The University of Texas and Scott Casagrande Music present The University of Texas Wind Ensemble 50th Anniversary Celebration in Review
The University of Texas Wind Ensemble
Jerry Junkin and Cliff Croomes, conductors
Caleb Hudson, trumpet
Stern Auditorium at Carnegie hall, New York, NY
June 2, 2024
A large and enthusiastic crowd was on hand at Carnegie Hall June 2, 2024, for a concert given by the University of Texas Wind Ensemble for their 50th Anniversary Celebration. This was the third appearance at Carnegie Hall for the University of Texas Wind Ensemble. With five masterpieces, four of which were written by living composers, the concert was a tour-de-force that wowed not only their many supporters, but also this listener who will remember it for a very long time.
The University of Texas Wind Ensemble is one of the ELITE (the emphasis is mine) bands of this country (and one could say of any country). Led by the dynamic Jerry Junkin, himself a living legend in the wind ensemble world, these fifty-six musicians comprise the very best of the best. I have been a “virtual fan” by way of videos and recordings for years, but this was the first time I have had the privilege of hearing them live.
Any regular reader of New York Concert Review is well aware that I am an unabashed fan of wind ensembles. Whatever the age and level of the players, I am always happy to take in a concert. I’m sure a large part of this is nostalgic – I am still very much a “band geek” at heart, and the memories of those long ago days are, and will always be, a huge part of my musical life. Usually I find myself taking an avuncular attitude – offer some insights and words to help encourage young ensembles. To take that stance in this instance would be like offering Einstein some pointers about relativity! If anyone learned anything today, it would have been this listener.
Speaking of learning, the program notes were excellent, with extensive details and background information. The four living composers wrote the notes for their respective works. The program included a QR code to access the notes, a nice touch considering that the length of the notes would have been unwieldy in the printed program. I will summarize some notes, but interested readers can access the full notes here: Program notes .
Enough background – let’s get to it. Opening with Dmitri Shostakovich’s Festive Overture, Op 96, one of the mainstays of the repertoire, (some might even call it a “warhorse” at this point) served immediate notice that this was going to be a special afternoon. Brimming with energy, crisp articulated attacks, on-point staccatos, and no hint of “opening jitters,” it was a terrific selection to open. It is Shostakovich in his most joyful mood, with reminders of Glinka’s Ruslan and Ludmilla overture sprinkled about.
After the Shostakovich, trumpet soloist Caleb Hudson took the stage for the World Premiere (in this transcription) of David Biedenbender’s River of Time Concerto for Trumpet and Wind Ensemble. The title refers to a conversation the composer had with a colleague about the concept of flow of music through time (“the river of time”). Mr. Biedenbender took inspiration from two rather different sources: Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations and Carlo Rovelli’s The Order of Time. It is a three-movement work (Becoming, Flowing, Crossing) that is not a concerto in the conventional sense. I would not call it a virtuosic showpiece, but that is not to say that any virtuosity is absent – it is there, and it is considerable, but it is almost never overt. It is a cerebral work one might call “sonic philosophy.” The focus on “flow” through sustained lines and the exploration of time call for a technically accomplished player and one with both the grasp of the conceptual goals and the sensitivity to realize them. Mr. Hudson was that player. His purity of tone alone was enough to win me over. My favorite movement was the opening Becoming, which had, as the composer so aptly described, a primordial quality that was mesmerizing. Mr. Biedenbender came to the stage at the finish to accept congratulations for his fine work. As a built-in encore, Maestro Junkin led the ensemble in a spirited reading of the Beatles classic Penny Lane, with Mr. Hudson dazzling the crowd with the famous piccolo trumpet part.
I’m going to express my only reservations of the afternoon here. It was not clear when the first movement ended and the second began. I had the benefit of perusing the score prior to the concert, and though the score is marked attacca, there should be some differentiation of mood. There were also moments when Mr. Hudson was obscured by the ensemble, through no fault of his own.
The last work of the first half was Of Our New Day Begun by Omar Thomas. Of Our New Day Begun was written to honor nine persons who lost their lives to a heinous act of hatred and domestic terrorism on the evening of June 17, 2015, while worshipping at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Mr. Thomas wrote that his greatest challenge was finding the balance between expressing reverence for victims and their families, and his strong feelings of bitterness towards the perpetrator of this heinous act and the parts of society that created, and continue to create, people like this perpetrator. Lift Every Voice and Sing features prominently throughout. Mr. Thomas states that it is “known endearingly as the “’Negro National Anthem.’” This is a powerful, emotionally supercharged work written by a highly accomplished composer, who seamlessly pairs his dramatic sense with a keen devotion to tradition.
The anger that gave way to the singing of Lift Every Voice, with clapping and feet stomping, was especially powerful, with the message of “we may be shaken, but we are not defeated, that hope will always be alive in our hearts.” The stomping that returns at the end is the embodiment of the epitaph included in the title page, “Let us march on ‘til victory is won.”
I had heard an early performance on YouTube by a prominent group (which I will not name) that lacked a lot of the passion that Maestro Junkin and the University of Texas Wind Ensemble brought forth in abundance. Usually I can single out a section or a particular soloist for special mention, but such uniformly outstanding playing makes it nearly impossible to do so. Mr. Thomas was in attendance and joined Maestro Junkin on stage after the last notes sounded. The audience gave him a standing ovation for his powerful work. I hope to hear more of his compositions in the future.
After intermission, associate director Cliff Croomes took the podium to conduct Donald Grantham’s Don’t You See? Grantham is one of the “big names” in Wind Ensemble music (Southern Harmony is a favorite of mine). Don’t You See? was commissioned in memory of Stephen J. Paul, a much admired professor of music education, who died unexpectedly in April 2001 at the age of 48. In Don’t You See?, three highly contrasting yet complementary spirituals are employed. The first half of the piece is based on “Death Ain’t Nothin’ but a Robber,” The second half of the piece becomes more hopeful and affirmative with the appearance of “I’ve just Come from the Fountain,” and “Blow the Trumpet, Gabriel.” These two spirituals interact with increasing exuberance until the climax, which features six virtuosic trumpet parts resolving into a fragment of the opening spiritual. Solos abound in this work – alto sax, oboe, and English horn to name a few – and the three trumpeters on the side of the stage were marvelous. It was another winning performance.
Maestro Junkin returned to the stage to conduct the final work of the afternoon, John Mackey’s Wine-Dark Sea, which was commissioned by Jerry Junkin and The University of Texas Wind Ensemble, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music. The title of the three-movement wind symphony Wine-Dark Sea comes from The Odyssey. Mackey’s wife Abby broke this epic down into three episodes, which I will break down even further into the briefest of summaries. I. Hubris– Odysseus is swaggering a bit too much after winning the Trojan War, so Zeus puts him in his place by sinking his ship and killing his crew. II. Immortal thread, so weak– Odysseus is nursed back to health by Kalypso. After seven years, he “remembers” he has a wife and says, “gotta go.” Kalypso’s heart is broken, but she makes him a sail after unraveling the tapestry that she had made as a record of their love. He doesn’t even look back. III. The attentions of souls– the way home is by way of the underworld and it is not pleasant, but he makes it through to the light and home is within his sights.
It is my opinion that John Mackey is already one of the greatest composers in the history of wind ensemble music. Sone of his salient qualities are as follows: Melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic imagination that seems limitless, masterful orchestration, exploitation of the full battery of percussion instruments, including producing special sound effects, and the ability to write some of most beautiful and the most sinisterly vile (even “raunchy”) music with equal ability.
The University of Texas Wind Ensemble obviously was “born” to play this thirty-minute adventure (after all, it was written for them), and they did not disappoint in what was perfection from start to finish. The brilliant sounding French Horns in Hubris, the heartbreaking poignancy of Immortal thread, so weak, and the “burn it to the ground” bombastic The attentions of souls, with the full forces pushing the envelope to near insanity (and it was loud, very loud!) with the percussionists leading the way, was one of the most thrilling things I have ever heard in a live concert. I think Maestro Junkin was having just as much fun as anyone as he unleashed this fury. The audience leapt to their feet with an immediate standing ovation. Mr. Mackey was also in attendance, and came on stage to the roars of the audience, who continued to applaud for him until he returned to the stage for a second bow.
Maestro Junkin offered two encores, Leonard Bernstein’s Overture to Candide (arranged by Clare Grundman), and to the delight of the hometown fans, Deep in the Heart of Texas (with the audience clapping along). A final ovation ended the afternoon in triumph.
This listener has been to countless concerts where aural fatigue set in, and two hours were testing the limit of my ability to remain engaged. Let me say that after two hours and two encores, I would have happily been up for another two hours. That’s how good this concert was, and while I am never going to say any one concert was the best I have ever attended, I have no qualms about stating that this was in the top three, and it has been nearly ten years since I have had such a strong reaction to a concert. Maestro Junkin hinted that a fourth appearance in New York was in the ensemble’s future. I will be there!
