This is a past event.
Thu, Sep 25, 2025 8pm
Moore Musical Arts Center, Kobacker Hall
$10 general admission
The BGSU Wind Symphony will present their first concert of the year under the baton of newly appointed Director of Bands, Dr. Matthew Dockendorf. Tickets for this performance are $10, and can be purchased here. Free admission for BGSU students with ID card at the door.
LIVESTREAM LINK
PROGRAM
Matthew Dockendorf, conductor
Joel Kirk, composer in residence
Fanfare Ritmico (1999/2002) | Jennifer Higdon (b. 1962)
Apparitions: Tone Poems After Banksy (2025) | Joel Kirk (b. 1996)
*world premiere performance
Joel Kirk, composer in residence
Nothing Gold Can Stay (2016) | Steven Bryant (b. 1972)
Masks and Machines (2015) | Paul Dooley (b. 1983)
I. Quarter Note = 132
II. Quarter Note = 56
III. Half Note = 84
BGSU WIND SYMPHONY PERSONNEL
Flute
Emily Fluty
Rachel Moeller
Sherry Young
Evelyn Purdin
Emily Dyko, picc
Oboe
Michael Berchert
Megan Strait
Kathryn Swanson
Bassoon
Jordan Wier
Cruz Stock
Alex Smith
Clarinet
Ricky Jurski, Eb
Michael Hudzik
Adam Williams
Alex Proctor
Willis McClure
Kamryn VanHoose
Natalie Kyser
Mollie Barrett
Ryan Moore, bass
Saxophone
Mary Borus
Matthew Reed
Nathan Wood
Lukas Bass
Aidan Peper
Elizabeth Laird
Horn
Elena Maria Farmer
Bird Birmingham
Charles Ditchman
Mitchell Hemme
Tre Myers
Zoe Voelker
Trumpet
Trace Coulter
Ella Stone
Sydney Nitschke
Chris Amaya
Eli Hash
Luke Brewster
Nicholas Forlow
Trombone
Peyton Grey
David Franklin
Matthew Ross
Xavier Branch, bass
Euphonium
Brady Fortman
Benjamin Bates
Tuba
Ethan Morris
Xavier Bucher
Matt Brewton
Percussion
Mason Marquette
Brooke Guyton
Jacob Kendall
Jude Crawford
Alex Minniear
Zach Hallam
Matthew Graves
Piano
Jingyi Xu
Harp
Julie Buzzelli
Double Bass
Nina Petersheim
PROGRAM NOTES
Fanfare Ritmico celebrates the rhythm and speed (tempo) of life. Writing this work on the eve of the move into the new millennium, I found myself reflecting on how all things have quickened as time has progressed. Our lives now move at speeds much greater than what I believe anyone would have ever imagined in years past. Everyone follows the beat of their own drummer, and those drummers are beating faster and faster on many different levels. As we move along day to day, rhythm plays an integral part of our lives, from the individual heartbeat to the lightning speed of our computers. This fanfare celebrates that rhythmic motion, of man and machine, and the energy which permeates every moment of our being in the new century.
This work was commissioned by The Women’s Philharmonic as part of The Fanfares Project. It was premiered in 2000 by the Women’s Philharmonic, Apo Hsu, conducting. The wind ensemble version of Fanfare Ritmico was commissioned by the Alpha Lambda Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity at Illinois Wesleyan University, receiving its world premiere on April 21, 2002, by the Illinois Wesleyan Wind Ensemble, Steven W. Eggleston, conducting.
~Program Note by composer
Pulitzer Prize and three-time Grammy-winner Jennifer Higdon (b. Brooklyn, NY, December 31, 1962) taught herself to play flute at the age of 15 and began formal musical studies at 18, with an even later start in composition at the age of 21. Despite these obstacles, Jennifer has become a major figure in contemporary Classical music. Her works represent a wide range of genres, from orchestral to chamber, to wind ensemble, as well as vocal, choral and opera. Her music has been hailed by Fanfare Magazine as having "the distinction of being at once complex, sophisticated but readily accessible emotionally", with the Times of London citing it as "…traditionally rooted, yet imbued with integrity and freshness." The League of American Orchestras reports that she is one of America's most frequently performed composers.
Higdon's list of commissioners is extensive and includes The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Chicago Symphony, The Atlanta Symphony, The Cleveland Orchestra, The Minnesota Orchestra, The Pittsburgh Symphony, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, as well such groups as the Tokyo String Quartet, the Lark Quartet, Eighth Blackbird, and the President's Own Marine Band. She has also written works for such artists as baritone Thomas Hampson, pianists Yuja Wang and Gary Graffman, violinists Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Jennifer Koh and Hilary Hahn. Her first opera, Cold Mountain, won the prestigious International Opera Award for Best World Premiere in 2016; the first American opera to do so in the award's history. Performances of Cold Mountain sold out its premiere run in Santa Fe, North Carolina, and Philadelphia (becoming the third highest selling opera in Opera Philadelphia's history).
Higdon received the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her Violin Concerto, with the committee citing the work as "a deeply engaging piece that combines flowing lyricism with dazzling virtuosity." She has also received awards from the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Academy of Arts & Letters, the Koussevitzky Foundation, the Pew Fellowship in the Arts, The Independence Foundation, the NEA, and ASCAP. As winner of the Van Cliburn Piano Competition's American Composers Invitational, Higdon's Secret & Glass Gardens was performed by the semi-finalists during the competition.
Higdon has been a featured composer at many festivals including Aspen, Tanglewood, Vail, Norfolk, Grand Teton, and Cabrillo. She has served as Composer-in-Residence with several orchestras, including the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Fort Worth Symphony. She was honored to serve as the Creative Director of the Boundless Series for the Cincinnati Symphony's 2012-13 season. During the 2016-17 and 2017-18 academic years Higdon served as the prestigious Barr Laureate Scholar at the University of Missouri Kansas City.
In 2018, Higdon received the Eddie Medora King Award from the Univeristy of Texas, Austin. That same year, she received the prestigious Nemmers Prize from Northwestern University which is awarded to contemporary classical composers of exceptional achievement who have significantly influenced the field of composition.
Higdon enjoys more than 200 performances a year of her works. Her orchestral work, blue cathedral, is the most performed contemporary orchestral works in the repertoire, more than 600 performances since its premiere in 2000.
Her works have been recorded on over 70 CDs. Higdon has won three Grammys in her career for Best Contemporary Classical Composition: first for her Percussion Concerto in 2010, in 2018 for her Viola Concerto and in 2020 for her Harp Concerto .
Dr. Higdon received a Bachelor's Degree in Music from Bowling Green State University, an Artist Diploma from The Curtis Institute of Music, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. She has been awarded honorary doctorates from the Hartt School and Bowling Green State University.
Dr. Higdon's music is published exclusively by Lawdon Press.
For more information, visit www.jenniferhigdon.com.
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Apparitions: Tone Poems After Banksy (2025)
This piece was kindly commissioned by the Bowling Green State University concert band as part of a series of commissions inspired by street art from around the world. As a British composer, I was asked to write a piece inspired by renowned (and notorious) British artist, Banksy.
Initial discussion between myself and the ensemble resulted in a proposed structure of four to five miniatures, with each miniature being inspired by a different Bansky work. However, when I began my research, I found that I could not surpass the political scope and range of Banksy’s work without writing a piece that was inherently contrived; I was presented with two enormous dilemmas: (1) which works to choose and why, and (2) how to portray them musically without writing an overly cliched and/or explicitly political piece. Given the volatile political times we are experiencing globally, I concluded that this wasn’t a wise approach. Instead, the four movements of the piece are inspired by facets of Banksy’s work as a totality. This felt like a more sincere and respectful way of portraying the complexity and sensitivity of his output:
I: Visions - Banksy’s work springs up unexpectedly in public places, often on walls of prominent buildings in city/town centers. Having encountered Banksy’s works in situ a number of times, they strike me as vision-like in character; socio-political revelations that suddenly inspire a visceral existential dilemma.
Banksy’s preference for black, white, and grays overlayed with vibrant color gives his work a somewhat paranormal, uncanny feel - as if we are viewing his reflections on society from a distant realm far beyond our own. As such, ‘Visions’ present us with a psychedelic, ghostly musical landscape of contemplation.
II: Anticipation - Banksy’s works are highly anticipated by both the public and art worlds alike. His identity is still unknown, and there is still no pattern as to when/where his next work will appear, nor the subject matter it will reflect upon. Discourse around his work stimulates intrigue, excitement, and strong emotional responses from his audience. Immediately following the opening, ‘Anticipation’ offers an excitable, expressive contrast to the ethereality of ‘Visions.’
III: Chorale - Banksy’s work often critiques global injustice. It candidly reflects upon global death and suffering, viscerally portraying experiences of suffering through concise expressions of violent action and movement. As the emotional centrepiece of ‘Apparitions,’ ‘Chorale’ reflects upon the lamenting quality of Bansky’s work.
IV: Moving figures; dancing - from children playing to balloons floating away, Banksy’s work is rarely still, often portraying the action and gesture of human beings. The final movement brings the piece to an energetic, rousing, and hopeful close.
My sincerest thanks go to Kenneth Wayne Thompson for his time, thoughts and support during the writing of this piece, Piywawat Louilarprassert for his kind advocacy in the early stages of the project, Bowling Green State University for making the project happen, and the Bowling Green State University Concert Band for their hard work in bringing the piece to life.
~Joel Kirk, 06/01/2025
Joel Kirk is an English composer of contemporary classical chamber music. He holds a PhD in music composition from the University at Buffalo where he studied under David Felder and Jonathan Golove as a Presidential Fellow. He also holds a degree in music education from Cambridge University, winning the Charles Fox Prize for excellence in research. Joel has worked with internationally renowned performers and ensembles and has had his work performed in festivals across four continents. Recent accolades include Ensemble Écoute's 2023 Young Composer Commission, the 2022 John Golland Award, and a prestigious ASCAP Morton Gould Award. He was also a finalist for the 2023 MATA Festival and received a nomination for a 2024 American Academy of Arts and Letters Award. Joel has had work supported by national level organizations such as the British Arts Council (UK) and Sacem (France). His writing on horror cinema has been published in volumes such as A Critical Companion to Wes Craven (2023) and the upcoming Adapting Horror in Popular Culture (2024).
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Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
~Robert Frost
Nothing Gold Can Stay was commissioned as a surprise gift for Kevin Sedatole in honor of his first ten years at Michigan State University. His conducting students spanning that decade, led by Jamal Duncan and Armand Hall, banded together and approached me at the 2015 College Band Directors National Convention in Nashville about writing the work, and I knew immediately that I couldn’t refuse this special project, made all the more appropriate because my wife, Verena, was one of Kevin’s very first students at MSU.
The music is my deliberate attempt to write a chorale – something simple, beautiful, and familiar. The deceptive surface simplicity of Robert Frost’s poem seems to coincide with this music, particularly the paradoxical descending of dawn to day, all embodying the concept of felix culpa, or “lucky fall” – the idea that loss can bring greater good, and is in fact necessary.
~Program Note by composer
Steven Bryant’s music is chiseled in its structure and intent, fusing lyricism, dissonance, silence, technology, and humor into lean, skillfully-crafted works that enthrall listeners and performers alike. His seminal work Ecstatic Waters, for wind ensemble and electronics, has become one of the most performed works of its kind in the world, receiving over 250 performances in its first five seasons. In 2015, the orchestral version was premiered by the Minnesota Orchestra to unanimous, rapturous acclaim. The son of a professional trumpeter and music educator, he strongly values music education, and his creative output includes a number of works for young and developing musicians.
John Corigliano states Bryant’s “compositional virtuosity is evident in every bar” of his 34’ Concerto for Wind Ensemble. Bryant’s first orchestral work, Loose Id for Orchestra, hailed by composer Samuel Adler as “orchestrated like a virtuoso,” was premiered by The Juilliard Symphony and is featured on a CD release by the Bowling Green Philharmonia on Albany Records. The Detroit Symphony Orchestra commissioned “Zeal” Alchemy in Silent Spaces, commissioned by James DePreist and The Juilliard School, was premiered by the Juilliard Orchestra in May 2006. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s MusicNOW series featured his brass quintet, Loose Id, conducted by Cliff Colnot, on its 2012-13 concert series.
His evening-length work for the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, The Treachery of Sounds, based on several images of René Magritte, uses a live application of binaural technology by placing every member of the audience in headphones to create an immersive experience that defies the listener’s sense of reality. Other recent commissions include Zeal for Leonard Slatkin and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, a large-scale intermedia project for Arizona State University, the Concerto for Trombone for Joseph Alessi and the Dallas Winds, as well as works for the Gaudete Brass Quintet (Chicago), cellist Caroline Stinson (Lark Quartet), pianist Pamela Mia Paul, the Amherst Saxophone Quartet (funded by the American Composers Jerome Composers Commissioning Program), the University of Texas – Austin Wind Ensemble, the US Air Force Band of Mid-America, the Japanese Wind Ensemble Conductors Conference, and the Calgary Stampede Band, as well as many others.
Steven was Distinguished Visiting Professor of Composition at the University of North Carolina Greensboro for the 2014-2015 academic year. Steven studied composition with John Corigliano at The Juilliard School, Cindy McTee at the University of North Texas, and Francis McBeth at Ouachita University, trained for one summer in the mid-1980s as a break-dancer (i.e. was forced into lessons by his mother), was the 1987 radio-controlled car racing Arkansas state champion, has a Bacon Number of 1, and has played saxophone with Branford Marsalis on Sleigh Ride. He resides in Durham, NC with his wife, conductor Verena Mösenbichler-Bryant (Duke University).
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Masks and Machines (2015) was commissioned by a consortium of wind bands organized by Timothy Shade in honor of Gary Green's retirement from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami.
Masks and Machines is inspired by the early twentieth century works of Bauhaus artist Oskar Schlemmer, and the Neoclassical music of Igor Stravinsky. I admire the simplicity of shapes and color in Schlemmer's works such as the Bauhaus Stairway and Triadic Ballet as well as the renaissance and baroque musical influences in Stravinsky's Pulcinella.
Masks and Machines contains three contrasting character pieces featuring renaissance brass music, Baroque fortspinnung in virtuosic mallet percussion, lush oboe, clarinet and bassoon solos, and machine-like flute rips.
~Program Note by composer
Paul Dooley is one of the most prolific and performed composers in America today. His path has embraced not only his Western Classical heritage, but also a cross-cultural range of contemporary music, dance, art, technology and the interactions between the human and natural worlds. Dooley is a recipient of both the Sousa/ABA/Ostwald Award and the William D. Revelli Prize.
Paul Dooley is one of the most prolific and performed composers in America today. His path has embraced not only his Western Classical heritage, but also a cross-cultural range of contemporary music, dance, art, technology and the interactions between the human and natural worlds. Dooley is a recipient of both the Sousa/ABA/Ostwald Award and the William D. Revelli Prize.
In 2013 Dooley joined the music faculty at the University of Michigan. He created and directs the Performing Arts Technology department’s annual Computer Music Showcase. He also co-directed the Midwest Composers Symposium and was coordinator of the “ONCE. MORE.” festival, a celebration of the 50 year anniversary of the ONCE Festival of Contemporary Music.
Recent works include Northern Nights (2017), an EDM-inspired electronic percussion concerto for Lisa Pegher and the Lansing Symphony, Mondrian’s Studio (2019), for horn and wind ensemble, for Adam Unsworth and the University of Michigan Symphony Band, Manifestos (2019) for the universities of the Big 12 Conference, and The Conductor’s Spellbook (2016), an educational, interactive, and entertaining work for young audiences, which has received more than 100 performances since its 2016 premiere, originally commissioned by the Naples Philharmonic.
Dooley is a frequent guest of professional orchestras, university and high school wind ensembles and festivals in the United States and around the world. His music has been performed by, among others, the Nashville Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Singapore Symphony, “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band, the United States Navy Band, the United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own.”
Born in Santa Rosa, California in 1983, Dooley began his musical life listening to Beethoven, Bruce Hornsby, Nirvana and Rush. At the age of 13, Dooley began a long mentorship with singer, songwriter, improvisor and gifted counselor Gary “Doc” Collins. In high school Dooley also studied composition with Charles Sepos, before earning bachelor degrees in mathematics and music composition at the University of Southern California (2002-2007) with Frank Ticheli and Stephen Hartke, and a master and doctorate degree at the University of Michigan (2007-2013) with Michael Daugherty, Bright Sheng and Evan Chambers.
Dooley’s music is published by Paul Dooley Music.
