The Colorado State University Wind Symphony, under the baton of new Director of Bands Rebecca Phillips, continues its season of “Elements” with the element of Earth on Tuesday, Nov. 18, at 7:30 p.m. in the Griffin Concert Hall of the University Center for the Arts, located at 1400 Remington St.
This season, each concert by the Wind Symphony (previously known as the Wind Ensemble) showcases music embodying a different element, including air, earth, water, and fire. Represented through musical themes, inspirations, rhythms and other musical characteristics, this season, the vision of Phillips, will delight the senses through this elemental exploration.
“The Elements Series idea is a vehicle for exploring composers who have written in these areas,” said Phillips. “It allows our students to perform some of the finest literature in the genre in a new way.”
The second installment of the series, Earth, features pieces like Frank Ticheli’s Nitro, Gustav Holst’s Hammersmith, Op. 52, Leonard Bernstein’s Candide Suite, Andrew Francis’ Threnody for Haiti, Darius Milhaud’s Le Création du Monde and Joseph Schwantner’s …and the mountains rising nowhere.
Ticheli has become one of the biggest names in new wind band repertoire. In his own words, the composer describes the inspiration for his work, Nitro:
“Nitrogen is the most abundant component of the Earth’s atmosphere (78 percent by volume), and is present in the tissues of every living thing. It is the fifth-most abundant element in the universe, created by the fusion deep within stars; it has recently been detected in interstellar space. The sheer prevalence of nitrogen in all of nature, and the infinite range of compounds it is part of — life-giving, energizing, healing, cleansing, explosive — all appealed to me and served as the inspiration for my music.”
Tickets
Tickets are $7 for CSU students, $1 for youth (under 18), and $12 for the public.
Please note that the UCA ticket office hours have changed. Tickets are available at the ticket office in the UCA lobby 90 minutes prior to any UCA performance and through intermission or online. Information about upcoming performances can be found at (970) 491-ARTS (2787). Advance or online purchase is recommended to avoid at-the-door fees.
About the CSU Wind Symphony
The CSU Wind Symphony performs the finest literature of yesterday, today, and tomorrow with a flexible instrumentation that includes as few as eight or as many as 75 players. Membership, determined each semester by a blind audition, includes the most accomplished graduate and undergraduate CSU music and non-music majors. In addition to commissioning and premiering new works, the CSU Wind Symphony regularly features faculty artists. The ensemble also tours throughout the state and region, performing at conventions, conferences and other venues across the west.
About Rebecca Phillips
Rebecca Phillips is the newly appointed director of bands at CSU, where she conducts the CSU Wind Symphony and guides all aspects of the band and graduate wind conducting program. Prior to this appointment, she served as the associate director of bands, director of athletic bands and associate professor at the University of South Carolina, where she was responsible for directing the Symphonic Winds Concert Band, “The Mighty Sound of the Southeast” Carolina Marching Band, “Concocktion” Pep Bands, teaching undergraduate instrumental conducting and directing the Carolina Summer Drum Major Clinic.
About the UCA
The University Center for the Arts at Colorado State University provides an enriched venue in which the study and practice of Art, Dance, Music, and Theatre are nurtured and sustained by building the skills and knowledge needed by future generations of arts professionals to become contributors to the essential vitality of our culture and society.
For more information, visit UCA.Colostate.edu.
