Wind Symphony with David Maslanka on Tuesday

The OU Wind Symphony's first concert of the fall semester arrives Tuesday at 8:00 PM in Sharp Hall, in the Catlett Music Center on the OU campus. It's not your ordinary concert, though, because it features Symphony No. 4 by David Maslanka at the end of a four-day stint as composer-in-residence at the University of Oklahoma. Wind and percussion groups around the country often perform Maslanka's work. If you've attended OU symphonic wind concerts over the past several years, you've heard some of his pieces, including the haunting A Child's Garden of Dreams (in 2007), portions of his Symphony No. 2 (in 2006), and the two-movement Give Us This Day: Short Symphony for Wind Ensemble (in 2008). His complete works for wind ensemble include several concerti, three symphonies (with three more in progress), Testament (written in response to the events of 9/11), and many more. Mr. Maslanka is spending several days at the OU School of Music, teaching a series of master classes and rehearsals on his work with OU wind, percussion, and composition students. Many of these are in Sharp Hall, and all of those are open to the public and have been added to our Events calendar. These include two master classes on Symphony No. 4 with the OU Wind Symphony under Dr. Wakefield (one Sunday night at 8:00 PM, the other Monday at noon), a composition and advanced orchestration master calss on Tuesday at noon, followed by a master calss with solo marimba performances of My Lady White and Variations on Lost Love, and a rehearsal with the OU Percussion Orchestra (conducted by Dr. Lance Drege) on Crown of Thorns, a Maslanka piece the OU Percussion Orchestra commissioned and premiered in 1991 under Dr. Gipson. The residency culminates in two Sutton Series concerts in Sharp Hall. On Monday night at 8:00, the CanAm Piano Duo (Karen Beres and Christopher Hahn), with percussionists Lance Drege and David Steffens, perform three pieces, including their Maslanka commissioned piece This is the World We Know, the world of air and breathing and sun and beating hearts. You can see other details in the poster on the right (click on it for a printable PDF version of your own). On Tuesday night, Maslanka's Symphony No. 4 anchors the OU Wind Symphony in concert. The program includes William Walton's Crown Imperial (a personal favorite), Ron Nelson's Morning Alleluias for the Winter Solstice, and Karl King's march, The Melody Shop, written when the composer was just 19 and featuring a difficult euphonium solo in the trio. (There's somewhat of a funny story behind that.) Admission to each Sutton Series concert is $8, or $5 for students, faculty, staff, and senior citizens. Both Maslanka concerts are to be streamed live from the OU School of Music, so feel free to listen from home if you can't be there. (Some of the rehearsals or master classes may be streamed as well, but since those things usually aren't done with microphones, I don't really know.) There's also a Symphony Band and Concert Band concert on Thursday, February 25, in Sharp Hall, with several familiar band pieces by Grainger, Nelson, and Sousa; I'll post more about that next week. In the meantime, it's wonderful that Mr. Maslanka is spending so many days at OU this week giving the students insights into his works and their complexities. We hope to see you there Tuesday night for the concert! Posted by Webmaster on 2/20/10; 3:04:59 PM from the Concerts, OU Music dept. Discuss #

Excitement building in the symphonic winds

I do go on a bit about the fantastic concert scheduled for Monday night from our Wind Symphony and Symphony Band, but with good reason: this thing's going to be incredible. Here are just a few of the phrases you'll find inside to describe it: "The work is largely inspired by games of chance, logic and strategy, both ancient and contemporary." "you can hear them live, in person, with the composer at the piano accompanied by our own Wind Symphony." "Recent or current students may be more familiar with the work of Wataru Hokoyama from his orchestral music in the video games Afrika and Resident Evil 5." "Find out why the piece quotes U2." Interested? Click here to learn why you want to be there Monday night. Posted by Webmaster on 11/18/09; 3:13:52 AM from the Concerts, OU Music dept. Discuss #

A few times added to the events calendar

The TV networks with Big 12 contracts exercised one of their rare (once or twice per season) options to set the kickoff time for the OU-Miami game with only six days’ notice. Normally, the networks have to decide no later than 13 days if they’re going to televise a game, and that’s when kickoff time is set. So we had the rare instance of learning in the past two days both the kickoff time for OU at Miami on October 3 (7:00 PM CDT) and for Baylor at OU on October 10mn (2:30 PM CDT). Both games will be televised regionally by “ESPN on ABC,” with some areas Saturday night seeing USC at Cal rather than OU at Miami. After Wednesday, you should be able to click here and see the map showing which parts of the country will not see OU vs. Miami. I put that up front because I saw someone came to the site today looking for the info. Of course, it’s been updated on the “events calendar”, and we’ll keep updating that with schedule information as we get it. (Someone else came looking for The Pride’s schedule during OU-Texas week, but that won’t be made public until that week.) Even more important, however, is that the OU Band Department presents the first band concert of the fall semester on Thursday night. More on that later today—be sure to finish your Homecoming 2009 Registration before heading to the concert so you don’t miss the deadline! Posted by Webmaster on 9/29/09; 3:36:45 AM from the Gameday, OU Music dept. Discuss #

The official OU app for your iPhone!

If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch (you may even be reading this on such a device), Click on this button to download the new, official, student-driven “OU2GO” application for iPhone OS 3.0 and later. It’s free! The free application features: Campus Map: pan and zoom across the map with the interactive interface, search for buildings, mark favorites, and access information about department locations and phone numbers. Weather: view current campus conditions, a 7-day and hourly forecast, and current radar. News Feed: select from a number of OU news sources to access information about campus, sports, and OU departments. [This includes School of Music news!] Media: OU YouTube channel and streaming audio from KGOU. Tradition: play OU fight songs, look up information about the university, and access OU facts. Both iPhone and iPod Touch include “location” features that find where you are on the planet (original iPhone and all iPod Touch models do this by triangulating the location of known wireless access points or cell phone towers; iPhone 3G and later use a built-in GPS receiver). I tried the application’s “Find me” feature in the Newman Band Hall last week, and it immediately highlighted Catlett Music Center as my location. Impressive! Also, as you can see from the picture above, the application includes spirit songs from The Pride of Oklahoma, with a background that’s the current Flute/Piccolo part to Oklahoma! Count along with the multi-bar rests! The application is free from . Posted by Webmaster on 8/22/09; 3:49:25 PM from the OU Music, Pride of Oklahoma dept. Discuss #

Want to see a band concert on July 11?

The Norman Transcript has details on how: Honors wind ensemble students from across Oklahoma and Texas high schools will be on the University of Oklahoma campus Thursday through Saturday to collaborate with University of Oklahoma School of Music faculty for the OU Honors Wind Ensemble Camp. The experience culminates in a free concert 1:30 p.m. Saturday in Sharp Concert Hall in Catlett Music Center, at the corner of Boyd Street and Elm Avenue. …The program for the concert includes Percy Fletcher's Vanity Fair Overture, Morten Lauridsen's O Magnum Mysterium, Kevin Walczyk's Children's Folk Song Suite, and John Philip Sousa's Pathfinder of Panama March. The wind ensemble is conducted by school of music faculty members William Wakefield and Brian Britt. The OU Honors Wind Ensemble Camp advances wind and percussion studies for high school students, many of whom will be considering music as a collegiate major. During the three-day event students stay in University Housing while rehearsing and studying with University artist faculty to enrich their artistic skills. Read the full article for more details on the 16-year history of the camp and for the names of students from Norman and Moore who are participating. Posted by Webmaster on 7/7/09; 2:44:45 PM from the Concerts, OU Music dept. Discuss #

Happy Independence Day

April 2001 marked Coach Gene Thrailkill’s last concert after 30 years as Director of Bands at the University of Oklahoma. He conducted numbers with all the university wind ensembles, but his band, the Concert Band, was last on the program. He concluded this final concert not just with a march, as he is wont to do, but the king of all marches: The Stars & Stripes Forever, edited in Sousa performance style by his own college band director, the venerable William Revelli. It includes extra brass in the grandioso strain and is followed by the capacity crowd singing the OU Chant, and by a spontaneous expression of university spirit. This is not the most polished performance of Stars & Stripes I’ve ever heard, but I was there, and it’s the one I go to when I want to feel good. I know many of you were there, too. If you’d like to recapture that moment, just click here to hear that night’s performance. (10.9MB, MP3) Or, if you’d prefer, click here for The Star-Spangled Banner as performed by the 2005 Pride of Oklahoma under the direction of Brian Britt, or here for The Star-Spangled Banner performed by the 1997 Pride of Oklahoma under the direction of Gene Thrailkill, or here for The Star-Spangled Banner as performed by the 1965 Pride of Oklahoma under the direction of Gene Braught. (All are 1.2MB MP4 files, playable by most modern browsers and by iTunes.) And wherever you may be, have a safe and joyous holiday! Posted by Webmaster on 7/4/09; 2:53:25 PM from the Alumni sightings, OU Music dept. Discuss #

Changes in the band department

In May, Pride alumni Jeff Jahnke, who has served as Assistant Director of Bands for the past three academic years, announced his resignation in a letter to members of the 2008 Pride of Oklahoma. An excerpt: This spring semester I had some things go on in my life that really made me think a lot about what I should be doing and how short a person’s opportunities can be to make a difference in the lives of young people. Over the past few weeks an opportunity has presented itself to my family that will enable me enter back into the high school public education world and teach those things that I spoke of earlier on a daily basis. It’s what I love to do and it’s what, when I look in the mirror, I think I should be doing. I have accepted a position as the high school band director and Director of Fine Arts for the Lovejoy Independent School District in Lucas, Texas. It is a district just outside of Allen. I am very excited about the opportunity there but at the same time I am very sad to be leaving a place that I love so much and a group of people who I admire so much. The University of Oklahoma and its band department means so much to me. The people who wear its uniforms and represent this place mean even more. I cannot thank you enough for letting me stand in front of you on a daily basis. As much as I was one of your band directors I was even more one of your students. I have learned so much from you and will never forget the things that you have done for me, and my family In another letter that same day, Brian Britt said (in part): We have been truly fortunate to have Jeff Jahnke serve as Assistant Director of Bands for the past three years. His tireless efforts in service to the student members of our band program have been truly inspirational and the entire program is better due to his outstanding teaching and his administrative skills. Mr. Jahnke has been a great friend to our program and a fantastic colleague. Over the past three years, he, Carrie, and Sarah have become a part of our family and we have been blessed to count them as our friends. We will miss the Jahnke family very much as they leave us to pursue this new opportunity for their family. The students at Lovejoy High School are getting a phenomenal teacher, effective administrator, and a passionate leader in Jeff Jahnke. I am excited for them and look forward to seeing and hearing what those children are able to accomplish under his leadership. Jeff contributed a lot to the band department over the past three years and I hate to see him go, but I’m really happy for his opportunity to do those things he both loves and excels at doing. Other than “won the lottery,” it’s just about the best possible reason to say goodbye. A week later, Brian announced the Interim Assistant Director of Bands for the 2009-2010 academic year: Debra Traficante, whom many of you may have met during the past two years at Homecoming, as she’s been a graduate assistant with the band department. Here’s Brian again: Mrs. Traficante has been serving as a Doctoral Conducting Associate the past two years and has done outstanding work throughout the band program in that capacity. Prior to coming to OU, Mrs. Traficante served the University of Florida Bands for two years as a graduate teaching assistant while earning her Master’s degree in conducting. She has also held positions as a high school band director in the State of Florida, including a three-year stint as the head band director at New Smyrna Beach High School. While at New Smyrna Beach High School, Mrs. Traficante was the Head Director of the Symphonic Band, Concert Band, Jazz Bands, Marching Band, and various Percussion ensembles. She also founded the schools first Visual Ensemble, Steel Drum Ensemble, and Tri-M Music Honors Society. Graduate students usually come from other universities so they can get broader experience—even Roland Barrett got his degree in Nebraska (and was director of two high school bands there) before coming to OU in 1983 for graduate work. Debra faced the ultimate football fan conflict this past season: she earned her master’s degree at Florida where she was with the “Pride of the Sunshine” Fightin’ Gator Marching Band, and then had to face a Florida vs. Oklahoma BCS National Championship football game in Miami. That would just make me weep for weeks. After that, she got through a foot injury, and took the Women’s Basketball Band to the NCAA Final Four just a few months later. She knows the program and is an excellent choice for the upcoming academic year. Congratulations to Jeff Jahnke in his new position (you can click on his name to send him E-mail) and to Debra Traficante in hers. Change always makes me a little bit uneasy, but I think these folks are going to do well. Posted by Webmaster on 6/19/09; 1:37:01 AM from the Alumni sightings, OU Music, Pride of Oklahoma dept. Discuss #

Final concert: British Eighth and Blue Shades

The OU Symphony Band and Concert Band, directed by Brian Britt and Jeff Jahnke, present a joint concert on Monday night, April 27, in the Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall in Catlett Music Center on the University of Oklahoma campus. Admission is free. It's the final concert of the 2008-2009 academic year—some recitals with symphonic winds are ahead, as usual, but this is the last full-band concert of the season. A live stream is available if you really can't make it (those of you who live in Alaska, for example, are excused). In case you've been away from the band program for a while: the Symphony Band is an undergraduate ensemble of up to 70 players, whose members and parts are chosen by audition. It's been part of the band program for about 10-12 years now. The Concert Band has been around much longer, and is open to absolutely anyone who wants to play—no one is turned away, and auditions are solely for chair placement. The Symphony Band is mostly composed (no pun intended) of music majors, while the Concert Band, like The Pride of Oklahoma, has a majority of players with non-music majors. I did not get to see these bands in concert earlier in the year, which I regret. I've heard that Concert Band participation is lower this year, but I haven't seen it. If it is, I understand—when times get tough, students are under more and more pressure to drop "optional" activities. Yet if the Concert Band becomes optional, that makes it far too easy for The Pride to appear optional when the fall semester arrives. Every one of you knows exactly how much work and effort is required of a member in The Pride of Oklahoma, and how disappointing it is when the students with the talent and leadership to be a major part of The Pride wind up not participating due to other pressures. That's why we like band scholarships to be for both semesters and to include participation in a spring ensemble like the Concert Band. So, again, if you have some extra cash, please consider a tax-deductible donation to one of our scholarship funds so that more students can participate in both fall and spring ensembles each year. With that future-building plea now said, click here to read more about Monday night's program, including links to PDF scores, audio samples, and more. Posted by Webmaster on 4/26/09; 7:19:00 PM from the Concerts, OU Music dept. Discuss #

The Symphonic West Side Story [UPDATED]

(Click here to read more about the rest of Tuesday night's program.) In 1985, just before Rod Harkins put together the first West Side Story show for The Pride's 1985 Texas show, this groundbreaking musical's composer decided it was time for him to conduct a definitive recording of the music. The resulting recording (also available for purchase on if you want to hear it right now) is often called "the operatic version" because the roles were performed by the world's leading opera singers: José Carreras as Tony, Kiri Te Kanawa as Maria, Kurt Ollmann as Riff, Tatiana Troyanos as Anita, and the composer's own children as the dialogue voices for Tony and Maria. The dialogue substitutions were because the operatic singers, especially Carreras, had significant non-New York-gang accents. Indeed, while the performances are brilliant, it's hard to believe that any of the singers have ever been on a street, much less in a street gang. It's a masterpiece, in part because the music is all Bernstein. He conducted it, and as the "making of" documentary showed, he didn't hesitate to be a bastard about what he wanted. There were no cuts in the music for staging, no tempos reduced to accommodate singers or musicians—just the brilliant, riveting music (and lyrics) of the show as the maestro intended them. Even without lyrics, the music is powerful—possibly explaining why The Pride has been called back to this show in every decade since its 1985 debut, most recently in 2007 for the Broadway musical's 50th anniversary. While I'm the first to advocate for the power and clarity of the modern marching ensemble, a symphonic group still has more colors available to it—the ability to hear a solo clarinet, the flexibility to use Bernstein's demanding changes in time signature (and the original key signatures, which lean heavily towards sharps because they're more natural for string players), and little details like oboes and multiple horn parts. In 1961, to make West Side Story available to symphony orchestras, and not just musical theater, Bernstein created Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, a 24-minute suite of orchestral music faithful to the original Broadway score. It includes not just the moments you'd expect from having seen the musical (Somewhere, Cool), but also the most dynamic parts of the score (Mambo! as well as the Prologue, the quiet Finale, and the Rumble [molto allegro]). Earlier this year, PBS's Live from Lincoln Center presented a concert in honor of Bernstein's 90th birthday, and it opened with the Symphonic Dances. It was amazing—every fantastic moment from the score, just like the original, but pure music without other distractions. I was an instant fan, and if you'd heard it, you would have been as well. The 50th anniversary of the musical also inspired renowned band arranger Paul Lavender to revisit the Symphonic Dances for the modern wind ensemble: three flute parts (one doubling piccolo), two oboes (two parts, that is), one English horn, two bassoons, one contraboassoon, E♭ clarinet, three B♭ clarinets, bass clarinet, two E♭ alto saxophones, tenor sax, baritone sax, three B♭ trumpets, four horn parts, three trombones, euphonium, tuba, string bass, and five percussion parts not including separate timpani, harp, and piano. (This turns out to be remarkably similar to the original, adding more harmony saxophones and additional flute and clarinet parts to help deal with the absence of all strings except for the string bass.) It's in the original keys, just like the orchestral version. And in case the image to the left hadn't filled you in, the University of Oklahoma Wind Symphony presents Symphonic Dances from West Side Story in concert this Tuesday night, April 21, at 8:00 PM, on the stage of Sharp Hall in Catlett Music Center. This is a monster work, challenging even to the professional musicians who performed it on Broadway and for the operatic version under the composer's baton. That's why it's the final piece on Tuesday night's program—it's really hard to top. Click here to read more after the jump about the four other pieces on the program by Chabrier, Pann, Salfelder, and Lauridsen, and about how to get (cheap) tickets for Tuesday night, or even to listen live for free at home! Posted by Webmaster on 4/17/09; 5:58:39 AM from the Concerts, OU Music, Pride of Oklahoma dept. Discuss #

Sooner Scandals 09 Needs Your Help!

Received this weekend via Brian Britt: Dear Pride Alumni, This year will be the second consecutive year that the Pride of Oklahoma Drumline and Colorguard will be participating in Sooner Scandals, an event sponsored by The University of Oklahoma’s Campus Activities Council. “Scandals” is a mini-musical (around twelve minutes long) that showcases the musical and dancing talents of the participants. Prior to last year, it was unheard of for organizations such as ours to be involved in Sooner Scandals, an event usually dominated by fraternities and sororities. After being extremely successful in last year’s show, the Drumline and Colorguard as a whole decided to once again take on the endeavor of devoting some of our time to making another successful Scandals show. Because we are not fortunate enough to have a steady income coming from pledge dues and house dues, we rely on donations to fund our show. We use these donations to buy such things as props, costumes, and to pay for music to be arranged to fit the needs of the house band. We look at Scandals as an opportunity to showcase the many talents of the Pride of Oklahoma members, and it is another way to positively reflect on the Pride as a whole, and even the School of Music. We need to raise around $2,500 to be able to put on another successful show. We would be very thankful for any donations towards our cause. If you would like more information about Scandals or our show or how to donate, feel free to contact either of us. Thank you so much for your time, and once again your continued support of the Pride of Oklahoma! Boomer Sooner! Courtney Harbaugh (817-726-3092) and Michael McEver (405-850-9452) You can call either of them if you have some support for them, or you can click here to send E-mail through the site in a way that keeps their addresses from being spam-harvested, because not protecting them from that would be a rotten thing to do to future Pride alumni! Posted by Webmaster on 3/5/09; 4:07:44 PM from the OU Music, Pride of Oklahoma dept. Discuss #

Concert tonight: Surprise!

Tonight, the Symphony Band and Concert Band perform in Sharp Hall at Catlett Music Center. The concert begins at 8:00 PM, and admission is free. This is actually all I know about the performance. The "surprise" idea was Brian Britt's, when I saw him at the Wind Symphony concert and asked him what they would be performing tonight. "It's a surprise." Well, the concert's not a surprise, since the time and place are known (see paragraph 1). Presumably the band members know what they're performing, as it's described as a "concert" and not a "sight-reading clinic." But that's all I have for you. Why not go and see what's on the program? It's free, it's many of the same students in The Pride of Oklahoma, and you know they'd love to see you in the seats. We hope you can attend! Posted by Webmaster on 3/2/09; 3:46:54 AM from the Concerts, OU Music dept. Discuss #

Solo Artistry with the Wind Symphony

Nothing fun, cheap, and local to do on a Thursday night? Not true! The OU Wind Symphony, under the direction of Dr. William K. Wakefield, with guest conductor Danh Pham and guest soloists Jonathan Ruck and Brandon Ridenour, present "Solo Artistry with the Wind Band" on Thursday night at 8:00 PM in the Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall at Catlett Music Center. It's the first Wind Symphony concert of the spring semester, and it's quite the lineup. Even The Oklahoman is starting to take notice, as you might have seen in Sunday's paper with a short profile of Dr. Wakefield and a write-up of this concert: During his long teaching career, Wakefield has remained a passionate advocate for new music for the wind ensemble. He’s put together a program of mostly new works that he’ll conduct at 8 p.m. Thursday in Catlett Music Center. The OU Wind Symphony will perform works by Kevin Walczyk, Michael Schelle, Marvin Lamb, Aaron Copland and Dimitri Shostakovich. Let's add details, because we can! The Wind Symphony shall perform SACRED GROUND: Fanfare for Brass and Percussion (2001) by Dr. Lamb, head of the composition faculty at OU. The piece was commissioned by the Oklahoma Arts Institute for the rededication of the Quartz Mountain facility, with "musical gestures [that] evoke the vast, breath-taking expanse of open prarie mixed with stone outcroppings." The performance also includes Prayer: Schöne Maydl for cello and winds (2004) by Michael Schelle, performed on the anniversary of the composer's father's birth. Guest soloist Jonathan Ruck is assistant principal cello of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and a new faculty member at the OU School of Music. Guest conductor and doctoral student Danh Pham, whom many of you met at homecoming, conducts Aaron Copland's Emblems (1964), and is Copland's only work for symphonic band. Kevin Walczyk's Concerto Gaucho: For Trumpet and Wind Ensemble (2007) in three movements features guest soloist Brandon Ridenour, an award-winning soloist as well as composer in his own right, and a member of the famed Canadian Brass. Walczyk's piece builds upon blocks based on the African-influenced music of Uruguay while using the formal construction of the concerto, making "one large, continuous musical expression" defined by energetic and unique rhythmic structures, lyrical folk expressions with the distinctive rhythms of the payada, and a trumpet soloist in the role of the gaucho. Through the magic of the Internet, you can click here to learn more about the piece and—I Am Not Making This Up—download a full score in PDF format. The score has a watermark, and can't be printed without a password that's not supplied for free, but this is still really amazing to find a full score with a section-by-section analysis by the composer online for free. This is the second Walczyk piece for the Wind Symphony this academic year—in the October concert, the ensemble performed the world premiere of the wind symphony version of the composer's Celebration Fanfare (2003). Good stuff! The program concludes with Shostakovich's Jazz Suite No. 2 (1938), a reconstructed work because soon after its original performances in the late 1930s, it became lost—until 1999, performances of a piece with the same title were actually "the composer's totally independent eight-movement Suite for Light Orchestra, incorrectly believed to be Jazz Suite No. 2. It should be a bang-up performance. It's a Sutton Series concert, so tickets are $8 for adults, and $5 for students, seniors, faculty, and staff. You can get them at the Fine Arts Box Office in Catlett just before the performance, or by contacting the Fine Arts Council Ticket Service (F.A.C.T.S.) at 405-325-4101. Click on the image above to download your own 11" by 17" poster to print and distribute! Posted by Webmaster on 2/25/09; 3:56:26 PM from the Concerts, OU Music dept. Discuss #

The entire OU School of Music, condensed into one concert

On Monday, February 16, the University of Oklahoma School of Music presents the third annual Musical Mosaic performance, featuring over 200 performers from the school in a showcase emphasizing the diversity of musical forms and styles taught each semester to the students. That wasn't really very clear to me either, so I asked Dr. Wakefield for more information. He said: This unique concert is a fabulous opportunity to experience the many different facets of the School of Music from bands, orchestra, choral, jazz, percussion, etc . Performances are staged throughout the hall with theatrical lighting effects focusing on each group in a dark hall. More and more university-level music programs are performing annual programs like this, giving the community (as well as students and their families) a chance to hear some of all of the vast repertoire performed each year. Sometimes it's difficult to get to the Wind Symphony or Concert Band concerts—let's face it, we all have other obligations, and as much as we may love hearing outstanding wind music performed by the students who are building on our traditions, they only perform four concerts per year, or two per semester. (I've updated our Events calendar with all of this semester's band department concerts, including all three large wind ensembles and the jazz band concerts.) The Pride really is the exception in performing student ensembles: thanks to the football schedule, they perform at six to seven home games per year, as well as during at least two and usually three or more away games to boot. What if you'd like to hear the University Choirs every now and then? Or the outstanding percussion ensemble, built largely of the same students and staff from the Pride's drumline? The OU orchestra is pretty good, too (and I don't just say that because my niece is in it!), as are the other smaller ensembles. Hence the annual Musical Mosaic—an opportunity to see a little bit of everything, presented as a cohesive program that directs your attention from one group to another. It's the School of Music Smorgasbord! We hope you can turn out on Monday to see a sampling of everything going on inside Catlett this semester. The Wind Symphony represents the large wind ensembles, and will perform two movements from Shostakovich's Jazz Suite No. 2 in the concert. It's a Sutton Series Concert: tickets are US$8 for adults, and US$5 for students, faculty, staff, or senior citizens. They're available at the Sharp Hall Box Office or by calling F.A.C.T.S. at (405) 325-4101. Wearing colorful clothing in the mosaic theme is, of course, optional. See you there! (Click on the poster above to download your own printable PDF concert poster, too!) Posted by Webmaster on 2/10/09; 2:03:39 PM from the Concerts, OU Music dept. Discuss #

Play It Forward: Symphonic Music on Monday!

On Monday, November 24, the OU Band Department presents the final symphonic wind concerts of the 2008 Fall Semester, in a Sutton Series concert at 8:00 PM in the Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall at Catlett Music Center. The concert, entitled "Play It Forward," features music ranging "from the historic sounds of Sousa and Rossini to the panoramic ensemble colors of today. The Symphony Band, directed by Mr. Jeff Jahnke and Mr. Brian Britt, performs Rossini's 1843 Scherzo for Band, Malcom Arnold's 1950 classic English Dances for Band, Set 1, John Mackey's 2008 work Undertow, and Sousa's march of international cooperation, the 1899 Hands Across the Sea. (It is, I believe, the only Sousa march where the Bass Clarinet has "melody" all the way through the piece. Don't ask me why I remember this.) The Wind Symphony performs Mackey's 2007 two-movement work Kingfishers Catch Fire (it's about the bird, not about burning down the town) with guest conductor Debra Traficante, and Joseph Turrin's 2006 work Introduction to Act II and Interlude from "The Scarecrow" with guest conductor Danh Pham. Dr. William Wakefield is joined by Dr. Eldon Matlick, horn faculty at OU, for the first movement of James Beckel's 1997 The Glass Bead Game: Concerto for Horn and Wind Ensemble, entitled The Call and Awakening. The concert concludes with David Maslanka's two-movement 2005 "Short Symphony for Wind Ensemble," Give Us This Day. Tickets are $8 for adults; $5 for students, faculty, staff, or senior citizens. Buy them at the door, or from the Catlett Music Center box office; call F.A.C.T.S. at (405) 325-4101 for more information. If you can't make it (and we sure hope you can—these contemporary pieces exhibit rich tonal colors and orchestration that's not what you might expect from a Concert Band), the concert is scheduled to be streamed live from the OU School of Music Web site. Check it out on Monday at 8:00 PM if you're not in Sharp Hall! Posted by Webmaster on 11/19/08; 11:06:34 PM from the OU Music dept. Discuss #

Berry Tramel stands in voting line with Dr. Wakefield

Berry's been on a band roll the past few weeks. Today's entry, from The Oklahoman's blogs: I went back Monday morning to vote early, but again, no time to wait. I returned Monday evening and this time plunged in. I took a spot in line about 5:15 p.m. in front of Danny’s TV on Main Street. My wait was about 75 minutes, and I can’t remember when I had a better time. I stood in line with William Wakefield, director of OU bands. We chatted for almost an hour before he introduced himself, but we had the most wonderful conversation. We talked football and New York City and marching bands and Oklahoma life. Here’s what I learned: Remember that great Pride of Oklahoma tradition, where the band members dress up in costume for a halftime show around Halloween? They don’t do it anymore because too many people complain about certain costumes, and trying to regulate what 400 musicians might wear onto the field is too cumbersome a task. Oh well. It's a different world than 1985. The clarinet squad dressed as Coke products would, today, probably generate a letter demanding licensing fees for the use of the trademarks. (That's not an attack on delicious Coca-Cola—just an example of how the world has change.) If you didn't stand in line with Berry Tramel or Dr. Wakefield, or any other line, then get out and vote! All those years of playing the National Anthem should have sunk in by now, but just in case you need a reminder: VOTE! Posted by Webmaster on 11/4/08; 1:42:19 PM from the OU Music dept. Discuss #

Post-election wind music to soothe the mind

If the drama (or even the constant coverage) of the elction has you worn out by Wednesday, November 5, the band department has an escape for you! Russell Pettitt, whom many of you remember as the graduate assistant host for the Alumni Band at this year's (and last year's) homecoming, is presenting his Conducting Recital on November 5 at 8:00 PM, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Musical Arts as a student of Dr. Wakefield. The recital, featuring smaller wind chamber groups, includes: Serenade No. 1 for Ten Wind Instruments, Op. 1 by Vincent Persichetti (1929), a piece that Persichetti said "was first performed at a concert for alumni…by instrumental colleagues interested in music after Tchaikovsky." What could be more appropriate? Rondino in E-flat major, WoO 25 by Ludwig van Beethoven (~1792), an octet featuring horns at the beginning and end. Suite in D by Arthur Bird (1889), a piece described after its American premiere as "pleasing and melodious," that "pleases by virtue of the simplicity, directness, and unaffected manner in which the musical thought is unfolded." Now what could be a better way to unwind from political machinations than music like that? The recital, as noted, is at 8:00 PM in the Pitman Recital Hall at Catlett Music Center on the OU Campus. (When you enter Catlett, Sharp Hall is directly in front of you, and Pitman is on your left, at the south end of Gothic Hall.) Admission is free, so please come out and give Russell a good audience for this concert featuring members of The Pride and other university wind performing ensembles. Click on the poster image above to download your own PDF poster for the event, too! Posted by Webmaster on 10/28/08; 4:12:33 PM from the OU Music dept. Discuss #

Symphonic bands in Homecoming Concert Thursday!

The University Bands kick off Homecoming 2008 festivities with the opening concert of the Fall 2008 semester for the Wind Symphony and Symphony Band, performing at 8:00 PM on Thursday, October 16, in the Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall in Catlett Music Center on the OU campus. The Symphony Band, under the direction of Mr. Brian Britt, will perform Blue Lake Overture, composed in 1971 by John Barnes Chance for the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp of Twin Lake, MN. Other selections include Gustav Holst's First Suite in E-Flat for Military Band, Frank Ticheli's Joy Revisted, and John Philip Sousa's Pathfinder of Panama. The Wind Symphony, directed by Dr. William K. Wakefield, presents the wind premiere of Kevin Walcyzyk's Celebration Fanfare (2003); as well as Carl Orff's Carmina Burana; Percy Grainger's Children's March; Alberto Ginastera's Danza Final (Malambo), the fourth and final movement from his ballet Estancia, Op. 8 (1941); and also Don Grantham's Don't You See? Tickets for this Sutton Series concert are $8 for adults, and $5 for students, seniors, faculty, or staff. Tickets are available at the Catlett box office; call the Fine Arts Tickets Service at (405) 325-4101 for more information. The concert is also slated to be streamed live over the Internet via QuickTime—visit the OU School of Music home page at 8:00 PM on Thursday and click the "Live-Stream" link to listen on your computer. Streaming is great, but nothing beats showing up in person to hear OU's current student musicians performing classic and brand new works for the wind repertoire, and during homecoming week, too! We hope to see you all there to support the band programs! Click on the poster image above to get your own PDF version of the poster, suitable for framing and posting everywhere you go where people might see it. Posted by Webmaster on 10/14/08; 6:49:19 PM from the Homecoming 2008, OU Music dept. Discuss #

Dr. Wakefield profiled in the Norman Transcript

An excerpt: Wakefield recently was inducted into the Oklahoma Bandmasters Hall of Fame, and his students say he deserves it. "He's one of the best band directors in the nation and students look up to him," said Blake DeLao, a former student of Wakefield's who now teaches band at Altus High School. He said Wakefield truly cares about his students. DeLao, who calls Wakefield his role model, said he sees Wakefield when he returns to Norman for football games. "Every time he sees me he always stops me and asks how teaching is going, because this is my first year teaching," DeLao said. And that's how Wakefield is with everyone, DeLao said. "He wants you to succeed in everything you do." Posted by Webmaster on 9/27/08; 12:50:43 AM from the OU Music dept. Discuss #

Homecoming 2008 Music

If you're playing at Homecoming 2008 and want to practice, here's a reminder about where to find three of the rah-rahs: Fight for OKU Boomer Sooner Oklahoma (2006) You are not logged in right now, so you'll need either to log in, or join the site by registering to see this information, but it's quick and free, so join us now! Posted by Webmaster on 9/14/08; 3:34:57 PM from the Homecoming 2008, OU Music dept. Discuss #

PLEASE HELP: Dr. Gail Hall loses his home

It is with great sadness that I inform the Pride of Oklahoma family that the home of Dr. Gail Hall and his wife was completely destroyed by fire. Both Gail and Jennifer were in Texas at the time of the fire and were unharmed. As a result of the fire, they literally are left with only the clothes on their backs. The home, its contents, and their pets were all lost to the blaze. Dr. and Mrs. Hall are among the biggest faculty supporters of the Pride and they need our support and encouragement as they face the fallout of this disaster. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. If you would like to make a financial contribution to assist the Halls in their time of need, please make a check out to Kappa Kappa Psi and send it to my attention at: University of Oklahoma Bands 500 W. Boyd Norman, OK 73019 Thanks very much for anything you can do. Posted by Brian Britt on 9/6/08; 12:02:22 PM from the OU Music dept. Discuss #

Wednesday Lunch with the Wind Symphony!

Well, yes, all the concerts for this academic year are over. But wouldn't you like one more chance to hear your fine OU Wind Symphony perform? Perhaps at a convenient time, like at noon on Wednesday, so you don't have to cancel evening plans? With both eclectic and familiar tunes, and maybe some chamber music because, well, why not chamber music? As you may have guessed, you're in luck! The Wind Symphony appears once again at 12:00 PM on April 30 in Catlett Music Center's Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall, in a Sutton series concert to help fulfill the Doctor of Musical Arts requirements for Russell T. Pettit and Debra L. Traficante, conducting students of Dr. Wakefield. Russell will be conducting Peter Mennin's Canzona, Eric Leidzen's transcription of Wagner's Trauersinfonie, and Norman Dello Joio's 1963 classic Variants on a Mediæval Tune. My personal favorite of the three is Dello Joio's Variants on a Mediæval Tune, which I had not heard performed in about ten years until the Symphony Band picked it up last year, and Russell brought it to the Wind Symphony this year as a challenge for his recital. Based on the medieval tune In Dulci Jubilo, better known tody as the hymn/Christmas carol Good Christian Men, Rejoice, the piece is a statement of the tune and a set of wildly divergent variations scored for maximum use of the full tonal range of the modern wind ensemble. At times it's lush and indulging its Christian overtones, and at other times private and almost exposed (if memory serves, the score calls for three "cornet" parts and two "trumpet" parts, so with five different high-brass lines, there's little room for error). Dello Joio reused some of the ideas a year later in his score for NBC's The Louvre, a color TV tour of that museum's treasures, the likes of which had never before been broadcast in the United States. Some of that, in turn, made it into his later classic band work Scenes From The Louvre, but the ideas started right here. It's both a personal and communal expression of the spirituality of a jubilant and reflective life. It's one of my all-time favorites. Debra is conducting movements I, II, and IV of Vincent Persichetti's archetypal 1921 work Symphony No. 6 for Band, Op. 69, and ten movements of William Walton's…unique Façade, an Entertainment, also from 1921, with poems by Edith Sitwell, recited by Zachary Kropp. It's hard to describe Façade without using the program notes, and that would be cheating, but it's definitely an interesting mid-week musical experience! (Hint: look at the page for Façade on the William Walton site and note that the title of the first setting that hasn't survived in its entirety is "Ass Face." They're not performing that one.) With classic English chamber music overtones for often-nonsensical poems commissioned by—let's face it—rich people who didn't have anything better to do until World War II reset Britain's priorities, Façade is both an energetic romp and quiet personal meditation, with expert recitation by young Mr. Kropp. It's definitely not your standard "band" fare, and it'll stay with you for a while (in a good way). Admission is free, and both Debra and Russell (who were both also Pride of Oklahoma graduate assistants in 2007) would love to conduct for you, so take some extra time on Wednesday and get some classic band love before the semester ends! Posted by Webmaster on 4/25/08; 4:37:10 AM from the OU Music dept. Discuss #

A memorial concert for Mady Byrne (1988-2008)

The Symphony Band and Concert Band present a memorial concert for hornist, Mady Byrne, who passed away suddenly in February on the scheduled date of ensembles’ first concert. This final concert for the semester is presented on Monday, April 21, at 8:00 p.m, in the Paul F. Sharp Hall at Catlett Music Center on the University of Oklahoma Campus. Concert Band selections include: West Highland Sojourn by Robert Sheldon Shenandoah by Frank Ticheli Journey into Diablo Canyon by David Shaffer Psalm 46 by John Zdechlik and Cheerio March by Edwin F. Goldman. The Symphony Band, of which Mady was a member, performs: Boys of the Old Brigade March by W. Paris Chambers Laboring Songs by Dan Welcher Sanctuary by Frank Ticheli Flag of Stars by Gordon Jacob Blithe Bells by Percy Grainger and Niagara Falls by Michael Daugherty. Concert admission is free. Click on the image of the poster to download a printable version [1.5MB PDF, contains a photograph of Mady Byrne] to post where people may gather. Posted by Webmaster on 4/5/08; 9:14:24 PM from the OU Music dept. Discuss #

Wind Symphony concert on April 14

The Wind Symphony presents their final Sutton Series Concert for the spring on Monday, April 14, at 8:00 p.m., in Paul F. Sharp Hall. The program includes: Norman Dello Joio's Variants on a Mediaeval Tune John Adams' Lollapalooza selections from William Walton’s Façade, an Entertainment Russell Peck’s The Glory and Grandeur featuring three percussion soloists and Carter Pann’s Slalom. For tickets, please call the F.A.C.T.S. box office at 325-4101. Tickets prices for Sutton performances are $8 for adults and $5 for faculty, staff, students and seniors. (Click on the image of the concert poster to get your own PDF version, suitable for printing, framing, or papering your office!) Posted by Webmaster on 4/5/08; 8:55:21 PM from the OU Music dept. Discuss #

Tonight's concert is POSTPONED

With the server being down on Thursday and Friday (intermittently) for hardware upgrades, we didn't have a chance to post much about tonight's planned Symphony Band and Concert Band concert, but now comes word from the Band Department that it has been postponed. We don't know a lot of details, but we're told it likely won't be rescheduled for any time in the next two weeks. We'll post more details as we can. Posted by Webmaster on 2/25/08; 3:52:09 PM from the OU Music dept. Discuss #

Wind Symphony previews CBDNA program

The University of Oklahoma Wind Symphony has been selected to perform in concert for the 2008 Southwestern Division Conference of the College Band Directors National Association. "What is CBDNA," you ask? CBDNA is comprised of college band conductors who focus on the advancement of bands through performance, teaching, and scholarly activity. National and regional conferences present the latest ideas and literature for the medium and are held in alternating years at selected sites. The University of Oklahoma hosted the regional conference in 1990 and 2000. One week ahead of time, the Wind Symphony, under the direction of Dr. William K. Wakefield (with guest conductors and fellow OU band alumni Brian A. Britt and Jeff E. Jahnke), previews its CBDNA program in a Sutton Series concert: Thursday, February 21, at 8:00 PM in Sharp Concert Hall, located in the Catlett Music Center on the OU campus. You can see the program here (PDF format). It includes symphonic wind classics like the Hunsberger transcription of Shostakovich's Festive Overture, Op. 96, the Leist and Goldman transcription of Johann Sebastian Bach's Fantasia in G Major, BWV 572, and a newer Mark Rogers version of Percy Grainger's Colonial Song. But there's also plenty of new music, as well: Jonathan Newman's As the scent of spring rain… (2003), and the CBDNA premiere of Carter Pann's Four Factories (2006), which saw its Oklahoma debut under the Wind Symphony three months ago. The Wind Symphony is also performing John Mackey's 2007 work Clocking, whose scheduled premiere in January 2007 by the Central Olkahoma Honor Band (CODA) was cancelled due to the ice storm, finally taking place just last month. The program closes with the latest work by honored wind composer Frank Ticheli, Wild Nights! (2007). We hope everyone can turn out for this great concert on Thursday night. Tickets are $8 for adults, and $5 for students, faculty, staff, or senior citizens. Call the Fine Arts Campus Ticket Service (FACTS) at (405) 325-4101 for more information. We hope to see you there! (For those of you in the Kansas City area, the concert for CBDNA is at 7:30 PM on Thursday, February 28, in the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri–Kansas City. We've placed both events on our Events calendar. Click on the poster above to get your own tabloid-sized copy of the poster to print out and hang around your office! Posted by Webmaster on 2/17/08; 3:05:22 PM from the OU Music dept. Discuss #

Concert groups in final Fall appearance!

Does the writers' strike have you down? Want to show some OU support during Centennial Week? Come see the concert performing ensembles from the OU Band Department in their final concert of the semester! From the Band Department: The Symphony Band and Wind Symphony present a concert of "Color and Light" on Monday, November 12, at 8:00 p.m., in Paul F. Sharp Hall. The Symphony Band performs Alfred Reed's Ramparts of Courage, Anton Bruckner's Christus Factus Est orchestrated by Norman resident Richard Thurston, Bob Margolis' Color, and Kenneth Alford's The Mad Major march. The Wind Symphony program includes four movements from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Serenade No. 10, K.361 "Gran Partita", Paul Hindemith's Concert Music, Op. 41, Henry Purcell's Funeral Music of Queen Mary, which is transcribed and elaborated on by Pulitzer Prize winning composer Steven Stucky, and Carter Pann's Four Factories. But wait—there's more! The Wind Symphony presents an open rehearsal of Four Factories with prize-winning composer, Carter Pann, on Sunday evening from 8-10 p.m., in Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall. While visiting the University of Oklahoma, the composer will also present and discuss his ideas in a composer's forum hosted by Dr. Marvin Lamb on Monday, November 12, from 11:30 a.m. - 12:20 p.m., in Catlett Music Center, Room 014 Tickets for this Sutton Series concert are $8 for adults, and $5 for students, faculty, staff, and senior citizens. They're available at the box office in Catlett Music Center shortly before the performance, or in advance through the F.A.C.T.S. Fine Arts Ticket Service at (405) 325-4101. Click here or on the poster to download a PDF file with two poster designs, including the one seen on the OU Bands Web site. Print them out; hang them around your office; mail them to your friends; decorate the cars of people who need more music in their lives. See you at the concert! Posted by Webmaster on 11/7/07; 1:47:30 AM from the OU Music dept. Discuss #

In which we answer your questions

When people visit our little site from a search engine like Yahoo or Google, their question is usually provided when they click the link from the search engine. Unsurprisingly, we get a lot of people searching for common terms like "Sooners" and "OU Homecoming" and "Oklahoma Band," but some of the questions are topical, and we thought we'd take a minute and try to answer a few of them. How many people are in the OU Band? I believe that the 2007 Pride of Oklahoma has 310 members, let's say ±2%. This has been a typical size for the band in the past several years. Every member auditions every year (even section leaders, who audition in the spring semester as part of the leadership determination process). Where does the OU band sit at the Texas game? I actually did not know this, because you probably saw all the news stories saying that, "starting in 2007," OU and Texas would alternate end zones each year. But we asked, and after all of the press and confusion, this year the answer is—no change whatsoever. The Pride will sit in bleachers on the stadium surface in the corner of the "South" end zone at the Cotton Bowl, just to your right as you come out of the tunnel. The Show Band of the Southwest occupies similar seats on the same sideline but behind the other ("north") end zone. In other words, it's just like it has been for the past several years. (The seats in the Cotton Bowl stadium were removed this year and replaced with benches, but the bands don't occupy any of them.) What are the lyrics to O.K. Oklahoma? The full lyrics to O.K. Oklahoma are found on this page, where you'll also find the story of the song, and a recording of its first-even performance on the NBC Red Radio Network from December 1, 1939. Where can I find the trumpet part to Boomer Sooner? Members of OUBAA can find parts to Boomer on this page. We have parts to some of the spirit tunes available here to assist Alumni Band members who want to practice before homecoming. However, these arrangements belong to the University of Oklahoma, and they're not licensed for other uses or performances. If your group is interested in recordings or sheet music of OU-specific spirit songs, contact the OU Band Department for details on what is available. Where is The Pride performing in Dallas this year? The full Texas trip schedule has not been announced, but we're told that The Pride will rehearse Friday morning in Pauls Valley, and perform Friday Night at a high school football game in Carrolton, among other pep and OU alumni events. The best way to keep track of public Pride performances (at least, the ones we track) is to check out our Events calendar. You can subscribe to it in iCal (Mac OS X) or Windows (Vista) Calendar and get all the latest updates automatically. Instructions are on the page. We'll update it with details of Texas performances as they're made available. I don't like the ads. That's not a question. Either way, the answer is to log in, or join the site by registering (it's free). Logged-in members do not see the ads, and can also comment, access the sheet music, and generally get more free things. Consider it a nudge. Thanks for visiting the site, and keep your eye on the Homecoming 2007 News. Posted by Webmaster on 9/28/07; 4:01:38 PM from the Gameday, OU Music, Pride of Oklahoma dept. Discuss #

Homecoming 2007 Music

If you're playing at Homecoming 2007 and want to practice, here's a reminder about where to find three of the rah-rahs: Fight for OKU Boomer Sooner Oklahoma (2006) You are not logged in right now, so you'll need either to log in, or join the site by registering to see this information, but it's quick and free, so join us now! Posted by Webmaster on 9/28/07; 3:34:25 PM from the Homecoming 2007, OU Music dept. Discuss #

Symphonic ensembles in concert!

The Wind Symphony and Symphony Band present a combined concert on Thursday, September 27, at 8:00 p.m. in Paul F. Sharp Hall of Catlett Music Center. The program of "Tributes and Treasures" includes the Symphony Band performing Cajun Folk Songs II by Frank Ticheli, Fanfare and Flourishes by James Curnow, Prelude in the Dorian Mode by Antonio de Cabezon, and Solid Men to the Front by John Philip Sousa. We don't want to spoil anything, but one of these is rumored to be a march. The Wind Symphony program features Festive Overture by Dmitri Shostakovich (the Hunsberger transcription), Black Dog for solo clarinet and Wind Ensemble by Scott McAlister, with featured soloist Christina Giacona, a DMA student of Dr. David Etheridge. The progrma also includes Fantasia in G by J. S. Bach, Divertimento by Vincent Persichetti, and Slava! by Leonard Bernstein. As part of the Sutton Series at the University of Oklahoma School of Music, tickets are $8 for adults, and $5 for students, faculty, staff, or senior citizens. Tickets are available at the Fine Arts Box Office in Catlett Music Center, or from the F.A.C.T.S. Ticket Service at (405) 325-4101. Come join the band department and support the band students in an evening of tributes and treasures! Click on the poster image above for your own printable PDF poster to hang around your office. Posted by Webmaster on 9/23/07; 9:09:13 PM from the OU Music dept. Discuss #

Two bands, one concert, last chance!

Please join the OU Symphony and Concert Bands for the final concert of the 2006-2007 academic year on Monday, April 23, 8:00 PM, in the Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall in Catlett Music Center on the OU campus. The concert is free! Click on the graphic to download a PDF version of the poster with the program, or click here to download a high-quality (10MB) printable version. The Concert Band, directed by Jeff Jahnke, is open to all university students, who audition solely for chair placement. It's a spring semester-only ensemble, and provides many members of The Pride with the opportunity to keep their musical chops in shape during the long non-football season. The Symphony Band, directed by Brian Britt, is a year-round seventy-piece ensemble comprised of talented undergraduates who earn membership on the basis of audition. The program includes works by Alfred Reed and Aaron Copland. Also of note: the 1982 Igor Fantasy by the Dean of OU's College of Fine Arts, Dr. Marvin Lamb; and Paul Hindemith's Symphony in B♭ - yes, the entire symphony. Come on out and enjoy this free concert by the band department to end the academic year on a (no pun intended) high note. See you there! Posted by Webmaster on 4/19/07; 8:33:11 PM from the OU Music dept. Discuss #

Life too taxing? Come to the Wind Symphony!

Put those numbers aside and join the OU Wind Symphony for the final concert of the 2006-2007 academic year on Monday night, April 16, in the Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall at 8:00 PM. This Sutton Series concert includes John Mackey's Redline Tango, C.L. Barnhouse's The Battle of Shiloh, the Lucien Calliet transcription of Richard Wagner's Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral from Lohengrin (one of Bill Wakefield's favorites), and Morton Gould's Symphony for Band (one of Gene Thrailkill's favorites). Need more music? The Jazz Bands perform in a Sutton Series concert the following night (same bat-time, same bat-concert hall), and the Symphony Band and Concert Bands present their final concert a week later, on Monday, April 23 (more on that later in the week). Want to know more about all of this faster? Check out the OU Bands Web site and subscribe to the RSS feed. Or check out the entire OU School of Music calendar to find even more gems, like the Tuesday noon recital by the Sooner Bassooners! (I can't make this stuff up, folks. Remember what Professor Peter Schickele once said: "Chopin once said that the only thing more beautiful than the sound of a guitar was the sound of two guitars. So, it seems not unreasonable to ask, what sounds more beautiful than two guitars? Four bassoons, right?") Sutton series concert admission is $8, or $5 for students, faculty, staff, and senior citizens. We hope to see you there! Posted by Webmaster on 4/15/07; 1:52:43 AM from the OU Music dept. Discuss #

All-band concert on February 19!

Dear Alumni: I hope you will join us for a rare opportunity to hear all three concert bands on Monday, February 19. Please note the special concert time of 7:00 p.m. Thank you! University of Oklahoma Bands present "GIFTS, ELEGIES, and GARDENS" Monday, February 19 Paul F. Sharp Hall Catlett Music Center 500 West Boyd Street Norman, OK 7:00 p.m. Concert Band Jeff Jahnke, conductor John Pasquale, guest conductor The Corcoran Cadets - John Philip Sousa Concord - Clare Grundman Simple Gifts - Four Shaker Songs - Frank Ticheli 7:30 p.m. Symphony Band Brian Britt, conductor Jeff Jahnke, conductor Beltway Jam - Jack Stamp American Elegy - Frank Ticheli Variants on a Mediaeval Tune - Norman Dello Joio Rolling Thunder - Henry Fillmore 8:15 p.m. Wind Symphony William Wakefield, conductor John Pasquale, guest conductor Christopher Evans, guest conductor Circus Polka - Igor Stravinsky Gumsucker's March - Percy Grainger A Child's Garden of Dreams - David Maslanka Galop - Dmitri Shostakovich Posted by William K. Wakefield on 2/5/07; 12:38:59 PM from the OU Music dept. Discuss #

All in the (Gossett) Family

Many of you know Jeremy Gossett, the young man who's been the announcer for the Pride of Oklahoma for the past five years. (Due to scheduling conflicts, he wasn't at homecoming this year - that was our old friend John McCormick stepping back in, but Jeremy did the others, including the Centennial halftime in 2004.) He also produced and directed the 58-minute film Legacies and Friends: the 2005 Pride of Oklahoma that was announced here last August and available on video. It was also shown this past weekend at the Trail Dance Film Festival in Duncan. If you follow the Fox television series American Idol, you may also have seen reports about the "Oklahoma Five" - five OU students who traveled to the San Antonio auditions for the show last August (about the same time Legacies and Friends was being shown!) and who all made it to final auditions in front of judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson. Due to agreements with Fox and 19 (the producers of Idol), they're not allowed to say how those auditions went until the show with that day's auditions. [Update: Fox has now, for reasons known only to Fox, moved the San Antonio audition show to Tuesday, February 6, at 7PM CST ("Auditions No. 7: San Antonio"). The show on as I update this (Wed 31 Jan, 8 PM CST) has auditions from Los Angeles. Dang!] And you're probably already ahead of me - the link in this article takes you to a Duncan Banner newspaper article pointing out that our Jeremy Gossett is the brother of recent OU vocal music education alumnus Laura Gossett, who is one of Idol's "Oklahoma Five!" So if you're watching Idol on Wednesday night, there are five OU music students to root for: Heather Appel, Grant Fisher, Tony Foster, Michael Preston, and Laura Gossett. My news spies are good, but I can't tell you if any of the other four are or were in The Pride (cross-overs at OU between vocal and instrumental performance are reasonably common), but I still thought this was a fun family connection worth sharing! Yay Gossetts! Posted by Webmaster on 1/29/07; 2:21:50 AM from the Alumni sightings, OU Music, Pride of Oklahoma dept. Discuss (3 responses) #

Symphonic winds in concert!

Got the Thanksgiving week blahs? Can't stand even one more hour of Deal Or No Deal? Want to support the students in The Pride and the rest of the OU School of Music? Come to the band concert tonight (Monday, November 20) at Catlett Music Center! This final concert of the fall semester includes both of the band department's symphonic wind ensembles. The Wind Symphony, directed by Dr. William K. Wakefield and with guest conductors John Pasquale and Eric Eaks, will perform Strauss' Serenade in E-flat, Opus 7, a brand new transcription (not the old warhorse Carl Fischer one) of the overture to Verdi's La Forza del Destino, the full Hindemith Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Weber, and the premiere of a brand new march by OCU composition professor Ray Luke, The Oklahoman, commissioned by and named for the newspaper of the same name. (Don't laugh - if you were in Wind Ensemble in 1986, you probably remember that Sousa's famous The Washington Post march was an entry in a contest by that newspaper. It won a prize of something like $5!) Brian Britt and Jeff Jahnke conduct the Symphony Band in some great 20th-century classics for winds: Norman Dello Joio's Scenes from "The Louvre", John Barnes Chance's Elegy, the overture to Leonard Bernstein's Candide, as well as Sousa's The Gallant Seventh March. It's enough top-notch music to carry you right through the holiday sale ads on TV that started six weeks ago. The concert begins at 8:00 PM in the Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall at Catlett Music Center, at 500 W. Boyd (the corner of Boyd and Elm) in Norman. Tickets to this Sutton Series concert are $8 for adults, and $5 for students, seniors, and OU faculty and staff. We hope to see you there! Click on the poster image to download your own 11 X 17 PDF poster to print and hand out today, too! Update: If you absolutely can't get to Sharp Hall tonight, the concert will be streamed over the Web starting at 7:55 PM. Click here to watch, but make sure you have QuickTime installed. (If you're using any Mac released since 1991 or any PC that has iTunes, you have QuickTime installed; if not, you can get it for free here.) Posted by Webmaster on 11/20/06; 12:54:53 AM from the OU Music dept. Discuss #

Homecoming concert on Monday

The University Band department presents its first full symphonic concert of the semester next Monday, October 16. Starting Homecoming Week with the concert ensembles on stage has become something of a tradition, and this year's edition looks like another winner. From the OU Bands Web site: The Symphony Band presents Noisy Wheels of Joy by Eric Whitacre, Second Suite in F by Gustav Holst, Salvation is Created by Pavel Chesnokov, and Bullets and Bayonets by John Philip Sousa. The Wind Symphony presents the American premiere of Eric Champagne'’s Champ-de-Mars, By day of Light, which was recently selected winner of the Michael Hennagin Prize, Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Grainger, Contre qui, Rose by Morten Lauridsen, Inglesina by Davide Delle Cese, and A Slavic Farewell by Vasiliev Agapkin. The Symphony Band is directed by Brian Britt and Jeff Jahnke; the Wind Symphony is under the direction of Dr. William K. Wakefield and features guest conductor Christopher Evans. This Sutton Series concert begins at 8:00 PM on Monday, October 16, in the Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall at Catlett Music Center at 500 W. Boyd, at the northwest corner of the main OU campus. Admission is $8 for adults, and $5 for students, faculty, staff, and senior citizens. If you're in the Norman area, come see the current generation of OU wind musicians on stage, including dozens of Pride of Oklahoma members, in a challenging and enjoyable concert to kick off homecoming week! Click on the image above for your own printable copy of the concert poster, too. Posted by Webmaster on 10/10/06; 10:58:49 AM from the Homecoming 2006, OU Music dept. Discuss #

George Ryan, Carl Rath, Eldon Matlick to be honored in Norman

Former Pride announcer Ryan and OU music professors Rath and Matlick earn local honors next week: [The honorees] all are involved in making art a bigger part of our lives in Norman and all will be honored Thursday at the annual Fall Arts Luncheon, hosted by the Business and the Arts Committee of the Norman Chamber of Commerce. … Ryan served as the PA announcer for The Pride of Oklahoma and later OU football games at Owen Field. He is an audio engineer, mixing and making sure the audience can enjoy the performances, whether it is a sporting event broadcast by ESPN or Fox Sports, musical theatre from the Lyric or the sounds of the OKC Philharmonic. Anyone who has been to a concert or musical in the Oklahoma City-Norman area or watched a Sooner football or basketball game on ESPN has experienced the purity of sound by Ryan. He has begun teaching classes at OU in the Weitzenhoffer College of Fine Arts, passing his talents on to the next generation of audio engineers. He continues his teaching schedule despite travel all over the country to work for the networks of ESPN and Fox. He also has volunteered his talents since the beginning to do the audio production at the annual Sullivan Family Concert. Rath, an associate professor of bassoon at OU, is the founding member of Midlife Crysis. He also is the principal bassoon for the OKC Philharmonic. While he dreamed of bringing The Beatles to his classes, he has been bringing 1964 - The Tribute to Norman for 15 years. Another OU professor of music, Matlick developed an interest in art as a 15-year-old. When he was a senior in high school, he began to get calls to play as an extra horn with the Louisville Orchestra. He spends his time these days teaching at OU and performing with the OKC Philharmonic, the Oklahoma Brass and Woodwind quintet and solo recitals in addition to his gigs as the bass guitarist with Midlife Crysis. (Via the Norman Transcript.) Posted by Webmaster on 9/30/06; 11:23:56 AM from the Alumni sightings, OU Music dept. Discuss #

New Horizons band concert this Tuesday

A non-traditional community band sponsored by the OU Band Department: New Horizons Band concert * The band is made up of continuing education students. * The concert is 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall.* Musical pieces will include marches and folk songs. An interesting note: They will play a march, folk songs and a "Serenade for a Picket Fence," written by Norman Leyden. "Serenade for a Picket Fence" will be a special feature during the concert, showcasing Brian Britt, associate director of bands and assistant professor of music with the Pride of Oklahoma, and Dr. Lance Drege, director of percussion. (Via The Oklahoma Daily.) Posted by Webmaster on 5/4/06; 11:32:58 PM from the OU Music dept. Discuss #

Concerts on Monday and Tuesday

Please join the OU Wind Symphony on Monday night, April 24, for a special Sutton Series concert in Sharp Hall at Catlett Music Center on the OU Campus. OU's premiere symphonic wind group will perform Aaron Copland's Old American Songs with guest vocal performance by OU vocal performance faculty member Kim Josephson. The concert also includes Copland's Outdoor Overture, and Ottorino Resphigi's famous The Pines of Rome. The Wind Symphony also welcomes the Marcus High School Wind Symphony to the stage, under the direction of Amanda Drinkwater, for performances of Michael Daugherty's Bells for Stokowski, the Finale from Charles Ives's Symphony No. 2, and Prokofiev's March, Op. 99. It's a full evening of music for an $8 ticket (students and seniors, $5). Click the image to download your own full-size 11" X 17" PDF poster for the concert, or click here to download a 25% (5.5" X 8.5") grayscale poster suitable for any laser printer. On Tuesday night, the Symphony Band and Concert Band take the stage, directed by Brian Britt. We have no performance details at this time, but we know that both bands put on a great concert in February, and that like that concert, admission to this one is free. Show up Posted by Webmaster on 4/20/06; 4:32:53 PM from the OU Music dept. Discuss #

Band concerts on Monday and Tuesday

All three of the OU Band Department's concert wind ensembles are performing in concert early next week, so if you're in Norman, come by Catlett Music Center to hear what's going on. The Wind Symphony, under the direction of Dr. Wakefield, is performing at 8:00 PM on Monday, February 27, in Catlett's Sharp Hall. The program includes the third movement of Symphony No. 2 by David Maslanka, Donald Grantham's Southern Harmony (a fantastic series of vignettes based on old Southern spirituals found in a 19th century book of the same name), the Florentiner march by Fucik (under guest conductor John Pasquale), and Ron Nelson's Courtly Airs and Dances. As a Sutton Series concert, admission is $8, or $5 for students, staff, or faculty. On Tuesday, February 28, the Concert Band and Symphony Bands, both under the baton of Brian Britt, perform in Sharp Hall, also at 8:00 PM. The Concert Band is open to all students who wish to play, and offers a program that includes Jay Chattaway's Parade of the Tall Ships and James Curnow's Festivity. Guest conductor Christopher Evans also directs the band in a performance of Hugh M. Stuart's Three Ayres from Glouchester. The Symphony Band, an audition-required ensemble, has a program that includes Ron Nelson's Lauds, Martin Ellerby's Paris Sketches, and Sound Off by John Philip Sousa. Guest conductor Erik Eaks takes the podium for Eric Whitacre's luscious new orchestration of his own work Lux Aurumque. (You can download an MP3 recording of Lux Aurumque here, courtesy of the composer.) The program also Admission to the combined Symphony Band and Concert Band concert is free. We hope to see you at one or both concerts! Posted by Webmaster on 2/24/06; 11:50:23 PM from the OU Music dept. Discuss #

Want to stay in practice?

Alumni who live in or near Norman might consider the New Horizons Band at OU, which rehearses in our very own Band Room, as a way to stay in practice. It was profiled in Monday's Oklahoman: The band is open to anyone, including people who have never played an instrument and those who haven't played since junior high or high school. And there is no need to worry about a dreadful audition. There isn't one. Michael Raiber, assistant professor of music education at the University of Oklahoma, coordinates the program. […]Most of the New Horizons Band members are ages 50 to 85. The OU music education students who teach them are age 21. Raiber said the matchup is an interesting, successful sociological arrangement that is beneficial to both groups. The band is an outlet for senior players and offers an opportunity for young OU students who plan to teach junior high and high school band. Do you know of other alumni-friendly ensembles? Post your comments with the 'Discuss' link below. Posted by Webmaster on 1/30/06; 2:09:51 PM from the OU Music dept. Discuss #

Wind Symphony in concert

The OU Wind Symphony performs its final concert of the fall semester on Monday, November 21, at 8:00 PM, in the Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall at OU's Catlett Music Center. Under the direction of Dr. William K. Wakefield, Director of University Bands, and guest conductor Christopher J. Evans, the Wind Symphony will perform Prokofiev's March, Op. 99, Carl Maria von Weber's Concertino for Clarinet (with featured faculty soloist Dr. David Etheridge), Bernstein's Profanation (from the Jeremiah symphony), Frank Ticheli's Apollo Unleashed (from his Symphony No. 2), Percy Grainger's Over the Hills and Far Away (Children's March), and John Philip Sousa's Glory of the Yankee Navy. The concert is part of the School of Music's Sutton Series; tickets are $8 for adults, and $5 for students, faculty, staff, and seniors. Tickets are available in advance from the OU School of Music Ticket Office, or just before the performance. Click on the thumbnail to download your own PDF version of the poster for this concert to print out and post where people might see it, and come out on November 21 to support the band program! Posted by Webmaster on 11/14/05; 12:40:02 AM from the OU Music dept. Discuss #

Final concert of the 2004-2005 academic year!

(Updated with program details) The final concert in the Centennial Celebration academic year comes on Thursday, April 21, in Catlett Music Center's main venue, Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall. Attendees will hear the Concert Band, directed by Michael Boone with guest conductors Michael Raiber and John Si Millican. The Concert Band features many Pride members, performing a program of contemporary wind literature that includes Fisher Tull's Introit, Alfred Reed's The King of Love My Shepherd Is, and John Zdechlik's Celebrations. That's followed by the Symphony Band, under the direction of Brian Britt and guest conductor John Pasquale. The Symphony Band is a smaller group performing some difficult literature, including Roger Nixon's Fiesta Del Pacifico, and Charles Ives's Old Home Days (with guest conductor John Pasquale). The program closes with the March from Paul Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphosis, a piece so difficult that in some states, boxes of antihistamine read "Do not drive, operate heavy machinery, or perform the Symphonic Metamorphosis while taking this medication." The concert begins at 8:00 PM, April 21. Admission is free, so if you're free, come support current OU student musicians in their final performance of the academic year. (There may be a recital with band performances we can tell you about shortly, and if so, we'll update.) Click on the poster to download a printable PDF version for yourself and share it with your friends! Posted by Webmaster on 4/20/05; 11:05:02 AM from the OU Music dept. Discuss #

Wind Symphony in concert Monday night!

The OU Wind Symphony performs live in concert Monday April 11, so don't suffer a Monday night of reruns on TV! The program includes Bach's Come Sweet Death in memory of the late Dr. Frederick Fennell, Saint Saens's Marche Militaire Francaise, David Del Tredici's In Wartime, and Elgar's famous Engima Variations. Click on the picture to download your own PDF poster for this 100th anniversary season Sutton Series concert. The performance is in Sharp Hall, Catlett Music Center, at 8 PM. Admission to all Sutton Series concerts is $8 for adults, and $5 for students, faculty, staff, and senior citizens. Check out the OU School of Music calendar for more performances. The Symphony Band and Concert Band perform next week, and we'll post details shortly. Posted by Webmaster on 4/10/05; 11:01:28 PM from the OU Music dept. Discuss #

OU Symphony and Concert Bands in concert

Mark your calendars again for the other two University of Oklahoma symphonic wind groups in concert on Thursday, February 24. The Symphony Band, under the direction of Brian Britt and guest conductor Christopher Evans, will perform selections including Shostakovich's Galop and Who Puts His Trust in God Most Just, a stunning Bach vocal-instrumental chorale arranged by Dr. James Croft. The Concert Band, directed by Michael Boone with guest conductor John Pasquale, will perform a rare Sousa march and other contemporary band literature. Both groups perform on the same concert at 8:00 PM, February 24, in Catlett Music Center's main venue, Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall. Admission is free, so come support current OU student musicians as they perform! Click on either poster to get your own printable PDF version, too. Posted by Webmaster on 2/17/05; 8:20:16 PM from the OU Music dept. Discuss #

OU Wind Symphony in concert

Mark your calendars for Wednesday, 16 February 2005, when the OU Wind Symphony performs in concert. The program includes Giannini's Symphony No. 3 (some alumni may remember playing at least the 4th movement of that one), as well as OU tuba instructor Brian K. Dobbins performing Ralph Vaughan Williams's Concerto for Bass Tuba with the ensemble, and John Pasquale conducting Wagner's Trauermusik. Click on the picture to download your own PDF poster for this 100th anniversary season Sutton Series concert. The performance is in Sharp Hall, Catlett Music Center, at 8 PM. Admission to all Sutton Series concerts is $8 for adults, and $5 for students, faculty, staff, and senior citizens. (Check out the OU School of Music calendar for more performances.) Posted by Webmaster on 2/3/05; 10:48:10 AM from the OU Music dept. Discuss #