Paul Dooley ➤

The comical catchphrase “Boom Goes The Dynamite” was coined in 2005 by a Ball State University student during an ill-fated sports broadcast, which quickly went viral on YouTube. An inexperienced operator had accidentally fast-forwarded through the broadcast script, forcing the young sportscaster to improvise and stumble his way through the show, live on air.

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Carol Brittin Chambers ➤
Brandon Winters, Conductor ➤

Byzantine Dances is generally meant to portray a set of Turkish dances. The opening dance is fast and energetic, written in the style of a Roma Gypsy dance. During this upbeat dance, the melody incorporates grace notes that are fun to play, while the harmony and bass line incorporate enjoyable countermelodies and syncopated lines. The slower section in the middle of the piece is written in the style of a Zeybek dance. This type of dance is often performed by a solo dancer symbolizing courage and heroism. The dancer uses out-stretched arms, almost resembling a great hawk.

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Stanleigh Friedman ➤
arr. by Justin Ward
Dan Havely, Guest Conductor ➤

Down the Field is a traditional military-style march composed in 1904 by Yale undergraduate Stanleigh P. Friedman, the manager of Yale's orchestra and Yale law student Caleb W. O' Connor who wrote the lyrics.

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Matthew Nell ➤
2023 Buhlman Prize for Composition Winner

About a decade ago, our family adopted a small, floppy-eared schnauzer puppy, aptly named Snuggle. She has a long body that’s more reminiscent of a dachshund, causing her to have an adorably awkward gait. We call this her “strut,” ironically named because it’s more of a waddle than anything.

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Donald Grantham ➤

J’ai été au bal is a celebration of some of the popular/folk music styles of Louisiana, in particular Cajun music and the brass band tradition of New Orleans. The dance flavor of much of the music is suggested by the title (“I went to the dance”), and two traditional Cajun dance tunes are employed. The first appears near the beginning and later at the end.

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Jack Wilds ➤
Brittany Dacy, Conductor ➤

On a trip to Ireland, I was able to visit the Trinity College library to see an illuminated manuscript called The Book of Kells. The tome is a transcription of the four Gospel in Latin and was created by monks on the Scottish Island of Iona around 800 AD. Each page contains the main text, but is also meticulously adorned with a variety of pictures. Some of these depict animals or people, but many of them are simply filigreed versions of letters. The Chi-Rho page in particular is a fascinating example.

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Omar Thomas ➤

A further exploration and study of the dance styles at heart of my larger work “Caribana,” Caribana Afterparty (the second “a” in the word Caribana is bright, as in the words “ant” and “after”) brings soca and calypso music within reach of younger musicians, as well as musicians just beginning their exploration of Caribbean dance music. Caribana is the former name of the largest Caribbean carnival celebration outside of the Caribbean itself, which takes place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Titling this piece an “afterparty” gave me space to incorporate themes from the original work while developing new and different grooves from the region, reimagining them in a more accessible context.

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Jose Ignacio Blesa-Lull ➤

Within this Grade 1 work is developed a simple three-note-motive (C-D-G) in a ternary from ABA with an Introduction and a Coda. The title was suggested by my friend James Minnix, since part of the composition process was made during a flight Boston-Chicago.

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IV. The Curtain Calls
John Mackey ➤
Jerry Junkin, Conductor ➤
Caleb Hudson, Trumpet ➤

The title comes from a line in Rickey Laurentiis’ “Writing an Elegy,” and reminds us that where there are humans, there is violence. So it is, so it has ever been. The concerto notes that, curiously, the trumpet and its cousins always call the bloody tune—so each movement considers a kind of violence through the lens of a historical style of music closely associated with the trumpet.

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IV. Finale
James Barnes ➤

The Third Symphony was commissioned by the United States Air Force Band in Washington, D.C. The conductor of the band at the time, Col. Alan Bonner, told me that he wanted a major work for wind band. He said that he didn't care about style, length, difficulty, or anything else; I was given complete freedom to write whatever I wanted to. I began to work on it in earnest at a very difficult time in my life, right after our baby daughter, Natalie, died. This symphony is the most emotionally draining work that I have ever composed. If it were to be given a nickname, I believe that "Tragic" would be appropriate. The work progresses from the deepest darkness of despair all the way to the brightness of fulfillment and joy.

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