Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) Presents Windsongs in Review
Ed W. Clark High School Concert Band; Jeffrey Lacoff, Director; Julio Vargas-Guerra, Assistant Director; Alexander Reyes, Guest Conductor
Ed W. Clark High School Orchestra; Eric Maine, Director; Antonio Brockett, Assistant Director
William Paterson University Chamber Wind Ensemble; Teresa Purcell-Giles, Director
William Paterson University Symphony; Sandra Dackow, Director
Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY
April 28, 2024
Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) presented another one of their signature shared concerts this weekend, and it was yet another inspiring experience for all present. The program offered performances from two schools, the Ed W. Clark High School (Las Vegas, Nevada) and the William Paterson University (Wayne, New Jersey), each presenting two ensembles. The majority of music involved wind groups – hence the name “Windsongs” – though there was one string orchestra performing as well. The first half of the program featured the two Ed W. Clark High School groups – the Ed W. Clark High School Concert Band and the Ed W. Clark High School Orchestra (strings only) – and the second half featured the William Paterson University ensembles, the WPU Chamber Wind Ensemble and the WPU University Symphony. The length of nearly two and a half hours from start to finish (including intermission and several breaks to set up) made the concert a bit of a marathon, but – with so much novelty and variety, and particularly with such tremendous involvement from these hard-working players – one will not complain. One was left with a renewed sense of hope that these young students will bring their discipline, collaborative skills, and spirit to a world that sorely needs all three.
The Clark Concert Band opened with Jorge Machain’s Fanfare for Unity (World Premiere), a bright, declamatory piece whose rising fourths and dotted rhythms brought to mind heroic film scores. The students played it with great energy, and the composer was present in the audience to acknowledge the rousing ovation. Seven more works followed, including Shostakovich’s Chimes Prelude (Arr. James Keane), Katahj Copley’s AYO (Rhapsody for Band), Sousa’s Manhattan Beach March, Grainger’s Theme from “Green Bushes” (Arr. Larry Daehn), Julie Giroux’s The Bonsai Tree, William Owens’ Tudor Sketches, and Randall Standridge’s Choose Joy. As there are three more groups to cover, we’ll stick with highlights, but suffice it to say that this high school band was as comfortable in a romp of Grainger as they were in the pomp of Sousa. They embraced a wide variety of moods and tempi, and offerings ranging from those of the Elizabethan era (Owens) to those rooted in jazz and hip-hop (Copley). They exhibited technical ease in each case. Perhaps because of the sheer decibel levels that a band creates with around 65 players on winds, brass, and percussion, the work that may linger most in this listener’s memory was Julie Giroux’s The Bonsai Tree, standing out for its sweetness and delicacy. Also memorable were the infectious rhythms of Katahj Copley’s AYO and the final work, Randall Standridge’s Choose Joy, with its fragments of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy integrated into what the composer calls its “message of positivity.” It was positive, indeed. Conductors Jeffrey Lacoff, Julio Vargas-Guerra, and Alexander Reyes drew terrific musicianship from these young players, and they can be very proud.
The Ed W. Clark High School Orchestra came next, with the skillful team of Eric Maine and Antonio Brockett divvying up the conducting duties. Again numbering around 65 players, now just strings, they made a formidable impression onstage, and one could only think again that something great must be going on in this Nevada school. They opened with the Jig from Holst’s wonderful St. Paul’s Suite, Op. 29, and it was a joyous and fitting selection during this 150th anniversary of Holst’s birth year. Holst’s own decades of teaching music to the young helped give this St Paul’s Suite its winning accessibility, and these Clark musicians seemed to relish it. They moved on easily to the moodier evocations of Eric Whitacre’s October, a piece with the ethereal quality that this composer has taken to a new level (achieved here with tremolando strings and a magical caress of chimes). The students conveyed its mood with real sensitivity. In a lighter vein, the orchestra followed with the Saint-Saëns Caprice-Valse (or “Wedding Cake”), a frou-frou showpiece for piano and orchestra. The soloist was accomplished young pianist Lumina Yueshi Lu, whose elaborate white gown brought to mind the confection that the piece suggests. She played with sparkling precision through its tricky fingerwork. Returning to strictly strings, the program moved on with the Finale from Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings, Op. 48 – a perennial favorite. The orchestra demonstrated excellent elasticity and energy here. A few moments of iffy intonation in the upper strings were minor quibbles during what was an excellent performance. Moving to a more sobering note, Carlos Simon’s Elegy: A Cry From The Grave followed. It is described by the composer as “an artistic reflection dedicated to those who have been wrongfully murdered by an oppressive power; namely Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, and Michael Brown,” and the mood was fittingly somber, with rays of hope emerging. The ensemble played it with strong commitment, then brought the temperature back up with Piazzolla’s Libertango (Arr. Thomas Kallb). Though this tango might have had even more fire if the basses and celli had been a bit stronger, it was a rousing finish to the school’s offerings and was greeted with hearty applause.
After intermission, we heard two ensembles from the William Paterson University, first the Chamber Wind Ensemble and then the University Symphony. The Chamber Wind Ensemble, under vibrant conductor Teresa Purcell-Giles, opened (like the first half) with a fanfare, but in this case it was a piece called Fanfarria, by Giovanni Santos. A celebration of migrant families, brimming with infectious rhythms from Cuba and the Dominican Republic, it drew the best from these young musicians. They dove into it with gusto. More Latin rhythms came in selections from the Little Mexican Suite by Nubia Jaime Donjuan – both named after trees dear to the composer, the Ayacahuite and the Sahuaro (a nice symmetrical tie-in to the first half’s Bonsai), and it was an uplifting experience for all before introducing the final ensemble of the afternoon – which did involve bringing some of these excellent players back.
The William Paterson University Symphony, around seventy players strong, played the three final pieces of the program, starting with Dvorak’s Slavonic Dance In G Minor, Op.46, No. 8, and following with equally audience-grabbing works of Saint-Saens and Josef Strauss. Despite knowing the impressive reputation of conductor Sandra Dackow, and despite witnessing her palpable command over the “troops” as she climbed to the podium, nothing prepared this listener for the firepower she unleashed. Dvorak’s Slavonic Dance In G Minor is a longtime favorite of this listener’s but it has never sounded quite so electric. After seemingly hurling the downbeat at the orchestra as Thor might have cast a thunderbolt, she initiated a turbocharged performance and never looked back – except to hurl a few more thunderbolts. The students were expected to react in a nanosecond, and they rose to the occasion. It was breathtaking. The two final works were Feuerfest! by Josef Strauss (son of Johann Strauss I and brother of the more famous Johann Strauss II) and Danse Bacchanale from Samson et Dalila by Saint-Saëns (a piece with eerie connections to our current situation in Gaza). Both works were riveting, but the Feuerfest! might have been a serious contender to close the concert, simply because of its irresistible spirit. Commissioned in 1869 by the Wertheim Safe company to celebrate its fireproof safes, it calls for the striking of anvils to suggest the safe’s manufacture, and for this role the orchestra enlisted four administrators of the university. It was impossible not to smile at the fun and the joyous demonstration of teamwork. Surely the administrators will enjoy the bragging rights of having played at Carnegie Hall, even if the answer to “What did you play?” is … the anvil.
Throughout the afternoon one couldn’t help thinking that, for all the calls to unity and reminders to love, a good orchestra is, in and of itself, the quintessential example of just that – unity. The effect is felt by those listening and watching the players of all sizes, shapes, and colors performing – and also in the excited conversations among audience members, many of them families of the players, formerly strangers, now becoming fast friends. One hopes to see much more of this as an antidote to the world’s many messages of divisiveness. Congratulations go to the Ed. W Clark High School, to William Paterson University, and to DCINY for this exceptional reminder of how important orchestras of all levels are – certainly for the young, but also for us all.
