The Concerto for Wind Ensemble is a concerto for wind ensemble by the Czech-born American composer Karel Husa. It was written for the Michigan State University Wind Ensemble in 1982 and won the first Sudler International Composition Prize in 1983. [1] [2]
Classical Music: The Listener's Companion compared the work favorably to Béla Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra and praised the work for "...show[ing] a lightness of texture that allows the exposure of everyone's talents." [3] Author Frank L. Battisti also lauded the work, saying:
The Concerto for Wind Ensemble is one of Husa's most brilliant pieces. The two outside movements are energetic and powerful, while the inner movement is intense and expressive. The piece displays the virtuoso capabilities of solo woodwind, brass and percussion instruments, as well as instrumental groupings, within the wind ensemble. [1]
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning common today: a work usually consisting of multiple distinct sections or movements, often four, with the first movement in sonata form. Symphonies are almost always scored for an orchestra consisting of a string section, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments which altogether number about 30 to 100 musicians. Symphonies are notated in a musical score, which contains all the instrument parts. Orchestral musicians play from parts which contain just the notated music for their own instrument. Some symphonies also contain vocal parts.
Although a concerto is usually a piece of music for one or more solo instruments accompanied by a full orchestra, several composers have written works with the apparently contradictory title Concerto for Orchestra. This title is usually chosen to emphasise soloistic and virtuosic treatment of various individual instruments or sections in the orchestra, with emphasis on instruments changing during the piece. It differs from sinfonia concertante in that it has no soloist or group of soloists that remains the same throughout the composition.
Willy Hess was a Swiss musicologist, composer, and famous Beethoven scholar. He achieved fame after compiling and publishing a catalogue of works of Beethoven that were not listed in the "complete" edition. He orchestrated the Piano Concerto No. 0, in E-flat from a piano score.
Yakov Kasman is a Russian American classical pianist, professor of piano, and artist-in-residence at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Steven Edward Stucky was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer.
Ulf Hoelscher is a German violinist.
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.
Paul Coletti is a Scottish viola soloist and chamber musician. He has performed throughout the world, making solo appearances at the Sydney Opera House, Queen Elizabeth Hall (London), and Teatro Colón. He has performed Béla Bartók's Viola Concerto with Yehudi Menuhin conducting and has recorded Robert Schumann's Märchenbilder and Rebecca Clarke's Sonata for Viola, to some acclaim.
Johannes Abraham "Johan" de Meij is a Dutch conductor, trombonist, and composer, best known for his Symphony No. 1 for wind ensemble, nicknamed The Lord of the Rings symphony.
A clarinet–violin–piano trio is a standardized chamber musical ensemble made up of one clarinet, one violin, and one piano participating in relatively equal roles, or the name of a piece written for such a group.
Christopher Chapman Rouse III was an American composer. Though he wrote for various ensembles, Rouse is primarily known for his orchestral compositions, including a Requiem, a dozen concertos, and six symphonies. His work received numerous accolades, including the Kennedy Center Friedheim Award, the Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition, and the Pulitzer Prize for Music. He also served as the composer-in-residence for the New York Philharmonic from 2012 to 2015.
Bruce Adolphe is a composer, music scholar, the author of several books on music, and pianist. He is currently Resident Lecturer and Director of Family Concerts of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, where he has been a key figure since 1992. Adolphe performs his weekly "Piano Puzzler" segment on the nationally broadcast Performance Today classical music radio program hosted by Fred Child. "Piano Puzzler" was on National Public Radio starting in 2002, and is now on American Public Media. The program is also available as a podcast and from iTunes. Mr. Adolphe was also founding artistic director of Off the Hook Arts Festival, an interdisciplinary festival combining music, science, and visual arts, based in Fort Collins, Colorado, from 2010 to 2022.
Winds of Nagual: A Musical Fable for Wind Ensemble on the Writings of Carlos Castaneda is a 1985 composition for wind ensemble by Canadian composer Michael Colgrass. It has become a standard of the wind ensemble/concert band repertoire. Based on the writings of Carlos Castaneda, the work consists of seven movements.
Richard Traubner was an American journalist, author, operetta scholar and historian, and lecturer on theatre and film. His best-known book, Operetta: A Theatrical History, was first published in 1983.
Colonial Song is a musical composition written by Australian composer Percy Grainger. Although Grainger created versions for different types of musical ensembles, its most commonly used version today is for concert band.
Steven Bryant is an American composer and conductor. His catalog of works includes pieces for orchestra, wind ensemble, electronics, and chamber music. Bryant states: "I strive to write music that leaps off the stage to grab you by the collar and pull you in. Whether through a relentless eruption of energy, or the intensity of quiet contemplation, I want my music to give you no choice, and no other desire, but to listen."
Concerto Grosso No. 1 for string orchestra with piano obbligato is a 1925 concerto grosso composed by Ernest Bloch.
The National Intercollegiate Band (NIB) is a concert band, sponsored by honorary band fraternity and sorority Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma, that performs every two years at the national convention of the two organizations. Organized in 1947, the NIB is the oldest national intercollegiate band in the United States, and is open to all collegiate band members regardless of membership in Kappa Kappa Psi or Tau Beta Sigma.
The Concerto for Wind Ensemble is a concerto for wind ensemble in five movements by the American composer Steven Bryant.
Camilla Kolchinsky was a Jewish conductor who was born in Russia. She was born in Moscow and made her debut as a conductor in Leningrad, now is known as St. Petersburg, while still a student. In 1976 she emigrated to Israel. She had conducted performances of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and according to Gramophone was "one of the few Russian women to have made a successful international career as a conductor." At the time of her death she was the emeritus director of the El Camino Youth Orchestra.