The Cal Poly Band and Orchestra Festival Finale Concert will be produced in collaboration with the Iota Pi chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi, national honorary band fraternity. Twenty middle and high school bands and string orchestras will participate in the festival Friday and Saturday, March 13-14, which will offer performance adjudications and professional clinics.
The capstone for Friday’s events is the Cal Poly Wind Orchestra and Wind Ensemble’s concert of new works for concert band, titled “Musical Journey Around the World.” Student musicians are looking forward to the performance.
“The music on our program is widely varied,” said flutist Nathan Coelho, a music major from Lincoln, California. “Each piece is so well-composed, coming from different theoretical styles and band traditions.”
The Wind Orchestra and Wind Ensemble will present works drawn from the international theme of the concert season by Ferrer Ferran, Dennis Llinás and Samuel Hazo whose music is drawn from American, Cuban and Spanish traditions.
“Shenendoah” will be performed the Wind Orchestra in a rich new setting by Omar Thomas of the traditional folk song. Also on the Wind Orchestra set is John Mackey’s “Foundry.” The work is an exploration of the possibilities of featuring non-traditional percussion — like salad and mixing bowls, and piles of wood.
A new work by Cal Poly music Professor Meredith Brammeier will be performed by the Wind Ensemble. “Stitches in Time: A Second Piece” is a three-movement composition in which each section reflects a pattern frequently used in quilting.
“Music for Prague, 1968” is Karel Husa’s response to the invasion of his home country by armed forces of the Soviet Bloc. The work is considered among the most important works in the wind band canon. The Czech-born Husa (1921-2016), who became an American citizen, settled in Ithaca, New York, where he taught composition at Cornell University and Ithaca College. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music in 1969 for his String Quartet No. 3.
The concert will be conducted by Director of Bands Christopher J. Woodruff, Associate Director of Bands Nicholas P. Waldron. Guest conductors will include Jennifer Martin from Cuesta College and Leo Sakomoto from California State University, Bakersfield.
Participating schools in the festival are:
- Anacapa Middle School
- Arroyo Grande High School
- Atascadero High School
- Atascadero Middle School
- Central Coast Waldorf School
- Dos Pueblos High School
- Judkins-Paulding Middle Schools
- Laguna Middle School
- Los Osos Middle School
- North Salinas High School
- Paso Robles High School
- Paso Robles Middle Schools
- San Luis Obispo High School
- Templeton High School
- Vandenberg Middle School
- Ventura High School
