White House, U.S. Capitol, and other national and international events.”

Fireworks symbolize hope, celebration, and unity. This piece captures the excitement and color of attending a fireworks display. At the start of this composition, as a spectator, you can witness the thrill of hearing the first bang and witnessing the following display of colors. The brass instruments symbolize the lights in the sky as they unfurl after each blast. The soaring melodies reflect the upward trajectory of the fireworks, and the music grows louder, more exciting, and more powerful. The finale comes with the most spectacular full display, shown in all of its glory by the brass and percussion. This work is sure to bring back fond memories of past fireworks celebrations. 

Love While You May (2014), by Ashley Kraft

A song cycle for soprano and trombone

1. Be For Me
2. Wild Joy
3. Let Down
4. Broken
5. Never Fear

Text by Sara Teasdale (1884-1933)

From her 1917 Pullitzer Prize winning collection Love Songs.

Be For Me

Oh I am the brown bird pining

To leave the nest and fly.
Oh be the fresh cloud shining,
Oh be for me the sky.

I am the still rain falling,

Too tired for singing mirth.
Oh be the green fields calling,
Oh be for me the earth.

Wild Joy

I am wild

I will sing to the trees to the stars in the sky!
I love, I am loved, he is mine
Now at last I can die.

I am wild 

I am sandaled with wind and with flame
I have heart-fire and singing to give
I can tread on the grass or the stars

I love, I am loved
Now at last I can live

Let Down

Love in my heart was a fresh tide flowing

where the starlike sea gulls soar.

The sun was keen and the foam was blowing

high on the rocky shore.

But now in the dusk the tide is turning

Lower the sea gulls soar

And the waves that rose in resistless yearning

Are broken forevermore.

Child, Child

Child, child, love while you can

The voice and the eyes and the soul of a man;

Never fear though it break your heart —

Out of the wound new joy will start;

Only love proudly and gladly and well,

Though love be heaven or love be hell.

Child, child, love while you may,

For life is short as a happy day;

Never fear the thing you feel —

Only by love is life made real;

Love, for the deadly sins are seven,

Only through love will you enter heaven.

Broken

Barren, broken.
No light, no song.

My day is barren and broken,

Bereft of light and song.

A sea beach bleak and windy
moans the whole day long.

To the empty beach at ebb tide,
bare with its rocks and scars…

When the long day goes by
and I do not see your face,
The old wild restless sorrow
Steals from its hiding place.

Come back, come back with singing and light. 

My day is barren and broken,

bereft of light and song.

Music for Brokenness (2022), Akshaya Avril Tucker – For clarinet and trombone

Program Note

Music for Brokenness is about rebuilding after abuse. It is about trying to find a way with my dearest friend, both in our brokenness, to attempt a future.

The first attempt is speaking, conversation, acknowledgement. These musical phrases trace our conversations, in moments of new honesty and familiar grief. While listening, you can picture two people talking, or sitting in silent understanding — the kind of understanding only someone who’s been through the same experience can provide.

The two voices/instruments rely upon one another, build upon one another, and slowly evolve together through uncertainty, urged on by mutual care, each loving the other person more than themself.

I hope this music soothes, offering a gentle reminder to lean on those whomake you feel wholly loved.

Program:

1. Tetsunosuke Kushida/ “Hokusai”; Music for Trumpet and Piano 1 mov. Fine Wind, Clear Morning

Video: https://youtu.be/E5Iqzj1Utwk

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fine_Wind,_Clear_Morning

2. Tetsunosuke Kushida/ Silence -penetrating the rocks, cicada voices ~from “HAI-KAI Suite”

Video: https://youtu.be/V52E3TzJFjA

Poetry Translation: http://imperfectatbest.com/2017/08/30/the-stillness-bashos-poetics/

3. Tetsunosuke Kushida/ Matsuri

Video: https://youtu.be/dX1PjW9ldHA

4. Tetsunosuke Kushida/ Sakura

Video: https://youtu.be/2W3eq5a0jAo

Please visit my website:

Kana Madarame bio: https://www.kana-mf.com/english

Project KANA: https://www.k-kana-mf.com

Composer: https://www.k-kana-mf.com/composer

Pianist:

Leslie Spotz, as Professor of Piano at Tarleton State University, received the 2017 Texas Music Teachers Association “Outstanding Collegiate Teaching Achievement” Award.  As winner of the 2017 TSU College of Liberal and Fine Arts Faculty Excellence in Research and Creative Activities Award, Spotz enjoys an international performing career that spans four continents and four decades, and has included solo performances in Moscow at Tchaikovsky Hall of Moscow University, South Bank Center of London, Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the famed Academy of Music in Philadelphia, her highly acclaimed tours of Germany, concerts in Italy at the Lorenzo de’Medici Institute, solo recitals in Taiwan and Brazil, and her performance at the inaugural opening of Philadelphia’s magnificent performance venue, the Kimmel Center.  The 2016-2017 season included solo recitals throughout Texas and performances at the first Music by Women Festival at Mississippi University for Women. In 2015 she performed solo recitals in New York City’s Tenri Cultural Institute, Indiana Wesleyan University, Dallas Public Library, and chamber music concerts in Dallas, TX, Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, and Southern University in Baton Rouge, LA.  She returned to New York and the Tenri Cultural Institute with colleague, Heather Hawk, soprano, for the Leschetizky Association Annual Living Composers Concert May, 2016.  She returned to Italy in June 2013 for performances at the Conservatorio di Milano and the Ambrosianeum Foundation.  Also, in June 2013 she performed in Buenes Aires, Argentina with soprano Marika Kyriakos and returned to London in May 2011.  Hailed by the prestigious Süddeutsche Zeitung of Munich, Spotz’ Beethoven was described thus: “Stripped of veneer, revealing all the edges and corners, Spotz earnestly confronted Beethoven’s tempi and dynamic indications, leaving mediocrity and shallow beauty behind and bringing out truth.  In all, a concert of the highest critical standard.”   Having performed on four continents, concert highlights include her 2007 performance at Tarleton as soloist with the Fort Worth Symphony and her performances of twenty Beethoven Sonatas at Rutgers University.  Upon receiving a full scholarship to the Curtis Institute of Music, Spotz studied with the legendary Mieczyslaw Horszowski for five years.  She completed her doctorate at Rutgers University in 2002.  She recorded the entire piano repertoire for the International Piano Performance Examination Committee, (IPPEC) Taiwan, R.O.C. in three sets of five CDs each.  According to the The Philadelphia Inquirer, “Miss Spotz commands the resonant sound and the elegant gesture… playing of great color, boldness, and suavity… most engaging…”.

Three Romances for Susie was written for my dear friend, Mike Lynch, on the occasion of his upcoming wedding. Mike had originally asked me to compose a short piece for him in celebration of his marriage, but after exchanging several correspondences with him, I found it very difficult to express all of his many feelings for his bride in a single movement. My final choice was to write three short, romantic pieces and to name them somewhat in homage to Robert Schumann’s “Three Romances”.

All of the movements have both vocal and lyrical inspiration for me, although I never did fully write lyrics for the pieces. The first piece could be subtitled, “You always were there”, and the third, “Ever will I treasure you”. The second piece is more exuberant, upbeat and even humorous, might remind one of a strophic Art Sing with folk song undertones. Imagine the ardent lover pledging that he will never leave his bride to wander again, and then cataloguing all the many reasons why he would stay at home, as much for his own reassurance as for hers. Her sparkling eyes, her infectious laughter, her good humor, patience and constancy would keep him faithful, no matter how temporarily appealing might be the urge to seek for greener fields, or even for more tubas to add to his collection.

With love and best wishes,

Barbara York, 2005

Great Lakes Duo: Contemporary Concert & Ceremonial Music for Trumpet & Organ by Women Composers

Program with links to composers/works:

Margaret Sandresky: Festive Music

Patricia Van Ness: Air

Emma Lou Diemer: Time Pieces: III. Simple Time IV. Closing Time

Ester Mägi: Canto Sentimentale*

Brenda Portman: Fanfare for the Nations

Brian Reichenbach is Assistant Professor of Trumpet at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee.  ​​Previously, he was on the faculty at Trinity International University and performed throughout the Chicago area with various ensembles such as the International Chamber Artists, Elmhurst Symphony, and New Chicago Brass. Brian will return this summer for a third tour in Germany as a member of Eurobrass. www.BrianReichenbach.com

Rhonda Sider Edgington is often commended for her innovative programming, colorful use of registrations, and exciting playing. She has played recitals at venues in the US such as St. Paul’s Cathedral in Pittsburgh, Arizona State University, the Cadet Chapel at West Point, and on famous historic organs in Germany including Freiberg (Silbermann), Naumburg (Hildebrandt), and Norden (Schnitger). Rhonda is the Organist and Assistant Music Director at Hope Church, Organ Instructor at Calvin University, Dean of the Holland (Michigan) American Guild of Organists chapter, and maintains an active performing career in the US and Europe.  http://rhonda.edgington.info

*Recorded on Great Lakes Duo: Music for Trumpet & Organ in the 21^st Century available at www.GreatLakesDuo.com.

COBA
For solo Horn in F
Commissioned by Mary Garza
By Alice Gomez
Coba is an ancient Mayan city located in the Yucatan Peninsula. The Mayan word, Coba, means “waters stirred by the wind.”  The city is surrounded by two lagoons which is where it gets its name. There are several
reasons why I chose to name this horn solo after the Mayan city. Coba was a city ruled by
females. The horn solo was commissioned by a female hornist and composed by a female, both
of Mexican American ancestry. The ancient Mayans had several musical wind instruments
including ceramic ocarinas, bone flutes, and conch shells. Of particular interest to the
composer was the Mayan wooden trumpets as predecessors to modern day brass instruments.
Gomez utilizes the F horn as an aural guide through the sights and sounds of Coba. The
opening music depicts the magnificent sight of Coba’s ancient pyramid in the midst of a
beautiful green jungle and roads of white stones. The music is inspired by pictures of various
preserved structures such as religious temples, houses, and two well preserved ball courts. If
you listen closely, you can even hear melodic fragments resembling everyday life conversations.