Includes divertimento(s) by Franz Joseph Haydn. Soloists: Jeff Bradetich, Judi Rockey Bradetich.

"• Ventanas features Thomas G. Leslie conducting the UNLV Wind Orchestra. • Jazz saxophonist Eric Marienthal is featured on Michael Kamen's Concerto for Saxophone. • Works by well-known composers Malcolm Arnold and Silvestre Revueltas (“Ventanas”) are also featured."

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Samuel Hazo has composed for professional, university and public school ensembles, as well as original scores for television, radio and the stage. Many of the compositions on this release are used around the world for educational purposes and are included in the series Teaching Music Through Performance in Band.

This most recent of Klavier’s Wind Band releases is a collection of music by composer Ron Nelson whose wind band compositions span six decades of the 20th and 21st centuries. Included are some of Nelson’s earliest works such as the Mayflower Overture composed in 1958, and his most recent works like Pastorale: Autumn Rune written in 2006. Other pieces included that show the breadth and depth of Nelson’s music are Fanfare for the Kennedy Center (commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra and Sir Neville Marriner) and a pyrotechinally brilliant work representing the optimism the world felt at the dawn of the 21st century, Fanfare for the New Millenium.

Lawrence Johnson of the Chicago Tribune has said that “Nelson’s music is ingeniously and beautifully crafted…that rarest of animals, contemporary music that is intelligently woven, fresh, audience-friendly and life-enhancing.” Ron Nelson was awarded the Medal of Honor of the John Philip Sousa Foundation in Washington, DC and an honorary doctorate from Oklahoma City University.

The album concludes with a fascinating interview with Ron Nelson.This extensive survey of Nelson’s composing career is brought to life by The Keystone Wind Ensemble under the leadership of Jack Stamp. The Keystone Wind Ensemble is comprised of approximately 50 woodwind, brass, and percussion players. All members are alumni, students, faculty or administrators from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Fanfare magazine has praised the ensemble by stating that “the group plays with precise intonation and ensemble, able to tackle tricky rhythms and keep dense textures clear.

Catching the musical "bug" when given a trumpet at age nine, Fisher "Mickey" Tull (1934-94) and his older brother formed a high school jazz group called "The Dukes of Rhythm", even making some recordings at the local radio station. From there he went "on the road", gaining valuable professional experience. Enrolling at North Texas State Univ., he was immediately immersed in a trumpet studio overflowing with talented players, some being later immortalized in one of Tull's compositions, Eight Profiles for solo trumpet. He joined the faculty of Sam Houston State Univ. In 1957 as a music theory instructor. After completing a Ph.D. in Composition he was promoted to Chairmanship of the Music Department at Sam Houston State, his seventeen-year tenure spanning some of the Depts. #most successful years. The burgeoning city of Houston, with it's symphony orchestra and a ballet company, provided professional outlets for his compositions. This recording seeks to present some of Tull's lesser-known compositions deserving of attention. (Tim Tull, from the liner notes)

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This recording presents new music composed for, and commissioned by, the U.S. Air Force Band that is immediately accessible, joyful as well as powerful, and most of all, lasting. Col Lowell Graham's Grammy-winning recordings have been recognized in Stereophile's "Records to Die For" list and Absolute Sound's "The Super Disc List."

Classical Music

Music professor and conductor John Philip Paynter completed his formal music studies at Northwestern University. Paynter had received early musical training at the insistence of his father, an amateur bandsman who admired Sousa. As a child, Paynter took piano and organ lessons and, like his father before him, played the clarinet. In 1956 Paynter helped to establish the 113-member Northshore Concert Band. Under his leadership the ensemble developed into the role model for community bands nationally and worldwide. With members who have been in the band for thirty years as well as recent college graduates, NCB is a fine example of the idea, championed by Paynter, that music-making should play a role in the lives of people of all ages and professions. The Northshore Concert band is heard here performing Kalinnikov’s Symphony No. 1. Ensembles from the Northwestern University – where Paynter served as the second Director of Bands- are heard on the other works.

Julie Giroux has been composing since the age of 8, and has been hard at work ever since. Her first composition for band was published when she was only 13 years old. With over 100 film, television and video game credits, Giroux has collaborated with dozens of film composers, producers, and celebrities. She won an individual Emmy Award in the field of "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Direction." When she won her first Emmy, she was the first female and the youngest person ever to win that award. On this release, Shine, the University of North Texas Symphonic Band presents some of her most fantastic concert band pieces. The Symphonic Band at UNT has developed an exemplary national reputation for both their performances and recordings. Membership is drawn from the finest musicians attending the College of Music. The highest quality traditional, mixed with contemporary literature make up the foundation of musical repertoire performed by the group.

This new release is the latest title in The American Bandmasters Association’s Commemorative Recording Series, and focuses on the legacy of John R. Bourgeois. Colonel John R. Bourgeois, USMC (Ret), was the 25th Director of “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band. His acclaimed career spanned nine presidential administrations from Presidents Eisenhower to Clinton. A native of Louisiana, Colonel Bourgeois is a graduate of Loyola University in New Orleans. He joined the Marine Corps in 1956 and entered The President’s Own in 1958 as a French Hornist and arranger. Named Director in 1979, Colonel Bourgeois was promoted to his present rank in 1983. He retired from active duty on July 11, 1996. As director of The President’s Own, Bourgeois was Music Adviser to the White House. He selected the musical program and directed the band in its traditional place of honor at the US Capitol for four presidential inaugurations, a Marine Band tradition dating back to 1801. He regularly conducted the Marine Band and the Marine Chamber Orchestra at the White House, appearing there more frequently than any other musician in the nation.

Bite the Bullet was inspired by the Venetian artist Carlo Marchiori’s painting of the same name. The painting depicts two Pulcinelli, Venetian clowns dressed as bakers, shooting at one another with guns, bullets meeting in the middle, creating a white-orange-pink cloudburst. I was in awe of the vibrant colored landscape and the Pulcinelli, providing the creative impetus for this work. In Bite the Bullet, I portray the intensity of the painting and use my own sonic color scheme through orchestration and instrumental color. You will hear the intensity of the brass and percussion sections portraying the gunshots by the Pulcinelli with the woodwind flourishes emulating the painter’s brush strokes.

Classical Music

Classical Music

The UNLV Wind Orchestra has received international acclaim for its fresh and creative approach to music making. Performing contemporary repertoire in addition to classical masterworks, the Wind Orchestra at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas has been responsible for commissioning and premiering numerous significant new works by America’s finest young contemporary composers. The ensemble is comprised of music majors, non-majors, and includes select graduate students enrolled in the masters and doctoral performance degree programs at UNLV. Under the baton of Professor Thomas G. Leslie, the Wind Orchestra has received acclaim for outstanding performances at conventions across the globe. They have also received outstanding reviews for twenty professional recordings of international repute. The cornerstone of this album- and the piece from where the album’s title comes- is Morton Gould’s Festive Music, penned in 1964 by the Tri-City Symphony Orchestra of Illinois. In 1991 Mark Jirousek transcribed the work for wind band- the arrangement heard on this release. This work is paired with other remarkable wind band pieces by composers Malcolm Arnold, Howard Hanson, Julian Tanaka, and Jean Francaix.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music