We’ll be starting off our 2024-2025 season “Musical Mastery” with a program of musical delights including a saxophone feature.
Snapshots (IV. To Pull Out All the Stops) by Franklin D. Hansen was originally written for sax quartet.
Percy Grainger’s Hill-Song No. 2 will transport you to wind-swept Scottish moors with wild patches of heath and peat bogs.
Frank Ticheli’s Over the Moon takes you on a musical journey over the moon and back to Earth again.
Five To Go by Jack Bullock is reminiscent of the big band era of American music.
Barnum & Bailey’s Favorite written by Karl King, often considered the grand-daddy of circus marches, celebrates “The Greatest Show on Earth”.
Polka and Fugue (from the opera “Schwanda, the Bagpiper”) by Jaromir Weinberger is based off of a Czech folk tale wherein a master bagpiper melts the ice queen’s heart with his playing.
Irish Tune from County Derry is one of Percy Grainger’s most popular and most recognizable pieces.
Shepherd’s Hey also by Percy Grainger is a brisk and technically demanding dance.
Richard Rodger’s Sound of Music will include a number of tunes where you know the melodies (and possibly the words).
The show starts at 7 p.m. on October 12, 2024, at Corbet Theatre in Centralia. $12 general admission. Students free with paying adult.
Bernstein. Reed. Sousa. Del Borgo. Saucedo. If you appreciate rich harmonies, melodies both new and familiar, and high-level professional musicianship, you won’t want to miss this program:
Overture to Candide – Leonard Bernstein Symphony No. 3 – Alfred Reed The Corcoran Cadets – John Philip Sousa Symphonic Paraphrase – Elliot Del Borgo Symphonic Dances from Westside Story – Bernstein Wind Sprints – Richard Saucedo
We’re playing them all on Jan. 20 at 7 p.m., at Corbet Theatre in Centralia. $12 general admission. Students free with paying adult.
On Saturday, October 14, 2023, at 7 p.m., the NW Wind Symphony presents a concert of music celebrating light-hearted amusement and fun — everything you’d expect from a good spread of appetizers.
The evening begins with an overture to Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus, which is an operetta about romance, deception, revenge, and pranks. Life lesson: Don’t get drunk at parties or your friends will make you sleep it off in a public location dressed like a bat.
Next on the program, we’ll take you on a 100-year time warp. According to the internet, Respighi was an Italian guy who composed Pines of Rome in 1923-1924 to capture memories of centuries-old trees in four areas of the famous city. Unbeknownst to Respighi, our Pines conductor Dan Judd would tour these areas in 2023, to see the same trees (and maybe also different trees) yet another century later.
Now, if Die Fledermaus is about party guests playing pranks on a friend, Serenade for Wind Band is about a friend playing pranks on party guests. Written in 1965 as a recessional for his own wedding, Derek Bourgeois chose a strange, uneven meter, to prevent guests from leaving the ceremony in an orderly fashion. And that’s how we’ll send you to intermission — off kilter, like you had too much champagne (champagne not included).
We’ll open the second half of the concert with a piece by Alfred Reed called Sixth Suite for Band. I don’t know about you, but my first thought was, “What about the other five? I want a refund!” (Just kidding about the refund.) Not one to miss out, I listened to the first two minutes of the other five suites and I can tell you, our conductors picked the second best of the six. So we’re all good to go there.
If you like goofy music, you need to hear PDQ Bach’s Grand Serenade for an Awful Lot of Winds and Percussion. This entire piece of music is a farce, and I jest not when I say that. If you’re a parent of a band kid, you’ll know if they play this piece at school because they’ll come home gleefully telling you nonsense about some music with trashy percussion (normal) and clarinets gargling water (not normal).
We’re closing this concert with The Footlifter March by Henry Fillmore because we know a lot of you like the marches and we’re cool with that. Also, our faces are melting off by the end of a concert day, so a march is pretty much the only thing we can play by then. Also again, we want you to come back for the January concert, so we programmed something normal for you to happily hum on your way home.
My college music history professor once told me if I didn’t stop talking in class, he’d put me in the corner with a dunce cap on my head. I’m pretty sure if he saw this article, he’d put me in the corner with a dunce cap while also wearing a bat costume. But for real, folks, if you want to see the actual program notes written by the guys with a heckuva lot more musical experience than this chump writer, turn out for our concert on Saturday Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. at Corbet Theatre on the Centralia College campus. Tickets are $12 general admission; students are free with paying adult.
Hope to see you there, Franji Mayes NWWS Secretary
Correction: A previous version of this article stated that our conductors didn’t name the concert, when they in fact did name the concert, as listed in our April program. I extend a hearty “thank you” to one of our past board members for pointing this out!
On Saturday, April 22, 2023, the NW Wind Symphony presents “Celebrate la Primavera – Spring!” a concert of lively, energetic, modern music.
The evening begins with Celebrations, a show-stopping fanfare by John Zdechlik. Grace by Brian Balmages wanders between solos as it evolves into the hymn tune “Amazing Grace.” Edward Gregson’s Celebration features each section of the band with virtuosic passages.
The second half opens with Stephen Melillo’s Godspeed featuring percussion. Pineapple Poll by Sir Charles Mackaras captures songs by Gilbert and Sullivan. Stephen Bulla’s Bond…James Bond closes the evening’s program with a nod to the silver screen’s most famous secret agent.
This show starts at 7 p.m. at Corbet Theatre on the Centralia College campus. Get tickets now for $12 (general admission) at Book ‘n’ Brush in Chehalis, or at the door the night of the event.
On Saturday, January 21, 2023, the NW Wind Symphony presents a concert of classical and movie music, all by composers named Williams.
John Williams might be the most well-known composer on the evening’s program. Listeners will enjoy music from movies like Star Wars, Raiders, Cowboys, and The Terminal.
Ralph Vaughan Williams was “not only a composer of the utmost importance for English music but also one of the great symphonists of the 20th century,” according to the R.V.W. Society. The evening’s program includes one of his most well-known pieces, English Folksong Suite. Also on the program are Flourish for Wind Band and Sea Songs.
Clifton Williams initially focused on orchestra music, but was later encouraged to compose for wind band also, which is what he’s perhaps better known for. The night’s program includes his Symphonic Dance No. 5 and Post War Prelude.
This show starts at 7 p.m. at Corbet Theatre on the Centralia College campus. Get tickets for $12 (general admission) now at Book ‘n’ Brush in Chehalis, or at the door the night of the event.
If you’re longing for a taste of the good old days, look no further than the Northwest Wind Symphony’s Oct. 15 “Celebrate Sousa” concert. The evening’s program features the music of John Philip Sousa and popular music of his time, performed the way Sousa’s band would have done it.
On the first half of his roadshow concerts, Sousa featured orchestral numbers transcribed for band, such as Ferdinand Herold’s “Zampa Overture.” Sousa also programmed a band feature. On our concert, we’ll feature Dane Hurd, trumpet soloist, performing Ernst Sachse’s “Concertino in Eb,” accompanied by brass band. These band features were usually followed by a “warhorse” piece — popular music performed by many orchestras and known to the audience. For our warhorse piece, we’ll bring you Franz von Suppe’s “Jolly Robbers Overture.”
Mixed into the repertoire of classical and popular music were Sousa’s marches, placed in between as encores. Our march encores for the first half are El Capitan, Liberty Bell, and The Thunderer — well-known and loved staples of Sousa’s now famous repertoire.
If you went out to see Sousa’s band back in the day, the second half of the concert would treat you to novelty numbers, with something unique or fun about each piece. On our October concert, Arthur Pryor’s “Whistler and His Dog” and Harry Lincoln’s “Midnight Fire Alarm” invite audience participation. Henri Kling’s “Two Little Bullfinches” features a piccolo duet, and on Sousa’s “Roosters Lay Eggs in Kansas,” you’ll find out just how many NWWS musicians can sing.
Our encore marches for the second half are the venerable “Washington Post” and Sousa’s most famous composition, “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” Although the march debuted in 1897, it found popularity during the Spanish-American War (1898), riding the rise of patriotic sentiment. In 1987, it became the official national march of the United States.
This show starts at 7 p.m. at Corbet Theatre on the Centralia College campus. Get tickets for $12 (general admission) now at Book ‘n’ Brush in Chehalis, or at the door the night of the event.
We’re back. After a two-year pause for the pandemic, we’re proud to once again bring high-caliber live music to southwest Washington. Mark your calendars for 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 23, 2022.
The program for our spring concert features American music by American composers. Some of the most well-known American composers served in and composed for military bands. We’ll begin the evening with Hounds of Spring by Alfred Reed, who served in the Army during World War II. Samuel Barber also served in the Army during World War II, composing Commando March after completing his tour of duty. Claude Thomas Smith composed Festival Variations for the U.S. Air Force Band.
If military service is a cornerstone of American society, so is our entertainment industry. Suite of Old American Dances, written by Broadway composer Robert Russell Bennett, recalls dances like the cake walk, the western one-step, and the rag. Leonard Bernstein’s Selections from Westside Story brings you songs from one of Broadway’s most the popular shows of all time. Grover’s Corners and Silverado celebrate the silver screen with music reminiscent of traditional American towns of the east coast and Wild West.
We’ll close the evening with a truly beautiful arrangement of America the Beautiful and crowd favorite Stars and Stripes Forever— two pieces of music that never fail to stir love and pride for country in the hearts of Americans.
The show starts at 7 p.m. at Corbet Theatre on the Centralia College campus. Get tickets for $12 (general admission) now at Book n Brush in Chehalis, or at the door the night of the event.
It is with sincere regret that the Northwest Wind Symphony announces that we will be cancelling our Spring 2020 concert “Something Borrowed”. The coronavirus outbreak has struck something of a discord across our entire society, and our primary concern at this time must be the health and well-being of our patrons and our players. We look forward to providing you with superb music in the future, and we thank you for your patience and understanding during this difficult time for everyone.
To help you plan for your next year’s entertainment, our 30th season playing for a wonderful and supportive community, we’re posting the dates for next year’s concerts for your convenience:
Fall ConcertOctober 24, 2020
Winter ConcertJanuary 23, 2021
Spring ConcertApril 17, 2021
We hope you’ll be able to join us on the evenings listed above to help us celebrate our 30th year of playing for you, our audience. We have some very special music planned that we can’t wait to share with you. Stay healthy and happy until then!
The Northwest Wind Symphony opens the new decade on Saturday, January 18, 2020 with a winter concert, “Something New.” In this evening’s program, we’ll bring you music by composers who capture the energy of the 20th century and honor military service with their compositions.
Dr. Wayne Bailey, guest conductor
In the early 1940s, Aaron Copland composed one of the oldest pieces on our program, Fanfare for the Common Man, as a tribute to the men and women of the armed forces. Also at this time, Randall Thompson composed Alleluia for the opening of the Berkshire Music Center in Boston. The faculty originally expected a fanfare, but with war in Europe, Thompson felt a fanfare would be inappropriate and composed an introspective piece instead.
Nearly two decades later, composer John Barnes Chance served in the Army in Korea where he first heard the folksong “Arirang,” and later in 1965, he spun this simple, beautiful melody into Variations on a Korean Folksong. Two other pieces on our program, Serenade by Derek Bourgeois, and Prelude, Siciliano, and Rondo by Malcolm Arnold, were also composed in the 1960s — the first as wedding music, and the second as a journey from brilliance to reflection and back again.
We’ll fast-forward into the 1980s with David Holsinger’s Liturgical Dances. This piece captures Holsinger’s memories as a music student at Central Methodist University, celebrating the emotional and spiritual bonds of the students and “a glorious Lord who created music.” Also written in the 80s, Robert Jager’s Esprit de Corps March celebrates a different organization with equally deep bonds: the United States Marines. Jack Stamp’s Aloft! (1997) pays tribute to the 50th anniversary of another military branch, the United States Air Force.
The newest piece of music on our program for the evening is Downey Overture (2011) by Oscar Novaro. This piece is rhythm, color, joy, and energy — everything we’ve come to expect from new music.
Our guest for the evening is conductor Dr. Wayne Bailey, Professor and Director Emeritus of Music at Arizona State University, where he taught graduate and undergraduate courses in conducting and conducted instrumental ensembles 2000–2018. Dr. Bailey also served as the director of the School of Music at ASU and previously held similar positions at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Texas Tech University, and East Tennessee State University. Ensembles under his direction have performed at the College Band Directors National Association conference, the International Community Band festival in Switzerland, the All-Japan Band Directors Clinic, at nationally televised bowl games, and throughout the nation.
Don’t miss this amazing night of music. The concert begins at 7:00 p.m. at Corbet Theatre on the Centralia College campus. General admission tickets are $12 and can be purchased at the door or in advance from Book ‘n’ Brush in Chehalis. For more information, visit www.northwestwindsymphony.org.
