Program Notes

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Intrepid Brass Band members Fall 2025 (in alphabetical order by section)

Music Director

Lucas Hulett

Trumpet

Emaleigh Batson, Parker Holuska, Rick Moose, Greg Rincker, Ryan Royle, Nick Schroeder, Jordan Tyree, Dalton Williams, Dick Wilson

Horn

Harrison Goertz, Courtney Houston, Meri Hulett, Julie Sharp, Wyatt Smith

Trombone

Christian Chase, Randy Crow, Harrison Koppenhaver, Greg Moose, Martha Sánchez, Alexis Stidham, Aidan Stubby, Rob Tierney, Josephine Trout

Euphonium

Tristan Calabrese, Joshua Carter, Tia Ruder

Tuba

Ben Anderson, Jayme Hayes

Percussion

Nathan Lawson, Hannah Leslie, Jameson Parks, Andy Slater

 

Program Notes:

Richard Strauss (June 1864- September 1949) is arguably the pinnacle of programmatic musical storytelling. Being born into a family with both financial support and access to the musical community gave significant advantage to a young Strauss, who began composing by the age of six. His home was frequented by prominent musicians, composers, and conductors of his day, and his opportunity to study piano, violin, and composition was an integral part of his early years. His acceptance to the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich was marked by a desire to study art history and philosophy, but his compositional and performative talents led him to the Meiningen Court Orchestra in Berlin, where he would study and eventually embrace conducting.

Strauss continually found himself in proximity to amazing musical opportunity. His career as a conductor included organizations like The Bavarian State Opera, the Beyruth Festival, the Berlin and Vienna State Operas, the Reichsmusikkhammer, and the Deutches Nationaltheatre und Staatskapelle Weimar. He was also charged with the premier of major symphonies and operas, and was chiefly responsible for the founding of the Salzburg Festival. As a composer, Strauss was equally at home on the orchestral or operatic stages, both genres affording him international acclaim. His works were reputed for being richly textured and deeply personal, often stitching his impressions of his personal relationships into the musical patchwork. The most notable characterizations included his loving spirited wife, his dismissal of his critics, his dismay at the developing Nazi regime, and his own ego. 

Strauss was loathe to meet a musician he did not admire, and attracted compositional techniques and interpretive skill at a rate near unheard of. Depending on the stage in his career, influences of such notable names as Franz Liszt, Richard Wagner, Johannes Brahms, Gustav Mahler, W. A. Mozart, Felix Mendelssohn, Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, and Alexander Ritter can be detected in his ever-evolving compositional style. Over a storied compositional and conducting career, Strauss would blend techniques of orchestration and melody into some of the most magnificent and complex tone poems ever created. 

Tonite’s program begins with prestige and pomp. The Weiner Philharmoniker Fanfare is an epic fanfare for expanded brass, and can be treated as a condensed treatise for how Strauss viewed the capabilities of brass instruments. This is especially notable since Germany and Austria have historically been regions where brass playing is revered beyond the academic or musical social circles, and brass musicians of world class caliber tend to either originate or eventually reside. One can imagine Strauss’ father, who was a French horn player of repute in his own right, had significant influence over Strauss’ concept of the capabilities of brass instruments.

 

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Johannes Brahms (May 1833 – April 1897) is generally regarded as a bridge between the worlds of strict classical music and the development of the romantic compositional style. Born into a stereotypically musical family, Brahms’ childhood was rich musically, if not consistent financially. His training came primarily from his father and his colleagues, who were all under the impression the young Johannes possessed great promise as a pianist or violinist. He himself was obsessed with composing from an early age, apparently enamored by the structural possibilities afforded to a well crafted ensemble. His compositional style was modeled after J. S. Bach, W. A. Mozart, Franz Schubert, F. J. Haydn, and L. V. Beethoven, as given to him by his main instructor Eduardo Marxsen. 

Brahms’ compositional talent and dedication carried him into the circles of many prominent musicians. Some notable influences came from Ede Reményi (responsible for the csardas influence in the Hungarian Dances), Joseph Joachim (who became a lifelong compositional confidant), and his famed relationship with Robert and Clara Schumann. The praise bestowed upon a young Brahms by the Schumann’s led to his first widely-recognized publication, firmly establishing him as a reputable composer in the European musical canon. 

Notable works include his four grand symphonies, several concertos and overtures, variations on themes by admired composers Handel, Haydn, and Paganini, and the spectacularly tragic German Requiem, written primarily upon the passing of his mother. Brahms was highly trained in counterpoint and formal compositional theory, and his instrumental works reflect a sense of rigid formulaic structure. Indeed, he was endorsed as a great bastion of absolute music, which is to say music written without a particular narrative but for the sake of its own existence. 

The Academic Festival Overture presented tonite is not in its original orchestration. Originally written for a full symphony orchestra, the version presented tonite was arranged for brass and percussion by Michael Allen. This creates a unique challenge for the Intrepid Ensemble. The arrangement still harkens after the colors originally presented by the multiple strings and woodwinds found in the original version. Trumpets, trombones, horns, tubas, and euphoniums are expected to act in flowing bowed styles, imitate pizzicato, or emulate arpeggiations and scales typically exhibited by woodwind instruments.

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Jan Sandström (January 1954 – present) is a native of Stockholm/Vilhelmina, and his musical texture carries much of the sensitivity that accompanies Swedish, Swiss, and Nordic composition. As his website states; Sandström often deals with the naive, ordinary feelings, ordinary people, the misunderstood hero. A critic once wrote that he composes “music that pats you on the hand and says ‘there, there, it’ll be all right.’”

Sandström’s formal musical education was brief but thorough, with teachers including Valdemar Sölderholm, Gunnar Bucht, Brian Ferneyhough, and Pär Lindgren. His main studies occurred at the University School of Music in Piteå and the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm, where his focus was on theory, composition, and counterpoint. Eventually Sandström was asked to return to Piteå as a professor of composition.

Originally a chorister, Sandström draws much of his musical texture from catholic origins. Religious centers have always been bastions of musical development and enrichment, and the themes of love, peace, and serenity hold great presence in both Sandström’s choral and instrumental work. The Sång till Lotta for Solo Trombone and Piano is an immaculate example of this idea, with the round richness of the solo voice amplified by sympathetic tones from the supporting brass thoughtfully arranged by Brian Bindner.

About tonite’s soloist: Rob Tierney is an accomplished and in demand professional trombonist and educator. Currently serving as trombone professor at Friends University, he also holds the chair of Bass Trombone with the Salina Symphony Orchestra. Other groups Mr. Tierney currently performs with in the Wichita area are the Wichita Grand Opera, Intrepid Brass Band, and Intrepid Brass Quintet. Mr. Tierney holds a Bachelor’s of Music Education from the Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam with performance certificates in Trombone and Euphonium, and a Master’s Degree in Trombone Performance from the New England Conservatory. Rob lives in west Wichita with his wife Charisse and their seven children.

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Johann Sebastian Bach (March 1685 – July 1750). Just the name carries influence in the minds of people in western culture, from the most casual listener to the highest connoisseur. Taught by his father and raised by his elder siblings, a teenaged Bach showed a proclivity for exceptionally difficult music. This aptitude manifested in a stipend to St. Michael’s School in Lüneburg, and upon graduation a post as assistant to the organist in the Weimar Court, a post he would eventually inhabit himself.

Inhabiting such a renowned position gave Bach access to the must modern of instruments, tuning systems, and compositional styles from across Europe. His time in the Weimar Court was spent developing his mathematical contrapunctal  style, magnified by skill at the harpsichord and organ, as well as his developing cantata responsibilities. After Weimar, Bach settled in Cöthen, where proximity to a near unparalleled level of instrumental musicianship in the princely court manifested in some of his most well known works. These would include the French Suites, the Brandenburg Concertos, and the developing Well Tempered Klavier.

The passing of the prince meant a shift for the now revered Bach. His next position was in Leipzig, where the lion’s share of his religious work was developed, due partially to his appointment as director of the Collegium Musicum. Recognizable works from this time include the second installment of the Well Tempered Klavier, the Goldberg Variations, the Mass in B Minor, and the tome The Art of the Fugue. 

Bach’s prominence in the organ world is beyond legendary, acting as a magnetic north for composers who would subsequently explore the instrument’s capabilities. Brass arrangers detected a kinship between the resonant power of the keyed instrument and a well structured ensemble of wind players. Many of Bach’s fugues, preludes, and toccatas have been translated into arrangements for brass ensembles of various sizes. The compiling overtones from a well balanced group is a near mimic of the sometimes overwhelming force of the baroque pipe organs, and the intricate solo compositional style is both enticing and challenging for a collective of musicians.

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Alexander Tcherepnin (January 189l – September 1977) was a composer of incredible lineage. His father, sons, and grandsons were all prominent composers in their time, and all able to trace their musical lineage back to the iconic Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Unsurprisingly Tcherepnin tended to write in a rhythmic, percussive manner, including a partial symphonic work intended entirely for percussion.

Originally from Saint Petersburg, Tcherepnin was able to take incredible advantage of the concentration of musical knowledge at the Conservatory Nikolay Sokolov and the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. His family would eventually depart Russia due to political uprisings, eventually landing in France, where he was able to take education at the Paris Conservatory. By 1925 Tcherepnin was traveling internationally as a composer and as a soloist, with travels taking him literally around the globe, from the United States to Japan and China. After WWII he would take his family to settle in Chicago and take up professorship at DePaul University, where he continued to take significant commissions for the likes of the Chicago Symphony and Boston Symphony Orchestras. 

Tcherepnin was highly inventive, and enjoyed experimenting with not just instruments but tonalities. He experimented with all kinds of modal and Georgian scales, pentatonic and octatonic scales, and even developed what was eventually titled the Tcherepnin scale, as catagorized by boundary pushing composer Oliver Messiaen. Tcherepnin would eventually record all his tonal techniques in the dense but enlightening musical monograph “Basic Elements of My Musical Language,” which is now regular study for modern students of composition.

The Fanfare for Brass and Percussion can safely be referred to as stereotypically Russian. The opening intervals carry drama and suspense, but quickly give way to a sort of street carnival scene. The scene degrades into a series of slow, dramatic solos carried primarily by the trumpet, before being forcefully interrupted by clanging punctuated harmonic stacking. The original carnival eventually returns, and brings the fanfare to a rousing conclusion.

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Michael Kamen (April 1948 – November 2003) is a stellar example of how academic musicianship acts a basis for a wide variety of musical needs at all cultural levels. Growing up in New York allowed for a diverse set of opportunities, stemming primarily from the fertile creative ground of the High School of Music And Art. Graduation led easily into enrollment at the famed Juliard School, where Kamen cut his compositional teeth on ballets and chamber music.

Kamen’s ideas and arrangements have had substantial impact on the world of pop culture. Musicians who sought his work to amplify their projects include Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, Herbie Hancock, Bryan Adams, Kate Bush, and David Bowie. This involvement ranged from simple arrangements for parts of albums (such as orchestrating November Rain for Guns ‘n Roses), to massive global participation (like joining Roger Waters at his Berlin performance of The Wall in 1990).

Kamen also enjoyed widespread film success. His soundtrack participation includes The Three Musketeers, 101 Dalmatians, Highlander, Die Hard, Mr. Holland’s Opus, WALL-E, and The Iron Giant. Based on the widespread appeal he enjoyed, it is clear Kamen felt no restriction of genre, format of storytelling, or depiction of character. He also felt a need to express the social contributions that music has to offer by way of establishing The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation in 1996, which supports music education and instrument distribution to underserved music programs through the USA.

The arrangement that Intrepid Brass presents today is an expansion of the direct commission by the world-renowned Canadian Brass in 2002, only one year before Kamen’s passing. This piece is a haunting blend of harmonic simplicity and melodic directness. A listener will notice the French Horn as a prominent voice, highlighted by occasional parallel writing with a trombone or trumpet. The melodies are longing, and hold a continuous melancholy quality despite the continuous asserting of the simplest possible major key. This Dectet is appropriate both on the chamber stage and as a soundtrack for film or television. It is truly a fitting parting thought from the musings of Kamen’s imagination. 

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Robert Ward (September 1917 – April 2013) was an American composer of incredible pedigree. Born in Ohio, raised on choral music, and educated in New York, his schooling includes the Eastman Conservatory, the Juilliard School of Music, and the Berkshire Music Center. Teachers of note include Howard Hanson, Frederick Jacobi, Albert Stoessel, Edgar Schenkman, and the iconic Aaron Copland. Other oft observed influences include George Gershwin and Paul Hindemith.

Ward cut his compositional teeth in his classical education, but extended his experience on the battlefield. He enlisted in the Army in 1942 and attended the Army Music School at Fort Meyer, where he was appointed Director of Bands. His military accolades were both musical and martial. Ward’s time isn’t the Pacific theater was marked by jazz works, large scale orchestral compositions, a classic military march, and two Bronze Star medals for meritorious service during attacks on the Aleutian Islands and the island of Attu.

Ward’s return to civilian life included a professorship at Juilliard, as well as an associate position at Columbia University. His many other decorated position throughout his life include Conductor of the Doctors Orchestral Society of New York, Music Director of the Third Street Music School Settlement, Executive VP of the Galaxy Music Corporation, Managing Editor of High Gate Press, and Chancellor of the North Carolina School of the Arts. He remained highly active as a composer throughout his cumulative tenure, 

The mammoth Fantasia that concludes our program tonite is a marathon work, stitching together extensive textures and intricate inner lines into a masterwork of academic composition. The astute listener will notice punctuating fanfares, rich and resonant choirs of like instruments, echoed lines being reflected in stereo across the ensemble, and dramatic unaccompanied solos. Lucas, Meri, and all the members of Intrepid Brass are extremely grateful for your attendance and indulgence. The development and presentation of live music is a crucial pillar in every community, and your presence here means the world to all of us!

Notes by Dalton Williams, September 2025

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