Program Information
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PERSONNEL:
Lucas Hulett – Artistic Director, tuba soloist
Dalton Williams – Assistant Conductor, trumpet
TRUMPET:
Madison Arthur, Josh Bergman, Emaleigh Batson, Nate Boone, Bret Goter, Parker Holuska, Kellon Johnsen, Rick Moose, Greg Rincker, Mason Tyler, Dalton Williams, Dick Wilson
HORN:
Harrison Goertz, Just Howdeshell, Zach Jenkins, Wade Mirasol, Julie Sharp, Terry Tomt
TROMBONE:
Michael Castillo, Randy Crow, Michael Feng, Luke Goter, Dominic Grizzle, Martha Sanchez, Alexis Stidham, Aidan Stubby, Rob Tierney, Eduardo Orona Villanueva
EUPHONIUM:
Joshual Carter, Thomas Mariscal
TUBA:
Ben Anderson, Jayme Hayes, Jeff Yearout
PERCUSSION:
Micah Bolton, Meri Hulett, Hannah Leslie
PIANO:
Alex Pack
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PROGRAM NOTES:
Alice Gomez, b. 1960: Fanfare for the Forgotten Empire
Alice Gomez has served as Composer-In‐Residence with the award winning San Antonio Symphony, the Midland‐Odessa Symphony, the Performing Arts Center of Gallup, New Mexico, and the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, a renowned Chicano music and arts center in Texas. Gomez has received numerous composer awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Internationally recognized for her concert music, compositions, musical talent and creativity, Gomez’s contributions to a multitude of musical genres is widely acclaimed.
Currently, Gomez’s compositions are used at many institutions of higher learning, elite universities, and schools of musical study around the world. Her current work is in symphony, ballet, opera and underscoring for film, theater, and drama. Gomez also continues to compose chamber music, instrumental and choral collections that are unique in the cultural aspect that only Gomez can provide.
The program for tonites performance commences with the highly rhythmically aggressive Fanfare for the Forgotten Empire. This number is hallmarked by layered ostinatos, designed to battle and conflict in a manner appropriate to a warrior’s soundtrack. The reliance on percussion is substantial, given that many of the rhythms are offset from the main pattern in the form of hemiolas, syncopations, or blatant shifting of the beat. Tension builds to a terrifying head in the final moments of this fanfare, where outright chaos overtakes the ensemble before a dark and dramatic final chord.
“Fanfare for the Forgotten Empire pays homage to the ancient civilizations of Mexico. Brass and percussion instruments were selected for this composition because of their similarity to indigenous instruments of the Aztec and Maya. Horns made from hollowed out tree trunks, carved wooden drums and xylophones made of slabs of stone were all musical instruments commonly found in these cultures.” -Alice Gomez
*program notes sourced from alicegomezmusic.com and cimarronmusic.com
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David Uber, b. 1921, d. 2007: Ballets in Brass
A committed musical academic and performer, David Uber’s career was dappled with distinguished laurels. A graduate of Carthage College and the prestigious and selective Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, his trombone carried him through a stint in the US Navy Band before returning to higher education at Colombia University, where he earned both a Master of Arts and a Doctorate in Music Education. Uber found gainsome musical work in the New York City Ballet and Opera orchestras, the NBC Symphony and NBC Television Opera, and the New York and Contemporary Brass Quintet projects, before settling into an extensive career in education and directorship.
Uber’s natural proficiency as an educator led him through many notable programs, such as the National Music Camp at Interlochen, the Westminster Choir College, and Princeton University. The majority of his academic achievements took place over a 33 year professorship at Trenton College. A major priority was commissions of new works by American composers and touring with these premier ensembles of academia to present and promote the expanding of the wind band repertory.
In addition to his evident talent as a performer and educator, Uber was a dedicated composer who eventually won international recognition. Most of his commissioned works were requested by exceptional schools including Princeton, Dakota State College, and Hillsborough High School, but 1992 witnessed a premier of the Processional for World Peace, commissioned by none other than the Nobel Peace Prize Forum.
The 1970 Ballets in Brass are modeled after classic dance forms, and are well suited to the setting their title implies. Originally for brass sextet, each of the six movements depict a short scene intended to invoke fluid rhythmic movement and gentle transitions between ideas. A listener with a passion for classic stage ballet will find special appreciation for the subtle techniques that bring the seemingly antiquated titles and concepts into a more contemporary setting.
*program notes compiled from windrep.org, jubilantemusic.com, and kendormusic.com
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Jacques Offenbach, b. 1819, d. 1880: The Infernal Galop (Can-Can)
Jacques Offenbach was born in Cologne in Prussia, under the name Jakob, going by Jacques in later years to blend his German-Jewish heritage with his French studies. His father Issac was a defiantly musical man, making a living as a synagogue cantor and a café violinist, though he also dabbled in guitar and flute, and acted impartial between the choices of secular and religious music. The young Offenbach began studies with his father at age six, and was an absorbent student, rapidly taking to composing original songs and dances, and settling eventually on the cello as his instrument of choice by age nine, with instruction coming from Bernhard Breuer. Offenbach’s fearless aptitude was such that his original cello compositions stretched the limits of the instrument by age twelve, with his own master reporting terror and awe at the technical difficulties involved.
In 1833 Offenbach was transported out of his native city by his optimistic father to Paris, with intent to audition at the Paris Conservatoire. His audition left high impression upon the receiving committee headed by Luigi Cherubini, who authorized Offenbach’s immediate admission. However, the official record states that after one year of study, he and the Conservatoire parted ways, citing nothing more severe than boredom with the life of an academic. Offenbach’s instrumental skill and compositional insight could not be repressed by educational stiffness nor the threat of poverty, and he continually found his way into the circles of capable and respected musicians such as cellist Louis-Pierre Norblin, composer Friedrich von Flotow, and conductor Louis-Antoine Julien.
Offenbach was surely a gifted cellist, but his heart’s true desire was to compose for the stage. His newfound friends in the scenes of the Parisian salons assisted in promoting his works, and he began to achieve commission by the Theatre du Palais-Royale by 1838. His commissions led to a wider circle of reverence, and his popularity swelled. Within the following decade Offenbach would encounter and charm the likes of Julius Benedict, Felix Mendelssohn, and Joseph Joachim, as well as prominent non-musical societal figures including Queen Victoria, The Russian Emperor, and the King of Saxony.
By all accounts Offenbach was a man of humor, self-indulgence , and mischief. His tendency to disrupt both rehearsal and performance was well-catalogued amongst his peers, and he found his pay docked more than once by orchestral managers as a result of exasperation at his inability to control himself. He enjoyed employing risqué and occasionally outright inappropriate subject matter in his works, which would occasionally take a turn towards the burlesque, eventually resulting in a new French sub-genre termed operette. Offenbach used this platform to commit social, historic, and political parody and satire, and was seemingly unconcerned with any impact on his personal status that did not involve outright bodily danger. This eventually led to what could be termed perpetual disquiet, as the political upsets of France and Prussia saw him caught in the middle, with the former accusing him of being an enemy sympathizer, and the latter considering him a traitor to his homeland.
Offenbach’s Infernal Galop has carved itself a thoroughly cemented position in the global musical canon as one of the most recognizable and beloved compositions of all time. This rushing celebratory number was crafted to conclude one of the earliest operatic productions ever composed. Despite the overall harmonic simplicity, the sensation of urgency demonstrated by the flying scales, decorated arpeggios, and powerful open intervals well highlight the original Orphic narrative for which it was intended. The original orchestration also featured dramatic instrumental blends, such as underlying the woodwinds with thumping percussion, or highlighting extensive chords in the high brass with unison sawing strings. This brief two minute coda is the ideal halfway marker of this evenings performance, and well suited to introducing our soloist.
*program notes sourced from wikipedia.org, usuo.org,
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Anthony O’Toole, b. 1988,: HiJinks for Solo Tuba
Anthony O’Toole holds a BA in Music Theory and Composition from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a MM of Composition from George Mason University, where he was recognized as a distinguished graduate for his achievements as a composer and musician. Since he began writing in his teens he has composed more than 150 works over the last 15 years and has written for virtually every major idiom and instrument. Mr. O’Toole is primarily self-taught as a composer but credits his mentors, Jack Stamp and Mark Camphouse, as being pivotal to his development as a composer and musician. Anthony has also had the opportunity to learn and engage with many respected composers such as Richard Danielpour, Dana Wilson, Frank Ticheli, Cindy McTee, George Crumb, David Martynuik, Ryan Nowlin, and others.
Anthony O’Toole’s music has been commissioned, performed and recorded by some of the finest bands including the United States Coast Guard Band, The Kansas State University Wind Ensemble, ‘The President’s Own’ United States Marine Band, The University of North Texas Wind Symphony, The St. Olaf Band, Blossom Festival Band of the Cleveland Orchestra, The Singapore Wind Symphony, The West Point and Air Force Academy Bands, and The Alabama Winds. His piece “Fanfare to ‘The Hammer’” is featured in the 10th edition of the GIA Publications series ‘Teaching Music Through Performance in Band’ and ‘Prelude to Something Big’ is in the 11th edition – the Concerto for Tuba and the Concerto for Euphonium can be found in the ‘Solos with Wind Band Accompaniment’ edition. These volumes feature a recording by the UNT Wind Symphony and an in-depth analysis of the work. Hammer also appears in the ‘Sourcebook for Wind Band and Instrumental Music’ by Russ Girsberger, Frank L. Battisti, and William Berz. All of Mr. O’Toole’s wind band music as of 2016 is also included in The Band Music Handbook: A Catalog of Emerging Band Repertoire by Christopher M. Cicconi. In 2020 Mr. O’Toole had the honor of contributing as well as co-editing, along with Dr. Jack Stamp, a new series of wind band transcriptions of a dozen Ralph Vaughan Williams works. The series is published through GIA and Oxford University Press.
He has received numerous awards for his compositions including the Grand Prize in the 2012 Garritan Composition Contest, and Second Place in the 2014 Van Galen Prize for wind chamber music, and his piece ‘Electrons Dancing’ won the 2019 Southwest American Prize in the Large Ensemble category. In 2014 Mr. O’Toole was inducted into the Sigma Alpha Iota Music Fraternity as an honorary member for his musical contributions. He is also a member of Phi Mu Alpha Music Fraternity, ASCAP and The American Composer’s Federation. Anthony currently resides in Los Angeles, CA where he fulfills his commissions for new works and does orchestrations and arrangements as a freelance writer; he also serves as Composer-in-Residence for the Carson Symphony Orchestra and Staff Arranger for the Southern California Brass Consortium.
HiJinks was commissioned by Adam Crowe in 2012 and premiered along with the United States Coast Guard Band in 2013. This piece features the tuba in a variety of musical adventures. Soloists describe the music as jaunty, goofy, wacky, or silly, doubtless referring to the occasionally unconventional orchestration. The music starts in a meditative mood, and devolves over the course of the performance, oscillating between straight ahead danceable melodies, burbling harmonies, and outright cacophony. The arrangement presented this evening was developed by the soloist specifically for Intrepid Brass with the casual blessing of the composer.
*programs notes sourced from anthonyotoolemusic.weebly.com and windrep.org
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Camille Saint-Saëns b. 1835, d. 1921: Danse Macabre
Camille Saint-Saëns was a native of Paris and an embodiment of 19th century Parisian culture. Raised primarily by his encouraging mother and aunt, he studied piano from the age of two, when it was discovered he possessed perfect pitch. He experimented with composition around the same time, with his first completed piece arriving at age four. His talent and skill was such to earn him admission to the Paris Conservatoire at the young age of twelve, where his compositional study began with Fromental Halévy. The young Saint-Saëns was bright and curious. His musical interests were amplified by intense study in many creative and intellectual areas, and his natural tendency towards lifelong learning garnered him many notable colleagues throughout his career.
After a two year stint at the Conservatoire, Saint-Saëns obtained a post as a church organist at the Church of Saint Merri in 1853. This position kept him musically active in both religious and secular musical communities. He wasted no time in establishing a name as a powerful composer, with his first symphony premiering at age 18, and a prolific exploration of symphonic and concerto forms rising from his pen in the following six years. By 1877 he had upgraded his position to organist at the Église de la Madeleine, a highly notorious and coveted position that further grounded his legacy as an extraordinary musical talent.
While the vast majority of his canon took the form of chamber works, Saint-Saëns has several notable larger compositions that are easily discovered in grander concert halls. Purveyors of symphonic literature are doubtless familiar with his 3rd symphony, distinct for its prominent use of the organ (not unexpected for a keyboardist of his caliber). Also frequently witnessed – particularly in performances meant to introduce young listeners to orchestral colors – is the Carnival of the Animals. Saint-Saëns also dabbled in his early career with operatic composition, his greatest success being a rendering of Sampson et Delila. He also holds the remarkable distinction of being the first composer to create a musical score for motion picture in 1908. Regardless of the setting or seriousness, Saint-Saëns is considered a composer possessing great levity, displaying Romantic sentiment and natural fluidity.
For all practical definitions, Saint-Saëns could be considered one of the greatest geniuses of the compositional world, being posthumously compared to and even venerated above the likes of Mozart by composer Harold Schonberg. His keyboard talents were legendary through his entire life, even among such contemporary luminaries as Franz Liszt and Hector Berlioz. But his compositional mind was unusually prolific for his era, with over 150 catalogued opus numbers and over one hundred uncatalogued pieces. Saint-Saëns compositional style imitates his apparent personal character: blurring lines between thoughtful and playful, but always gently uncompromising. Indeed, his lifespan covered the incredible debut of a wealth of romantic and impressionistic compositions, but his personal style was steadfast at best and obstinate at worst. Saint-Saëns was committed to his own ideological style from the beginning through the conclusion.
Saint-Saëns’ symphonic poem Danse Macabre is a spectacularly angular mutation of traditional waltz concepts. This dramatic exposition is known for its spookiness, switching rapidly between placid major harmonies and aggressive chromatic clashings. This is doubtful one of Saint-Saëns’ most well known works. Like many famous composers, this dance has made its way into popular culture mediums such as movie soundtracks and commercial advertisements. The popularity of the piece has led to many permutations: there are versions for piano, piano and solo instrument, chamber groups of all manner, all the way up to full symphonic renditions. The version presented tonite is a mostly complete rendering of the original form, with some of the more cadential moments demonstrated in renditions for solo violin being tastefully omitted in favor of the larger vision.
*program notes compiled from chambermusicsociety.org, windrep.org, and Wikipedia.org
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Ottorino Respighi, b. 1879, d. 1936: Ancient Airs and Dances
When examining the life of Ottorino Respighi, it would be natural to see that he was destined to gain a foothold in the imagination and academic canon of the 20th century. His birth in Bologna was to a fortuitously musical household, and his father, an avid pianist, gave the young Respighi a love of performance which translated into violin and viola studies at the Liceo Musicale di Bologna. His studies at this prominent local academy led organically to an interest in composition, and his talent led him to the offices of Italian notables including Guiseppe Martucci and Luigi Torchi. Respighi’s musical aptitude led him to Russia by the turn of the 1900s, where he discovered his most influential compositional instructor, the eminent master of modern storytelling through orchestration, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
After his studies in Russia and his tenure performing in the Russian Imperial Theatre orchestra, Respighi returned to Italy in 1913 and settled in Rome, where he took a position as a professor of composition at the Liceo Musicale di Santa Cecilia. His time inhabiting this professorhood witnessed the creation of some of Respighi’s most beloved and enduring symphonic works, operas of both comic and tragic nature, and study and redevelopment of historic sacred compositional practices. After a decade of compositional tenure, Respighi took the position of director of the Conservatorio de Santa Cecilia in 1923. He maintained an active studio, passing on the secrets of profound orchestral development and depiction, and contributed regularly to his own library of work until an undeservedly early passing in 1936.
Naturally Respighi was drawn to prosaic depictions of Rome, ancient and modern, and his most revered compositions describe numerous aspects of the Eternal City. Avid listeners will recognize titles such as the Fountains of Rome, Church Windows, Roman Festival, The Birds, and the iconic Pines of Rome, which made use of the gramophone as a member of the percussion section to depict literal birdsong in the midst of Respighi’s subtle orchestral coloring and was highlighted by Disney in their feature film Fantasia 2000.
A composer of significant descriptive insight, Respighi can be viewed as a coalescence of all his most prominent predecessors. Musicologists and historians have traced elements of Strauss and Rimsky-Korsakov, Debussy and Wagner, Berlioz, Puccini, Rossini, and Mahler in all of Respighis most insightful works. His depictive programmatic skill was borne of a deep resonance with the world around him, as well as an uncanny ability to retain distinct memories and sensations and translate them into compelling musical motifs, motors, and harmonies.
The Ancient Airs and Dances that conclude tonites program are a series of six Neo-Italian scenes, inspired by baroque and pre-baroque techniques and pulled from a larger catalogue of brief compositions originally for a more expansive orchestration. The scenes are written in such a manner as to deceive the listener, for the instant one becomes complacent with the trajectory a melody pursues, Respighi offers a twist of key, a compliment of rhythm, a shift in pacing, as to attract the listener further back in time. This particular arrangement is for brass dectet. In order to preserve the chamber nature of James Haynor’s arrangement, this significantly expanded ensemble is embracing a pseudo-antiphonal schema. This is an imitation of what was termed cori spezzati, a technique pioneered by Giovanni Gabrieli in the gothic cathedrals and churches of his time by placing opposing brass choirs in the sanctuary with the conductor and audience suspended in-between the resulting stereo effect.
*program notes sourced from britannica.com, Dover Editions Publications, and classicalarchives.com
Notes by Dalton Williams, September 2026
Subscribe to our mailing list HERE for concert announcements and quarterly newsletters!
Thank you for your attendance! Your support and energy make live music events a possibility, and we are so happy you decided to join us today!