“Earth Song” featured in Wind and Jazz Ensemble Fall Concert at SOU
After a stressful election week, come take a break and enjoy the soothing sounds of the SOU Wind and Jazz Ensembles. The theme of this year’s concerts will be Earth-based. This first concert on November 14th will feature Frank Ticheli’s “Earth Song.”
“Earth Song” will weave a theme of strength – Ticheli invites listeners to look within, to find joy in music, and to support each other during times of difficulty. When illness, poverty, and world-wide strife threaten to uproot us, Ticheli reminds us that music remains a constant support by keeping people grounded, no matter what comes their way. Strength, connection, and community are themes that intersect in his music.
“This piece is unique to me because I wrote the music first, and then I wrote the words – usually, it’s the other way around for me,” Ticheli said. “The opening lines of Earth Song gave me some trouble when I was setting words to the music. I needed complete thoughts. And so, I came up with ‘Sing. Be. Live. See.’ That was the solution. What’s cool about that is, when we are confronted with problems, they often force us down a path to find a solution that we may not be able to find without that tension. I had to have a crisis moment first for my subconscious to be able to find a solution that my conscious mind couldn’t find.”
The evening is also the SOU debut for new band director Alexander Gonzalez.
While many have already experienced Gonzalez’ on stage as director of the Rogue Valley Symphonic Band, this concert will be his SOU debut and promises to be a showcase of his vision for the SOU’s music program and a celebration of the new musical direction he brings to the Ashland campus.
“I love working with musicians in an ensemble because there is a constant sense of communal discovery and attention that rarely occurs anywhere else. We all – and I very much include myself in this – are challenged to turn a composer’s manuscript into informed and nuanced performances.”
“My main goal for our band students at SOU is to provide a learning arena that allows them to make music autonomously. This will take-on various forms in concert settings, like performing in chamber ensembles, writing their own compositions, and performing large ensemble works with no conductor.”
Growing the size of the band program through increased recruitment efforts is on the top of his to-do list.
The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. and will run just over an hour, and open with the SOU Jazz Band a lively rendition of Johnette Downing’s “A Second Line Funeral,” with “A Closer Walk with Thee” arranged by Gonzalez, and “Oh, When the Saints” a traditional brass band arrangement.
Swinging Jazz will continue with “You and Me, written by Teddy, 24, and Vince, “Pastime Paradise,” by Stevie Wonder, and “3AM Bounce” by Reggie Pace. After a brief pause for set change, the concert will then shift to feature the SOU Wind Ensemble who will perform “Bambuco” by Victoriano Valencia, “Ocho Minaturas para Pequeña Banda by Juan Antonio Cuéllar, “Serenade” by Katahj Copley, and then Steve Reich’s “Music for Pieces of Wood.”
The SOU Saxophone Quartet directed by Faculty Emeritus Rhett Bender will perform Saxophone Quartet Op. 109, Movement II “Theme and Variations” by Alexander Glazunov.
The feature title piece “Earth Song” by Ticheli and “From the Delta” by William Grant Still will wrap up the concert.
Tickets are available in-person at the OCA Box Office Monday-Friday from noon-6 p.m. on the Southern Oregon University Campus. Seating is general admission for all concerts and ticket prices are: $15 per person/$10 for seniors. Livestreams are free. For tickets call the OCA Box Office at 541.552.6348 or purchase online at sou.universitytickets.com. For programs, additional concert details, and a list of all performances for 24-25 please visit our website at oca.sou.edu/events
