American Wind Symphony Orchestra

Last updated

The American Wind Symphony Orchestra (AWSO, also called the American Wind Symphony, or AWS) is an American musical ensemble incorporating many of the wind instruments found in a symphony orchestra. It is dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music, and which is known for having commissioned over 400 new works. [1] [2] Based in Mars, Pennsylvania, the AWSO was founded 1957 and directed for 50 years by the American conductor (and former trumpeter) Robert Austin Boudreau (b. 1927). [3]

Contents

Description

The group, whose membership changes from year to year, typically is composed of young professional musicians. Many of the works it performs feature an unusually large instrumentation usually including at least 4 flutes (doubling on piccolo, alto flute, and bass flute), 4 oboes (doubling on English horn and oboe d'amore), 4 bassoons (doubling on contrabassoon and heckelphone), 4 clarinets (doubling on E-flat clarinet, basset horn, bass clarinet, and contrabass clarinet), 4-6 trumpets, 4-7 horns, 4-6 trombones, a bass trombone, and 1-2 tubas. Percussion, harp, piano, and celeste are usually included as well, but, unlike most concert bands, saxophones and euphoniums are never used.[ citation needed ]

Concert venues

The group usually has performed annually during the summer months on a floating arts center designed by the American architect Louis Kahn. [4] [5] Point Counterpoint II, constructed in 1976, is the second boat used by the orchestra. The original Point Counterpoint was a coal-transporting barge converted by Kahn in 1961, and named after the Point State Park in downtown Pittsburgh, near where it was constructed. [4] The newer boat was designed to be able to navigate American canals and locks more easily than the original vessel. [5] Kahn died suddenly in 1974, two years before the new boat debuted in celebration of the American Bicentennial. [5]

The Point Counterpoint II measures 195 feet (59 m) long and 38 feet (12 m) wide, [4] [5] and features a large overhead canopy to shelter performers and diffuse the sound. The underside of the hinged canopy shows a series of square, circular domed, and pyramidal cavities, similar to the ceiling of the Yale University Art Gallery building, an iconic design by Kahn. [5] The overhead structure can be lowered over the barge for protection and easier transport. [5] As a flourish, Boudeau liked to start a performance with Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man while the hinged canopy gradually opened, revealing the performers. [4]

Aboard, there are also rooms for up to 13 crew members, staff, and the director to live, an art gallery below deck, and a small theater where special patrons' concerts take place. [5] The other personnel of the large group must travel by land, and stay overnight in accommodations provided by hosts of the tours.

In 2017 with the retirement of Robert Boudreau near the age of 90, the future of the orchestra and its home, the Point Counterpoint II, appeared bleak. [4] The 1600-ton barge looked like it was headed for the scrapyard, when renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma wrote in the July New York Review of Books appealing for help.[ citation needed ] In response, bids to save the vessel came in from London, Paris, Estonia, Philadelphia, Charleston (South Carolina), Washington DC, Kingston (New York), and Buffalo (New York), among other places. [4] As of August 2017, Boudreau is evaluating a number of bids, some reputedly between $3–4 million. [4]

Performances and tours

The founder and longtime conductor of the AWSO has been Robert Boudreau, a graduate of the Juilliard School and a former Fulbright Scholar. [1] He also held a captain's license, and piloted the Point Counterpoint II on numerous concert tours through canals and rivers in the US and Europe. [1] Each summer, the group has performed on the barge's stage, anchored in one of Pittsburgh's rivers. The group also has performed on the barge along various waterways of the United States (including the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, as well as their tributaries), giving concerts along the way.[ citation needed ] The orchestra spent three years overseas, where they were present for the Bicentennial celebration of France,[ citation needed ] the 800th Anniversary in England,[ citation needed ] and were the first US vessel in Leningrad.[ citation needed ]

Boudreau took a hiatus of several years after the 2004 residency, but after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita felt compelled to travel to Louisiana in 2006. The post-disaster tour was called the "Spirit of Louisiana", and the reception in the southernmost cities of Louisiana was so great the orchestra returned for a few weeks in 2007. Boudreau once again announced a retirement as music director following the final concert of the 2007 season at Yale University.[ citation needed ]

A 2008 New England tour was being developed for June and July, to begin at Highcroft, Boudreau's farm in Pine Township, Pennsylvania. The orchestra would have three residencies there, performing at the Caroline Steinman Nunan Amphitheater. The orchestra would then meet up with Point Counterpoint II in Narragansett, Rhode Island, with performances in Maine to follow for several weeks. The orchestra would then proceed up the Hudson River to the Erie Canal and have closing concerts at the end of July back at Highcroft.[ citation needed ]

Boudreau's wife, Kathleen, has assisted with the organization of the AWSO. She was writing a book on the history of the AWSO from her perspective throughout the years. Together they have planned all the group's tours, reared a large family, and farmed over 120 acres (0.49 km2) in Pennsylvania.[ citation needed ]

Criticism

Boudreau's leadership of the American Wind Symphony Orchestra has courted controversy over the years. In 1985, he was arrested by Federal marshals for sailing his vessel contrary to US Coast Guard regulations. [6]

Boudreau's actions have at times antagonized the larger professional music community of Pittsburgh, and caused him to be charged with unfair labor practices with regard to the treatment of his musicians.[ citation needed ]

In March 2013, the Sheriff's Office of Okaloosa County, Florida issued a warrant for Boudreau's arrest, alleging grand theft of $25,000 in appearance fees for a June 2012 concert which the AWSO never performed. He was never arrested, but went to Florida as required by law, where the authorities took his picture and his fingerprints. Boudreau signed a note that promised he would appear if required before a judge, and returned to Pennsylvania. His lawyer represented him at a later hearing, and the judge dismissed all charges without prejudice. Boudreau has cited a lack of housing for the orchestra members as reason for the failure to perform, and refused to return the funds, claiming that he thought they were "a donation to the orchestra". [7]

Musicians from that summer's tour have also alleged having never been paid for part of the season.[ citation needed ] The AWSO letter of agreement with musicians specified,[ when? ] “In the event that Orchestra determines at any time that it is unable to complete a substantial portion of its remaining concert schedule, it may forthwith terminate this agreement by notice, oral or written, to Instrumentalist, without any responsibility thereafter to Instrumentalist, except to pay his/her stipend or scholarship grant pro-rated up to one (1) week following the date of such notice." A similar experience took place earlier in the week[ when? ] with the 2015 group of musicians. High and dangerous river conditions, lack of housing, lack of funds, and complaints about talent were among the given excuses for shortening the tour.[ citation needed ]

Composers commissioned by the AWSO

The AWSO has a long history of commissioning original works, many of which also feature extensive use of percussion instruments: [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Musical ensemble</span> Instrumental and/or vocal music group

A musical ensemble, also known as a music group or musical group, is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumentalists, such as the jazz quartet or the orchestra. Other music ensembles consist solely of singers, such as choirs and doo wop groups. In both popular music and classical music, there are ensembles in which both instrumentalists and singers perform, such as the rock band or the Baroque chamber group for basso continuo and one or more singers. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles. Some ensembles blend the sounds of a variety of instrument families, such as the orchestra, which uses a string section, brass instruments, woodwinds and percussion instruments, or the concert band, which uses brass, woodwinds and percussion.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is an American orchestra based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The orchestra's home is Heinz Hall, located in Pittsburgh's Cultural District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Concert band</span> Performing ensemble

A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion families of instruments, and occasionally including the harp, double bass, or bass guitar. On rare occasions, additional, non-traditional instruments may be added to such ensembles such as piano, synthesizer, or electric guitar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Piston</span> American composer (1894–1976)

Walter Hamor Piston, Jr., was an American composer of classical music, music theorist, and professor of music at Harvard University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evan Ziporyn</span> American composer

Evan Ziporyn is an American composer of post-minimalist music with a cross-cultural orientation, drawing equally from classical music, avant-garde, various world music traditions, and jazz. Ziporyn has composed for a wide range of ensembles, including symphony orchestras, wind ensembles, many types of chamber groups, and solo works, sometimes involving electronics. Balinese gamelan, for which he has composed numerous works, has compositions. He is known for his solo performances on clarinet and bass clarinet; additionally, Ziporyn plays gender wayang and other Balinese instruments, saxophones, piano & keyboards, EWI, and Shona mbira.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Russell Bennett</span> Musical artist

Robert Russell Bennett was an American composer and arranger, best known for his orchestration of many well-known Broadway and Hollywood musicals by other composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, and Richard Rodgers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark O'Connor</span> American violinist and composer

Mark O'Connor is an American fiddle player, composer, guitarist, and mandolinist whose music combines bluegrass, country, jazz and classical. A three-time Grammy Award winner, he has won six Country Music Association Musician Of The Year awards and, was a member of three influential musical ensembles; the David Grisman Quintet, The Dregs, and Strength in Numbers.

Richard Leslie Stoltzman is an American clarinetist. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, he spent his early years in San Francisco, California, and Cincinnati, Ohio, graduating from Woodward High School in 1960. Today, Stoltzman is part of the faculty list at the New England Conservatory and Boston University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Singapore Symphony Orchestra</span>

The Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Singapore. It is Singapore's flagship orchestra. Its principal concert venue is the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. The orchestra also gives concerts at the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, and performs over 60 concerts per year. The orchestra was first established In 1978 with Choo Hoey its resident director. The orchestra's music director from 1997 to 2019 was Shui Lan, and Hans Graf its Chief Conductor from 2020 and Music Director from 2022. The SSO is part of the Singapore Symphony Group, which also manages the Singapore Symphony Choruses, the Singapore National Youth Orchestra (SNYO), the VCHpresents chamber music series, the Singapore International Piano Festival and the biennial National Piano and Violin Competition. It achieved third place in 2021 for Gramophone's Orchestra of the Year award, and made the list of the BBC Music Magazine's Top 21 Best Orchestras in the World in 2022.

Larry Combs is an American clarinetist and educator.

The Symphony Orchestra at The University of Southern Mississippi is the oldest orchestra in Mississippi. Established in 1920, it has been under the direction of music director Jay Dean since 1988. The orchestra is part of the University of Southern Mississippi School of Music.

California Youth Symphony (CYS) is a San Francisco Bay Area symphony orchestra for young musicians of high school age and younger. It was founded in 1952 by Aaron Sten and in 1963 became the first United States youth orchestra to tour abroad, performing twelve concerts in Japan, including a joint concert with Tokyo Junior Orchestra Society. Since then, the orchestra has toured Mexico, Australia, Uruguay, Argentina and several countries in Europe and Asia. In 1994, the orchestra placed first in the International Youth and Music Festival Competition in Vienna. The orchestra has also collaborated with youth orchestras in Japan and in Switzerland. During the summer of 2014, the orchestra is touring in Eastern Europe, and will perform in Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, and the Czech Republic. Leo Eylar has been musical director since 1990.

Benjamin Staern, born 6 December 1978 in Gothenburg, Swedish composer. Son of Gunnar Staern.

Dan Welcher is an American composer, conductor, and music educator.

The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra is a professional orchestra that performs primarily at the Clay Center in Charleston, West Virginia. The orchestra performs over 50 concerts annually around the state of West Virginia, and has a nationally award-winning education program. The orchestra has played with such soloists as Itzhak Perlman, Isaac Stern, Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, Marilyn Horne, and Kathleen Battle. In addition to regular season concerts, The Orchestra offers several programs such as the Symphony Chorus and Young People's Concerts. West Virginia Symphony Orchestra is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Rob Mathes is an American record producer, music arranger, composer, songwriter, and performer. He also writes bluesy spiritual-pop music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynn Chang</span> Chinese American violinist

Lynn Chang is a Chinese American violinist known for his work as both a soloist and a chamber musician. Chang is a founding member of the Boston Chamber Music Society and is currently a faculty member at MIT, Boston University, the Boston Conservatory, and the New England Conservatory of Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Dean (clarinetist)</span> Australian clarinetist, composer, conductor

Paul Dean is an Australian clarinetist, composer and conductor

Richard Joiner was an American clarinetist and teacher of clarinet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodwind section</span> Section of orchestra or concert band

The woodwind section, which consists of woodwind instruments, is one of the main sections of an orchestra or concert band. Woodwind sections contain instruments given Hornbostel-Sachs classifications of 421 and 422, but exclude 423

References

  1. 1 2 3 Hershenson, Roberta (28 June 1998). "Orchestra Gives Concerts Aboard a Floating Arts Center". The New York Times. Retrieved 2017-08-08.
  2. ↑ "America". Archived from the original on 2008-07-25. Retrieved 2017-08-08.
  3. ↑ "About AWSO". American Wind Symphony Orchestra. 17 March 2016. Retrieved 2022-12-30.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Cronin, Brenda (7 August 2017). "Yo-Yo Ma's Plea to Rescue a Symphony Barge". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2017-08-08.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Appel, Alan (June 20, 2007). "Aboard The Point Counterpoint II". New Haven Independent. Retrieved 2017-08-08.
  6. ↑ "Conductor Has Captain To Pilot Concert Barge". The New York Times. 14 June 1985. Retrieved 2017-08-08.
  7. ↑ Ashley, Larry. "ONGOING TDC INVESTIGATION RESULTS IN ARRESTS OF TWO MEN ON GRAND THEFT CHARGES" (PDF). Okaloosa County Sheriff. Retrieved 2017-08-08.[ permanent dead link ]

Audio

Video

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.