CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State University Wind Ensemble will premiere new works at its final concert of the season Thursday, May 31, in the Austin Auditorium at The LaSells Stewart Center, 875 SW 26th Street, Corvallis.

The concert, directed by Chris Chapman, will open with Alex Shapiro’s “Homecoming,” a 2008 work written for the United States Army TRADOC Band, followed by the west coast premiere of Jennifer Jolley’s 2017 work “Lichtweg/Lightway.” Jolley’s six-minute piece draws its inspiration from a neon light installation by artist Keith Sonnier at the international airport in Munich, Germany.

The world premiere of “Rocky Mountain Sketches” by Olin Hannum, associate director of bands at OSU, concludes the first half. Hannum’s two-movement tone poem of nearly 20 minutes was inspired by a bicycle trip he took with his father across Colorado in 2015.

“During the long days, I would become fixated on melodies that evoked the landscape around us,” Hannum said. “These phrases and motifs floated in and out of grasp and instead of attempting to remember all of them I began the practice of stopping to write them down. These sketches formed the foundation of the piece.”

The west coast premiere of Jindra Necasova Nardelli’s 2009 “Spirit of Lake Michigan” opens the show’s second half, followed by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon’s “Road Stories.” Over its three movements - “Speed Bike”; “Winding Tree Lane”; and “Rail Lights” - “Road Stories” depicts a series of portraits of life journeys taken by the composer.

The world premiere of Kathryn Louderback’s “Symphonies of Silence” follows. Louderback is a graduate of the OSU music program and is a Corvallis-based composer. Describing her compositional style, Louderback said that she “combines old and new musical styles to create a unique sonic atmosphere, using melody and harmony as a tool to paint pictures, push boundaries and explore worlds.”

“Symphonies of Silence” draws its inspiration from Igor Stravinsky’s “Symphonies of Wind Instruments” and is the second large-scale piece she has written specifically for Chapman.

The west coast premiere of Jennifer Bellor’s modern jazz inspired “Uprising,” featuring jazz drummer Ryan Biesack as soloist, closes the program.

The show begins at 7:30 p.m. General admission tickets are $5. OSU students with ID and K-12 youth admitted will be admitted free. Advance tickets are available online at: liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/SACevents. For accommodations relating to a disability, please call 541-737-4671 at least one week in advance.

College of Liberal Arts

About the OSU College of Liberal Arts: The College of Liberal Arts encompasses seven distinct schools, as well as several interdisciplinary initiatives, that focus on humanities, social sciences, and fine and performing arts. Curriculum developed by the college’s nationally and internationally-renowned faculty prepares students to approach the complex problems of the world ethically and thoughtfully, contributing to a student's academic foundation and helping to build real-world skills for a 21st century career and a purposeful life.

Story By: 

Zachary C. Person, 541-737-4671, [email protected]

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