Texas Christian University brought its wind, brass and percussion players to Carnegie Hall, and I for one was pleasantly surprised regarding the extremely high quality of these young players. When the first-rate American Brass Quintet appeared on stage as guest artists, for example, they didn’t put these students in their place by comparison; on the contrary, everyone blended in so well that it was difficult to differentiate between the students and the pros.
Joseph Turrin’s excellent “Jazzalogue No. 1” from 1997 opened with a finely tuned, polished sound. The contrapuntal entrances were well placed and the balance was very clear. Jeremy Strickland, guest conductor, deserves kudos for preparing them so thoroughly. Patrick Williams’ Rhapsody for Concert Band and Jazz Ensemble was equally excellent, as guest conductor Curtis Wilson did a splendid job coordinating the many entrances.
John Mackey’s “Hymn to a Blue Hour,” composed last year, is a beautiful, stately, solemn work that was performed with deep commitment and excellent intonation. Here, guest conductor Brian Youngblood deserves credit for the preparation. Anthony Plog’s “Concerto 2010” is a solidly structured work with often pungent harmonies and raw melodic voicing. The percussion has a lot to do, and they were excellent, except that the xylophone was ahead of the brass in spots. The harmonic style changes a bit too abruptly, but not nearly as much as in David Maslanka’s amateurish and eclectic Symphony No. 8 from 2008. Not only is it cliche and basic in its tonal language and counterpoint, the chordal changes and sectional transitions were often shockingly random.
In any case, these young musicians and their conductors deserve much credit for their topnotch performances of all the works on the program. They made a great impression.
