A musical ensemble, also known as a music group, musical group, or a band 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 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. In jazz ensembles or combos, the instruments typically include wind instruments, one or two chordal "comping" instruments, a bass instrument, and a drummer or percussionist. Jazz ensembles may be solely instrumental, or they may consist of a group of instruments accompanying one or more singers. In rock and pop ensembles, usually called rock bands or pop bands, there are usually guitars and keyboards, one or more singers, and a rhythm section made up of a bass guitar and drum kit.
An orchestra is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments:
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.
Moanalua High School is a public, co-educational college preparatory high school of the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education, located in Honolulu CDP, City & County of Honolulu, Hawaiʻi.
Frederick Fennell was an American conductor and one of the primary figures who promoted the Eastman Wind Ensemble as a performing group. He was also influential as a band pedagogue, and greatly affected the field of music education in the US and abroad. In Fennell's New York Times obituary, colleague Jerry F. Junkin was quoted as saying "He was arguably the most famous band conductor since John Philip Sousa."
The Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference is the world's largest instrumental music education conference, annually drawing approximately 17,000 attendees to Chicago from all 50 states and as many as forty countries. It is held every December in downtown Chicago. As a non-profit organization, the Midwest Clinic exists exclusively for educational purposes: to raise the standards of music education; to improve the methods employed in music education; to develop new teaching techniques; to disseminate to school music teachers, directors, supervisors, and others interested in music education information to assist in their professional work; to examine, analyze and appraise literature dealing with music; to hold clinics, lectures and demonstrations for the betterment of music education; and in general, to assist teachers and others interested in music education in better pursuing their profession.
The Eastman Wind Ensemble was founded by conductor Frederick Fennell at the Eastman School of Music in 1952. The ensemble is often credited with helping redefine the performance of wind band music. Considered one of America's leading wind ensembles, its core personnel of 50 players consists of undergraduate and graduate students at the Eastman School of Music.
The Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra is a professional concert band based in Tokyo, Japan. TKWO has been called Japan's premiere wind ensemble, one of the most influential Japanese wind bands, and one of the world's leading professional civilian wind bands.
Guy Anthony Woolfenden was an English composer and conductor. He was head of music at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon for 37 years, making music an integral part of over 150 productions there. He completed scores for the full canon of Shakespeare plays.
Birmingham Symphonic Winds (BSW) is a UK-based amateur wind orchestra in the style of the Eastman Wind Ensemble.
Frigyes Hidas was a Hungarian composer.
Western Australian Charity Orchestra Inc (WACO) is a not-for-profit charity organisation dedicated to changing lives through music. Their current ensembles include a full symphony orchestra – the West Coast Philharmonic, the West Coast Philharmonic Chorus and the WA Wind Symphony – all based in Perth, Western Australia. All ensembles are made up almost entirely of volunteers, and for many years the WACO produced concerts to help fund-raise for Western Australian charities. In 2017 WACO Inc became an Australian Registered charity in their own right, and now their volunteers work in the community to make a difference first-hand in the lives of others.
Yasuhide Ito is a contemporary Japanese composer.
Loris Ohannes Chobanian was an American-Armenian composer of classical music, conductor, and guitar and lute teacher and performer. He served as Professor of Composition as well as Composer-in-Residence at Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory.
Boris Pigovat is an Israeli composer. Many of his works have been performed throughout the world. He studied at Gnessin Music Institute in Moscow. Between 1978 and 1990 he lived in Tajikistan, and immigrated to Israel in 1990. In 2002 he received his Ph.D. degree from Bar-Ilan UniversityArchived 2007-05-09 at the Wayback Machine (Israel).
The InterSchool Orchestras of New York (ISO) was founded in 1972 by Annabelle F. Prager as a response to the limited opportunities for school children in both public and private schools to play in an orchestra. It has since grown to include three beginning orchestras, an intermediate band, two intermediate orchestras, a symphonic band, and an advanced orchestra. An essential part of its mission is that no child ever be turned away because of lack of financial resources; 50% of its students receive some financial aid, including all members of the top orchestra. Its music director for much of its history was Jonathan Strasser.
The National Youth Wind Orchestra of Great Britain (NYWO) consists of around 75 young musicians aged 14 to 21 from England, Scotland and Wales. Members are required to hold a minimum instrument Grade 8 at distinction level and are selected by auditions which take place annually in the autumn at various musical centres across the UK.
Shalom Ronli-Riklis was an Israeli musician, music teacher, and the conductor of the IDF Orchestra.
Peterloo, Op. 97, is a concert overture by Malcolm Arnold written in 1968 to commemorate the centenary of the first meeting of the Trades Union Congress. It is a programme piece which depicts the Peterloo Massacre of 1819. It was given a mixed reception by critics, but has nevertheless become one of Arnold's best-known works, being arranged several times for wind or brass band, recorded many times, and played twice at the Proms, once in its original form and once in a choral arrangement to words by Sir Tim Rice.
