Wind Symphony
The Hounds of Spring – Alfred Reed
"When the hounds of spring are on winter's traces..."
This line, stemming from a poem by Algernon Charles Swinburne, entitled Atalanta in Calydon, inspired Alfred Reed to capture both the elements of "exuberant, youthful gaiety" and "the sweetness of tender love" in his aptly named, traditional overture, The Hounds of Spring.
The first time I heard this song, the boisterous beginning transported me back to my excited discovery of Formation Wind Band: I'd received a follow request from them in the Spring of 2023, and I thought, An all female wind ensemble—in Seattle?! Dreamy! Shortly after that, Formation posted an ad inviting more women musicians to join, and even though I lived all the way up in Bellingham, the idea of playing in a wind band composed entirely of women called to me. It chased me like those Hounds of Spring! An 85-minute drive both ways every Sunday for five weeks? Bring. It. On.
The energy filling that room was indeed exuberant and youthful. I witnessed women of all ages empowering one another through laughter, gaiety, and supportive feedback. The space held, allowing for us to be vulnerable in both our musicianship and in our personal lives, refreshed and impressed me, and I was utterly hooked in love with Formation Wind Band. May I never recover.
Please join me in welcoming to the podium our brilliant guest conductor, Anita Kumar!
-Mary-Claire Ramirez
Riften Wed – Julie Giroux
Video games sometimes get a bad rap – from the first days of Pong and my parents threatening to cut the cord off of the television if we didn’t go outside to my stint as an Everquest Widow in the late 90s as MMORPGs exploded onto the market (What’s that you say? Why it stands for massively multiplayer online role playing games of course!) – video games have been dividing attentions between reality and fantasy. My now husband loved them so much, I even attempted to
play, just to get more time with him. He even gave me his spare armor so I was a pretty twinked out level 3 paladin.
One of the delights that has come out of video games is the soundtracks that accompany them. New compositions have flourished in this new outlet and some of the most beautiful themes developed in the past 30 years are connected to
video games.
This next piece, Riften Wed is a composition by Julie Giroux for a MMORPG called Skyrim. From the score notes: “In Skyrim, if so desired, your spouse can and will fight beside you. They will die for you or with you. For most of them, that death is permanent. You cannot remarry (not without cheating anyway). What was is over and there will be no other. Being the hopeless romantic that I am, I found the whole situation intriguing and heart wrenching especially if related or injected into real world circumstances. In one instance while playing the game, I emerged from the chapel with my brand new husband only to have him killed later that evening in a vicious full-on vampire attack right outside the temple. (Hey! No fair! I knew I should have married a warrior and not a merchant. I restarted the game.) Skyrim weddings are happening in the middle of a world full of violence, disease, war and death. Something Earth is all too familiar with.
‘Riften Wed’ is the music for loves and unions, past and present such as this. A love, a wedding, a lifetime shared by two people in the middle of a storm that threatens to tear them apart. Where “‘til death do us part” is not only a reality, it’s
a given. Where love is a gift worthy of all the joy and pain it demands. One life, one love, one ending. This music is for those that are truly ‘Riften Wed.’”
I won’t say video games brought us together, but I like to think my willingness to embrace his interests helped seal the deal – Love is about embracing the entirety of our partner, and growing and learning about each other and the world we travel through together. Our 25th Wedding Anniversary is this July, so I think it’s safe to say we’re Riften Wed.
-Lorraine Thurston
Love and Nature – Gala Flagello
Love & Nature (2024) was commissioned by a consortium of wind bands, including Formation Wind Band, and explores how love prevails through cosmic lore, social movements, and mercurial mythos. Each of the work's three movements connect a different instrumental sound world to the concepts of earth, air, and fire, depicting a blossoming of kindness and hope for the future of our planet. The first movement, "Flower Power," is inspired by the titular social movement of the 1960s–1970s and sonically critiques the juxtaposition of fragility and strength, beauty and utility, and nonviolence and force. "Flower Power" reflects the ethos of Marc Riboud's iconic photograph The Ultimate Confrontation: The Flower and the Bayonet and incorporates a musical Easter egg—a countermelody for counterculture. The second movement, "Star-Crossed," summons the hope, whimsy, and longing of its ill-fated protagonists through celestial textures and luminous scoring. The third and final movement, "Slow Burn," explores both versions of the titular literary trope—romantic and anger-fueled—through the arboraceous lens of controlled fire, an originally indigenous practice that mitigates the drought-driven effects of climate change. "Slow Burn" foregrounds bright and wooden sounds to pay homage to our forests and the necessity of ecological restoration.
-Nancy Gove
The Indigo Train – Joel Love
This next piece, Indigo Train, was composed by Joel Love, which fits the concert theme perfectly, “All You Need is Joel”, right? Just kidding! It’s obviously “All You Need is Trains”, transportation is everything. Let’s go back in time, around 2015 the Port Neches-Grove High School Band director commissions Love to compose a piece about his father, Gary Wells,
who was also Love’s high school band director. Talk about connections. Love pulled inspiration for Indigo Train from the high school’s colors, described as “purple-or indigo-and white”, and from Gary Well’s locomotive past- a childhood surrounded by trains and then working around them for a time. Hence, Indigo and Train, Indigo Train.
Now how does any of this produce a blues-style piece like Indigo Train? I’m glad you asked. Love connects, and I quote, that the “Trains inspire images of the deep south and the rich history of the blues, which was born there and eventually
traveled up the Mississippi to Chicago” end quote. As an elementary music teacher who lives in beautiful chaos on the daily, I love this piece. From start to finish you are on a wild ride that starts in a rail yard all mysterious, then you’re moving between train cars each with their own style and vibe, until finally the train is ready to go. This train adventure is
painted by the bluesy and even sultry solos throughout (I’m not going to tell you who, you’ll just have to listen).
Not just the story of it though, Indigo Train has also become one of my favorite challenges with the 10/8 time signature and the lack of musical measures replaced with literal measurements like 10”. I mean, how often does
a bassoonist get to be bluesy and use a ruler!
So, all aboard and strap in *train whistle* Indigo Train is getting ready to leave the station!
-Savanna Johnson
Halcyon Hearts – Katahj Copley
love does not
delight in evil-
but rejoices
with the truth
it will always
protect
trust
hope
and persevere
for you-
love never fails.
The effect of love on humanity is abundant and I think we forget that from time to time. Regardless of race, gender, religion, or indifference, we are all united by a common thread: passion and love.
Centered around the warmth that love brings, Halcyon Hearts takes us on an unexpected journey to find love. While this love may result to be romantic for some, to me is about the moment someone finds their passion. Using colors, natural energy, and passion, I created a sound of ambition for the ensemble.
I would like to dedicate this piece to those who love all of mankind- no matter the negativity around you. Let love be love and always choose it- when you do, the halcyon days will come.
-Katahj Copley
"When the hounds of spring are on winter's traces..."
This line, stemming from a poem by Algernon Charles Swinburne, entitled Atalanta in Calydon, inspired Alfred Reed to capture both the elements of "exuberant, youthful gaiety" and "the sweetness of tender love" in his aptly named, traditional overture, The Hounds of Spring.
The first time I heard this song, the boisterous beginning transported me back to my excited discovery of Formation Wind Band: I'd received a follow request from them in the Spring of 2023, and I thought, An all female wind ensemble—in Seattle?! Dreamy! Shortly after that, Formation posted an ad inviting more women musicians to join, and even though I lived all the way up in Bellingham, the idea of playing in a wind band composed entirely of women called to me. It chased me like those Hounds of Spring! An 85-minute drive both ways every Sunday for five weeks? Bring. It. On.
The energy filling that room was indeed exuberant and youthful. I witnessed women of all ages empowering one another through laughter, gaiety, and supportive feedback. The space held, allowing for us to be vulnerable in both our musicianship and in our personal lives, refreshed and impressed me, and I was utterly hooked in love with Formation Wind Band. May I never recover.
Please join me in welcoming to the podium our brilliant guest conductor, Anita Kumar!
-Mary-Claire Ramirez
Riften Wed – Julie Giroux
Video games sometimes get a bad rap – from the first days of Pong and my parents threatening to cut the cord off of the television if we didn’t go outside to my stint as an Everquest Widow in the late 90s as MMORPGs exploded onto the market (What’s that you say? Why it stands for massively multiplayer online role playing games of course!) – video games have been dividing attentions between reality and fantasy. My now husband loved them so much, I even attempted to
play, just to get more time with him. He even gave me his spare armor so I was a pretty twinked out level 3 paladin.
One of the delights that has come out of video games is the soundtracks that accompany them. New compositions have flourished in this new outlet and some of the most beautiful themes developed in the past 30 years are connected to
video games.
This next piece, Riften Wed is a composition by Julie Giroux for a MMORPG called Skyrim. From the score notes: “In Skyrim, if so desired, your spouse can and will fight beside you. They will die for you or with you. For most of them, that death is permanent. You cannot remarry (not without cheating anyway). What was is over and there will be no other. Being the hopeless romantic that I am, I found the whole situation intriguing and heart wrenching especially if related or injected into real world circumstances. In one instance while playing the game, I emerged from the chapel with my brand new husband only to have him killed later that evening in a vicious full-on vampire attack right outside the temple. (Hey! No fair! I knew I should have married a warrior and not a merchant. I restarted the game.) Skyrim weddings are happening in the middle of a world full of violence, disease, war and death. Something Earth is all too familiar with.
‘Riften Wed’ is the music for loves and unions, past and present such as this. A love, a wedding, a lifetime shared by two people in the middle of a storm that threatens to tear them apart. Where “‘til death do us part” is not only a reality, it’s
a given. Where love is a gift worthy of all the joy and pain it demands. One life, one love, one ending. This music is for those that are truly ‘Riften Wed.’”
I won’t say video games brought us together, but I like to think my willingness to embrace his interests helped seal the deal – Love is about embracing the entirety of our partner, and growing and learning about each other and the world we travel through together. Our 25th Wedding Anniversary is this July, so I think it’s safe to say we’re Riften Wed.
-Lorraine Thurston
Love and Nature – Gala Flagello
Love & Nature (2024) was commissioned by a consortium of wind bands, including Formation Wind Band, and explores how love prevails through cosmic lore, social movements, and mercurial mythos. Each of the work's three movements connect a different instrumental sound world to the concepts of earth, air, and fire, depicting a blossoming of kindness and hope for the future of our planet. The first movement, "Flower Power," is inspired by the titular social movement of the 1960s–1970s and sonically critiques the juxtaposition of fragility and strength, beauty and utility, and nonviolence and force. "Flower Power" reflects the ethos of Marc Riboud's iconic photograph The Ultimate Confrontation: The Flower and the Bayonet and incorporates a musical Easter egg—a countermelody for counterculture. The second movement, "Star-Crossed," summons the hope, whimsy, and longing of its ill-fated protagonists through celestial textures and luminous scoring. The third and final movement, "Slow Burn," explores both versions of the titular literary trope—romantic and anger-fueled—through the arboraceous lens of controlled fire, an originally indigenous practice that mitigates the drought-driven effects of climate change. "Slow Burn" foregrounds bright and wooden sounds to pay homage to our forests and the necessity of ecological restoration.
-Nancy Gove
The Indigo Train – Joel Love
This next piece, Indigo Train, was composed by Joel Love, which fits the concert theme perfectly, “All You Need is Joel”, right? Just kidding! It’s obviously “All You Need is Trains”, transportation is everything. Let’s go back in time, around 2015 the Port Neches-Grove High School Band director commissions Love to compose a piece about his father, Gary Wells,
who was also Love’s high school band director. Talk about connections. Love pulled inspiration for Indigo Train from the high school’s colors, described as “purple-or indigo-and white”, and from Gary Well’s locomotive past- a childhood surrounded by trains and then working around them for a time. Hence, Indigo and Train, Indigo Train.
Now how does any of this produce a blues-style piece like Indigo Train? I’m glad you asked. Love connects, and I quote, that the “Trains inspire images of the deep south and the rich history of the blues, which was born there and eventually
traveled up the Mississippi to Chicago” end quote. As an elementary music teacher who lives in beautiful chaos on the daily, I love this piece. From start to finish you are on a wild ride that starts in a rail yard all mysterious, then you’re moving between train cars each with their own style and vibe, until finally the train is ready to go. This train adventure is
painted by the bluesy and even sultry solos throughout (I’m not going to tell you who, you’ll just have to listen).
Not just the story of it though, Indigo Train has also become one of my favorite challenges with the 10/8 time signature and the lack of musical measures replaced with literal measurements like 10”. I mean, how often does
a bassoonist get to be bluesy and use a ruler!
So, all aboard and strap in *train whistle* Indigo Train is getting ready to leave the station!
-Savanna Johnson
Halcyon Hearts – Katahj Copley
love does not
delight in evil-
but rejoices
with the truth
it will always
protect
trust
hope
and persevere
for you-
love never fails.
The effect of love on humanity is abundant and I think we forget that from time to time. Regardless of race, gender, religion, or indifference, we are all united by a common thread: passion and love.
Centered around the warmth that love brings, Halcyon Hearts takes us on an unexpected journey to find love. While this love may result to be romantic for some, to me is about the moment someone finds their passion. Using colors, natural energy, and passion, I created a sound of ambition for the ensemble.
I would like to dedicate this piece to those who love all of mankind- no matter the negativity around you. Let love be love and always choose it- when you do, the halcyon days will come.
-Katahj Copley
wind ensemble
Handel in the Strand – Percy Grainger (arr. Richard Franko Goldman)
Percy Aldridge Grainger was quintessentially human – curious and complicated, talented and tortured, innovative and insecure. Perhaps more well-known for his collection and arrangement of traditional folksongs, Handel in the Strand is an
original composition by Grainger, originally set for massed piano and orchestra but transcribed into many other settings including wind band.
The Strand is well-known street in London and home to many musical theaters in Granger’s time. He wrote: “My title was originally “Clog Dance”. But my dear friend William Gair Rathbone (to whom the piece is dedicated) suggested the title
“Handel in the Strand,” because the music seemed to reflect both Handel and English musical comedy— as if jovial old Handel were careering down the Strand to the strains of modern English popular music.”
When my son went to Kings College London in the UK for his university degree, his campus was on the Strand.
Having a child halfway across the world for their first foray into adulthood isn’t for the faint of heart but knowing that he was having a great adventure in a place steeped in history helped ease the heartache– this tune accompanied my thoughts often when he crossed my mind while he was gone.
-Lorraine Thurston
Does it stretch out it’s roots… - Tyler Austin and Danielle Fisher
This piece has musical motives based on plant-like imagery that are entwined with mysticism, and it also includes extended techniques that simulate wind, rustling leaves, and breaking branches. The inspiration was drawn from the great Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke, and creates a space for reflection on the following prose:
“Go into yourself. Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depths of your heart; confess to yourself whether you would have to die if you were forbidden to write.”
For Rilke, his passion was to write in whatever capacity he could, poetry, letters, journals, novels, and so much more. He found solace and peace within his ability to write after dealing with the traumatic events of his early life. Instead of letting that trauma consume his entire being, he used it to fuel his dreams and desires for which he traveled to a multitude of places to find inspiration for his writing.
As musicians, I believe we all can relate to Rilke’s experience. When the world has so many expectations for who we should be, music only asks us to be ourselves. When the going gets tough, many of us turn to music to get in touch with our most genuine and vulnerable side. But this type of thinking doesn’t just apply to creatives, as you listen to this piece, think on what in your own life has stretched its roots in you. What is something in your life that you would have to die rather than be without? Ask yourself, does this create beautiful, healthy conditions for me to grow? Or are they like weeds that strangle and hold you back?
-Jessa Delos Reyes
Roma – Valerie Coleman
Roma by Valarie Coleman is a tribute to the language (Roma), traditions, and music of the Romani People. The Romani people are a nomadic group who span regions in South West Asia and North Africa, the Mediterranean region, the Iberian peninsula, and even across the ocean to the Americas. The piece depicts five themes: Romani Women, Mystic, Youth, Trickster, and History. Similarly to how the Romani people travel from place to place, Coleman moves from theme to theme weaving them together seamlessly like a storyteller. These themes are told through the hearts of Romani women everywhere, and while you are listening I ask you to imagine the strength and fire that not only resides in all of the Romani women but inside you as well.
-Syd Thayer-O'Brien
Give Us This Day, Movement II – David Maslanka
The words “Give us this day” are, of course, from the Lord’s Prayer, but the inspiration for this music is Buddhist. I have recently read a book by the Vietnamese Bhuddist monk Thich Nhat Hahn (pronounced “Tick Nat Hahn”) entitled For a Future to be Possible. His premise is that a future for the planet is only possible if individuals become deeply mindful of themselves, deeply connected to who they really are. While this is not a new idea, and something that is an ongoing struggle for everyone, in my estimation it is the issue for world peace. For me, writing music, and working with people to perform music, are two of those points of deep mindfulness.
Music makes the connection to reality, and by reality I mean a true awakeness and awareness. Give Us This Daygives us this very moment of awakeness and awareness so that we can build a future in the face of a most dangerous and difficult time.
I chose the subtitle, “Short Symphony for Wind Ensemble,” because the music is not programmatic in nature. It has a full-blown symphonic character, even though there are only two movements. The music...of the highly energized second movement is at times both joyful and sternly sober. The piece ends with a modal setting of the choral melody “Vater Unser in Himmelreich” (Our Father in Heaven) – No. 110 from the 371 four-part chorales by Johann Sebastian Bach.
-David Maslanka
Stonewall:1969 – Randall D. Standridge
On June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn, and the patrons fought back.
To understand the magnitude of this event, one must understand the social conditions that the LGBTQ+ community had been living under prior to this evening. Very few public businesses welcomed openly queer patrons, and those that did were often the site of police raids, vandalism, and ridicule. The community at the time lived in fear and persecution, with even the accusation that one was in the LGBTQ+ community was enough for one to lose friends, jobs, everything.
We are very lucky to be living in a time when people, such as myself, can live their lives openly and with less fear (though not quite “none”) as before. Since the riots, we have seen a push for protections in the workplace, legal rights for adoption, and the rights of marriage (I happily married my husband in 2011, though we still count ourselves as being together since our first date, 22 years ago on the day of this writing). There are many victories that have been hard won, both large and small.
But, we still have a long way to go.
Everyday, countless members of the LGBTQ+ community are harassed, marginalized, and attacked or killed for living their true selves. We must remain vigilant. My hope is that one day, we, as a human race, truly see that we are all one heart, one soul, one love.
Lastly, I want to thank Chris Green and the LGBA Band Association, The Central Florida Sounds of Freedom Band, the Tampa Bay Pride
Band, and the South Florida Pride Wind Ensemble for trusting me with this commission, commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the day that Marsha P. Johnson broke a mirror and, thus, a ceiling for all of us. If someone tries to make you feel ashamed of yourself, as Marsha would say, “Pay it no mind.”
Peace, Love, and Music.
-Randall D. Standridge
Percy Aldridge Grainger was quintessentially human – curious and complicated, talented and tortured, innovative and insecure. Perhaps more well-known for his collection and arrangement of traditional folksongs, Handel in the Strand is an
original composition by Grainger, originally set for massed piano and orchestra but transcribed into many other settings including wind band.
The Strand is well-known street in London and home to many musical theaters in Granger’s time. He wrote: “My title was originally “Clog Dance”. But my dear friend William Gair Rathbone (to whom the piece is dedicated) suggested the title
“Handel in the Strand,” because the music seemed to reflect both Handel and English musical comedy— as if jovial old Handel were careering down the Strand to the strains of modern English popular music.”
When my son went to Kings College London in the UK for his university degree, his campus was on the Strand.
Having a child halfway across the world for their first foray into adulthood isn’t for the faint of heart but knowing that he was having a great adventure in a place steeped in history helped ease the heartache– this tune accompanied my thoughts often when he crossed my mind while he was gone.
-Lorraine Thurston
Does it stretch out it’s roots… - Tyler Austin and Danielle Fisher
This piece has musical motives based on plant-like imagery that are entwined with mysticism, and it also includes extended techniques that simulate wind, rustling leaves, and breaking branches. The inspiration was drawn from the great Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke, and creates a space for reflection on the following prose:
“Go into yourself. Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depths of your heart; confess to yourself whether you would have to die if you were forbidden to write.”
For Rilke, his passion was to write in whatever capacity he could, poetry, letters, journals, novels, and so much more. He found solace and peace within his ability to write after dealing with the traumatic events of his early life. Instead of letting that trauma consume his entire being, he used it to fuel his dreams and desires for which he traveled to a multitude of places to find inspiration for his writing.
As musicians, I believe we all can relate to Rilke’s experience. When the world has so many expectations for who we should be, music only asks us to be ourselves. When the going gets tough, many of us turn to music to get in touch with our most genuine and vulnerable side. But this type of thinking doesn’t just apply to creatives, as you listen to this piece, think on what in your own life has stretched its roots in you. What is something in your life that you would have to die rather than be without? Ask yourself, does this create beautiful, healthy conditions for me to grow? Or are they like weeds that strangle and hold you back?
-Jessa Delos Reyes
Roma – Valerie Coleman
Roma by Valarie Coleman is a tribute to the language (Roma), traditions, and music of the Romani People. The Romani people are a nomadic group who span regions in South West Asia and North Africa, the Mediterranean region, the Iberian peninsula, and even across the ocean to the Americas. The piece depicts five themes: Romani Women, Mystic, Youth, Trickster, and History. Similarly to how the Romani people travel from place to place, Coleman moves from theme to theme weaving them together seamlessly like a storyteller. These themes are told through the hearts of Romani women everywhere, and while you are listening I ask you to imagine the strength and fire that not only resides in all of the Romani women but inside you as well.
-Syd Thayer-O'Brien
Give Us This Day, Movement II – David Maslanka
The words “Give us this day” are, of course, from the Lord’s Prayer, but the inspiration for this music is Buddhist. I have recently read a book by the Vietnamese Bhuddist monk Thich Nhat Hahn (pronounced “Tick Nat Hahn”) entitled For a Future to be Possible. His premise is that a future for the planet is only possible if individuals become deeply mindful of themselves, deeply connected to who they really are. While this is not a new idea, and something that is an ongoing struggle for everyone, in my estimation it is the issue for world peace. For me, writing music, and working with people to perform music, are two of those points of deep mindfulness.
Music makes the connection to reality, and by reality I mean a true awakeness and awareness. Give Us This Daygives us this very moment of awakeness and awareness so that we can build a future in the face of a most dangerous and difficult time.
I chose the subtitle, “Short Symphony for Wind Ensemble,” because the music is not programmatic in nature. It has a full-blown symphonic character, even though there are only two movements. The music...of the highly energized second movement is at times both joyful and sternly sober. The piece ends with a modal setting of the choral melody “Vater Unser in Himmelreich” (Our Father in Heaven) – No. 110 from the 371 four-part chorales by Johann Sebastian Bach.
-David Maslanka
Stonewall:1969 – Randall D. Standridge
On June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn, and the patrons fought back.
To understand the magnitude of this event, one must understand the social conditions that the LGBTQ+ community had been living under prior to this evening. Very few public businesses welcomed openly queer patrons, and those that did were often the site of police raids, vandalism, and ridicule. The community at the time lived in fear and persecution, with even the accusation that one was in the LGBTQ+ community was enough for one to lose friends, jobs, everything.
We are very lucky to be living in a time when people, such as myself, can live their lives openly and with less fear (though not quite “none”) as before. Since the riots, we have seen a push for protections in the workplace, legal rights for adoption, and the rights of marriage (I happily married my husband in 2011, though we still count ourselves as being together since our first date, 22 years ago on the day of this writing). There are many victories that have been hard won, both large and small.
But, we still have a long way to go.
Everyday, countless members of the LGBTQ+ community are harassed, marginalized, and attacked or killed for living their true selves. We must remain vigilant. My hope is that one day, we, as a human race, truly see that we are all one heart, one soul, one love.
Lastly, I want to thank Chris Green and the LGBA Band Association, The Central Florida Sounds of Freedom Band, the Tampa Bay Pride
Band, and the South Florida Pride Wind Ensemble for trusting me with this commission, commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the day that Marsha P. Johnson broke a mirror and, thus, a ceiling for all of us. If someone tries to make you feel ashamed of yourself, as Marsha would say, “Pay it no mind.”
Peace, Love, and Music.
-Randall D. Standridge