ILLINOIS WIND SYMPHONY - AMERICAN BANDMASTERS ASSOCIATION 87TH NATIONAL CONFERENCE - Butler Arts and Events Center
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ILLINOIS WIND SYMPHONY Stephen Peterson, conductor Thursday, March 3, 2022 Schrott Center for the Performing Arts Indianapolis, Indiana AMERICAN BANDMASTERS ASSOCIATION 87TH NATIONAL CONFERENCE
PROGRAM
O Canada Calixa Lavallée (1842–1891)
Lyrics can be found on page 6.
The Star-Spangled Banner John Stafford Smith (1750–1836)
Lyrics can be found on page 6. Arranged by Theodore Moses-Tobani
Conducted by
Barry L. Houser, associate director of bands,
director of athletic bands
University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign
Ouverture (1932 / 1960) Germaine Tailleferre (1892–1983)
Conducted by Arranged by John P. Paynter
Paula Holcomb, director of bands
State University of New York at Fredonia
la flor más linda (2019) Gilda Lyons (b. 1975)
Conducted by
Cynthia Johnston Turner, dean, faculty of music
Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
“Profanation” from Jeremiah, Symphony No. 1 (1943 / 1952) Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990)
Conducted by Transcribed by Frank Bencriscutto
James F. Keene, director of bands, emeritus
University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign
Shenandoah (Traditional / 2019) Arranged by Omar Thomas (b. 1984)
Conducted by
Elizabeth Peterson, associate director of bands
University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign
Illinois March (1953) Edwin Franko Goldman (1875–1953)
Conducted by
Gary Smith, associate director of bands, emeritus
University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign
Dionysiaques, Op. 62 (1913) Florent Schmitt (1870–1958)
The University of Illinois March (1929) John Philip Sousa (1854–1932)
Conducted by
Stephen G. Peterson, director of bands
University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign
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ILLINOIS WIND SYMPHONY
Piccolo
Julia Escobar Austin, TX Graduate Performance / Literature
Flute
Abby Grace St. Louis, MO Sophomore Musical Arts
Isabelle Libbrecht Anchorage, AK Senior Performance
Noah Livingston* Roseville, MN Graduate Performance
Ksenia Polyarskaya Vernon Hills, IL Senior Performance
Oboe
Celia Chambers Evanston, IL Freshman Performance
Patrick Duncker Champaign, IL Junior Performance
Katie Pierce Lake Bluff, IL Junior Music Education
Michael Wostmann* Arlington Heights, IL Senior Molecular and Cellular Biology /
Performance
English Horn
Celia Chambers Evanston, IL Freshman Performance
Bassoon
Christine Breeden* Normal, IL Senior Performance
Ashley Watkins Tomah, WI Graduate Performance / Literature
Lucille Yockey Springfield, IL Junior Music Education
Sarrousaphone
Lucille Yockey Springfield, IL Junior Music Education
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
Allison White Belvidere, IL Junior Music Education
Clarinet
Axel Aguilera Aurora, IL Freshman Music Education
Andrew Buckley* Rochester, NY Graduate Performance / Literature
Kira Crippen McHenry, IL Junior Music Education
Becca Keller Homer Glen, IL Junior Performance
Matt Kelley Tinley Park, IL Freshman Performance
Aaron Knight Reidsville, NC Graduate Music Education
Joohwan Song Eugene, OR Sophomore Performance
Vanna Tsiknias Gaffney, SC Graduate Performance
Bass Clarinet
Leah O’Dekirk Homer Glen, IL Junior Pre-Vet / Performance
Jeremy Sison* Glendale Heights, IL Graduate Wind Conducting
Contrabass Clarinet
Kevin Valois Villa Park, IL Sophomore Music Education
Soprano Saxophone
Scott Augustine Humble, TX Graduate Performance
Alto Saxophone
Scott Augustine* Humble, TX Graduate Performance
Jonathan Dufresne Houma, LA Graduate Performance
Tenor Saxophone
Kyle Soliz Algonquin, IL Junior Performance /
Composition–Theory
4
Baritone Saxophone
Jamal Brown Nacogdoches, TX Graduate Performance
Trumpet
Joshua Dolney* Deer Park, TX Graduate Performance
JaKobe Henry Prattville, AL Graduate Performance
Sam Inmon Lindenhurst, IL Sophomore Music Education
Kyle Mesa Wheeling, IL Junior Music Education
Anthony Soria Thornton, IL Senior Performance
Mike Tuleo Mount Prospect, IL Junior Music Education
Horn
Matthew Fonda Alexandria, VA Sophomore Performance
Becca Frederick* Davenport, IA Graduate Performance / Literature
Joseph Goldstein Neoga, IL Graduate Performance
Zachary Greenberg Buffalo Grove, IL Senior Music Education / Performance
Bailye Hendley Jefferson, GA Graduate Performance / Literature
Lea Humphreys Lusby, MD Graduate Performance
Jessica Mingee Allen, TX Senior Mechanical Engineering
Trombone
Poorna Kumar Aurora, IL Freshman Community Health /
Performance
Rachel Lin Taipei, Taiwan Sophomore Music Education
Daven Tjaarda-Hernandez* Salem, OR Graduate Performance
Bass Trombone
Jerry Min Albany, CA Sophomore Performance
Euphonium
Jonathan Boudreaux Normal, IL Junior Composition–Theory
Andrew McGowan* Macomb, IL Graduate Performance / Literature
Tuba
George Alberti Baltimore, MD Graduate Performance
Isaac Brinberg Blacksburg, VA Graduate Wind Conducting
Cody Chessor* Trinity, NC Graduate Performance
Percussion
Joe Cangelosi McHenry, IL Sophomore Music Education
Dimitri Georgantonis Rochester, NY Graduate Performance
Emma Lemke Park Ridge, IL Junior Music Education
Ethan Prado Lombard, IL Senior Performance /
Composition–Theory
Lucas Sem* New Berlin, WI Graduate Performance
Hunter Valkema Plainfield, IL Sophomore Music Education
Piano
Xiao Yang Tongling, China Graduate Vocal Coaching and
Accompanying
Double Bass
Jacob Nagler Skokie, IL Junior Music Education
Harp
Julia Johnson Orem, UT Sophomore Performance
*Principal
LYRICS TO THE NATIONAL ANTHEMS O Canada! O Canada! Our home and native land! True patriot love in all of us command. With glowing hearts we see thee rise, The True North strong and free! From far and wide, O Canada, we stand on guard for thee. God keep our land glorious and free! O Canada, we stand on guard for thee. O Canada, we stand on guard for thee. — These lyrics, based on a poem written in 1908 by The Honourable Robert Stanley Weir, became the official English version of the Canadian National Anthem in 1980. The Star-Spangled Banner O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light, What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight O’er the ramparts we watch’d were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket’s red glare, the bomb bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there, O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave? — This version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” shows spelling and punctuation from Francis Scott Key’s manuscript in the Maryland Historical Society collection. 6
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
Ouverture (1932/1960) | Germaine Tailleferre (1892–1983)
Arranged by John P. Paynter
Germaine Tailleferre was a French composer. She began her studies at the Paris Conservatory in 1904, despite her
father’s opposition and her equal ability in art. She studied primarily with Eva Sautereau-Meyer. She was a piano
prodigy with a phenomenal memory for music which led to her winning many prizes. In 1913, she met Auric,
Honegger and Milhaud whilst studying in Georges Caussade’s counterpoint class. When Les Six was formed in
1919–20, she became its only female member. Her abilities at the harpsichord and affinity for the styles of music
originally composed for the instrument stood her in excellent stead as the neo-classicism of Stravinsky began to
grow in popularity, though her works retained an influence of Fauré and Ravel. From the beginning through the end
of her career, many works reveal her attachment to perpetuum mobile rhythms and Bachian counterpoint. Although
her music was widely performed in the 1920s and 1930s, and although she continued to earn accolades throughout
her life, including one of the first state commissions from the French government (1938), the Prix de l’Académie
des Beaux Arts (1973), and the Grand Prix Musical de la Ville de Paris (1978), her writings and her friends’
reminiscences reveal Tailleferre to have been extraordinarily modest. She left behind some 400 works, including
piano and chamber music, symphonic works, ballets, operas, film music, and various melodies.
Ouverture, first composed and performed in 1932, is an example of Tailleferre’s open and straightforward style, at
once lively and containing elegant melodies. Historians are not certain of the exact primary usage of the work, some
leading toward its inclusion in an opéra bouffe, Il etait un petite navire (There Was a Little Boat), while others list it as
part of a comic opera, Zoulaina. Robert Shapiro, in his book Germaine Tailleferre: A Bio-Bibliography, states that it
received its premiere on Christmas Day, 1932 in a concert conducted by Pierre Monteux.
— Program note provided by Wise Classical Music, Oxford Press, and John Boyd
la flor más linda (2019) | Gilda Lyons (b. 1975)
Gilda Lyons is a composer, vocalist, and visual artist, combining elements of renaissance, neo-baroque, spectral,
folk, agitprop music theater, and extended vocalism to create works of uncompromising emotional honesty and
melodic beauty. An active vocalist and fierce advocate of contemporary music, Lyons has commissioned,
premiered, and workshopped new vocal works by dozens of composers. Lyons currently serves as co-chair of
the composition program at Wintergreen Music Academy and as assistant professor of composition at The Hartt
School. She received her PhD in music composition from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and
is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and Bard College. Lyons made her professional debut as composer
and vocalist with the American Symphony Chamber Orchestra in 1997, performing the world premiere of her
orchestral song cycle Feis.
From the composer:
In September 2018, as protesters from Nicaragua’s Carazo region prepared to march against the increasingly
dictatorial Ortega government, my tíos (my aunt and uncle) wrote us with pictures of blockades and descriptions
of the armed forces that awaited protesters. A world away, I responded by recording and posting a verse of Carlos
Mejía Godoy’s Nicaragua, “Nicaragüita,” a song that has become as clear a symbol of the resistance as the blue and
white Nicaraguan flag. It was a cry into the abyss, but, to my surprise, it actually landed with dear ones and their
friends in Nicaragua who wrote that they felt our family standing with them. From this urgent sense of reaching
across distance through music grew la flor más linda, written for Glen Adsit, Edward Cumming, and the Foot in
the Door Ensemble. With arms outstretched through sound, sonic images I associate with Nicaragua are slammed
together: the Basílica bells during the Festival of San Sebastián; the pito and chischiles of the dance of the Toro
Huaco, for which stand in flute and maracas; the firecrackers that announce celebration; scaler gestures that
conjure the strong wind that blows through Diriamba, my mother’s hometown; fragments from de la Cruz Mena’s
“Los Amores de Abraham,” a tune my grandfather and his brothers played in their ensemble Marimba Diriangén;
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and a single gesture from Godoy’s “Nicaragua, Nicaragüita.” Despite an impulse to center on vibrant imagery,
celebratory sound mutates into the sinister, and song becomes lament. Estamos con la gente de Nicaragua,
siempre. Viva Nicaragua libre.
— Program note provided by the composer
“Profanation” from Jeremiah, Symphony No. 1 (1942/1952) | Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990)
transcribed by Frank Bencriscutto
Leonard Bernstein was a world-renowned musician throughout his entire adult life. He served as music director of
the New York Philharmonic and conducted the world’s major orchestras, recording hundreds of performances. His
books and the televised “Young People’s Concerts with the New York Philharmonic” established him as a leading
educator. Bernstein’s compositions include Jeremiah, The Age of Anxiety, Kaddish, Serenade, Five Anniversaries,
Mass, Chichester Psalms, Slava!, Songfest, Divertimento for Orchestra, Missa Brevis, Arias and Barcarolles,
Concerto for Orchestra, and A Quiet Place. He also composed for the Broadway musical stage, creating
masterpieces such as On the Town, Wonderful Town, Candide, and the immensely popular West Side Story. In
addition to the West Side Story collaboration, Bernstein worked with choreographer Jerome Robbins on three major
ballets, Fancy Free, Facsimile, and Dybbuk. Bernstein was the recipient of many honors, including the Antoinette
Perry Tony Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Theater, eleven Emmy awards, the Lifetime Achievement
Grammy Award, and the Kennedy Center Honors.
Jeremiah, Bernstein’s first symphony, was premiered in 1944, with the composer conducting the Pittsburgh
Symphony and Jennie Tourel as mezzo-soprano soloist. Although this early work failed to win a 1942 contest
sponsored by the New England Conservatory, it did win the Music Critics Circle of New York Award in 1944. The
test of the Jeremiah symphony is from the book of Lamentations. “Profanation,” the scherzo second movement, is
based on the traditional Hebrew “Haftarah,” a biblical selection from the Books of the Prophets read after the parashah
in the Jewish synagogue service. The music depicts a general sense of destruction and chaos brought on by pagan
corruption in ancient Jerusalem.
— Program note provided by Boosey and Hawkes and Program Notes for Band
Shenandoah (2019) | Traditional, arranged by Omar Thomas (b. 1984)
Described as “elegant, beautiful, sophisticated, intense, and crystal clear in emotional intent,” the music of Omar
Thomas continues to move listeners everywhere it is performed. Born to Guyanese parents in Brooklyn, New York
in 1984, Thomas moved to Boston in 2006 to pursue a master of music in jazz composition at the New
England Conservatory of Music after studying music education at James Madison University in Harrisonburg,
Virginia. He is the protégé of lauded composers and educators Ken Schaphorst and Frank Carlberg, has studied
under multiple Grammy-winning composer and bandleader Maria Schneider, and has created music extensively in
the contemporary jazz ensemble idiom. Thomas’s music has been performed in concert halls the world over. He has
been commissioned to create works in both jazz and classical styles. His work has been performed by such diverse
groups as the Eastman New Jazz Ensemble, the San Francisco and Boston Gay Mens’ Choruses, and the Colorado
Symphony Orchestra, in addition to a number of the country’s top collegiate music ensembles. He is currently an
assistant professor of composition at The University of Texas at Austin.
From the arranger:
“Shenandoah” is one of the most well-known and beloved Americana folk songs. Originally a river song detailing
the lives and journeys of fur traders canoeing down the Missouri River, the symbolism of this culturally-significant
melody has been expanded to include its geographic namesake. Back in May of 2018, after hearing a really lovely
duo arrangement of “Shenandoah” while adjudicating a music competition in Minneapolis, I asked myself, after
hearing so many versions of this iconic and historic song, how would I set it differently? I thought about it and
thought about it and thought about it, and before I realized it, I had composed and assembled just about all of this
arrangement in my head by assigning bass notes to the melody and filling in the harmony in my head afterwards. I
would intermittently check myself on the piano to make sure what I was imagining worked, and ended up
changing almost nothing at all from what I’d heard in my mind’s ear. This arrangement recalls the beauty of
Shenandoah Valley, not bathed in golden sunlight, but blanketed by low-hanging clouds and experiencing
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intermittent periods of heavy rainfall (created with a combination of percussion textures, generated both on
instruments and from the body). There are a few musical moments where the sun attempts to pierce through the
clouds, but ultimately the rains win out. This arrangement of “Shenandoah” is at times mysterious, somewhat
ominous, constantly introspective, and deeply soulful.
— Program note provided by the composer
Illinois March (1953) | Edwin Franko Goldman (1878–1953)
Founding ABA President Edwin Franko Goldman was one of America’s premiere bandmasters. He was born in
Lexington, Kentucky to a musical family. They moved to New York in his youth, where he studied composition with
Antonín Dvořák and later began his career playing trumpet in the Metropolitan Opera orchestra. In 1911, he formed
the organization that would become the Goldman Band, a professional concert band that played outdoor concerts in
New York City. Goldman commissioned and premiered numerous new works that are now standard repertoire for
wind bands. He was also a composer in his own right, with over 150 original works to his name.
Edwin Franko Goldman was engaged as guest conductor for the Twenty-fourth Annual Band Clinic in January
1953 at the University of Illinois. He composed a new march for the event dedicated to the University of Illinois,
entitled, appropriately enough, “Illinois.” In the trio section there is a reiterative phrase which seems to clearly say
“We sing our praise to you, Ill-i-nois, Ill-i-nois, Ill-i-nois…” Guy Duker later wrote lyrics to the march, which has
become a cornerstone work in the Illinois Bands lexicon. It can be heard every game day Saturday during the march
to Memorial Stadium, at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign.
— Program note provided by the University of Illinois Band Archive
Dionysiaques, Op. 62 (1913) | Florent Schmitt (1870–1958)
Florent Schmitt was a French composer who began composition lessons with local composer Gustave Sandré,
before entering the Paris Conservatoire at the age of nineteen. While at the Conservatoire, he studied with
composers like Gabriel Fauré and Théodore Dubois, winning the Prix de Rome in 1900. Throughout his life, he
composed for most major forms of music, except for opera. His style was primarily impressionistic, similar to that
of Debussy, but also included elements of Wagner and Richard Strauss. His Piano Quintet in B minor, composed
in 1908, helped to establish his reputation, but today his most famous compositions are La Tragédie de Salomé and
Psaume XLVII (Psalm 47). It has been speculated that Schmitt’s involvement in World War I brought him into
contact with military bands, which influenced his compositions to include pieces for such ensembles.
Dionysiaques was composed for the one-hundred-member Garde Républicaine Band in Paris in 1913, mere months
after Schmitt attended the premiere performance of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. Its own premiere had to wait until
1925 because of World War I, but it has been performed frequently since the mid-twentieth century and it now
stands as one of the cornerstone pieces of the early wind band repertoire. The title comes from the “Dyonisia”—
ancient Greek celebrations honoring Dionysus, the god of wine. He was thought to have provided man with the
vineyard, and subsequently the harvest, winemaking, drunkenness, and the means for mystical trances. The piece
itself begins ominously as the low brass and woodwinds set the stage for an exotic and almost hypnotic journey.
Schmitt’s impressionistic tendencies are immediately evident: wandering melodies emerge in the woodwinds
and gradually gain momentum. Their fluidity is slowly abandoned in favor of festivity, perhaps encouraged by the
“fluid” of Dionysus, be it red or white. The bacchanal eventually bursts forth, brimming with rhythmic vitality and a
relentless insistence on partying all the way to the verge of control, and perhaps a bit beyond.
Unique library and instrumental resources available in the University of Illinois Harding Band Building enable us to
perform the original version of Schmitt version of Dionysiaques, including the use of the contrabass sarrousaphone as
indicated in the score.
— Program note provided by the Wind Repertory Project and Dr. Cynthia Johnston Turner
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University of Illinois March (1929) | John Philip Sousa (1854–1932) Sousa, the man who would become known as “The March King,” was born in Washington, DC on November 6, 1854. To redirect him from joining a circus band, his father enlisted him as an apprentice musician in the United States Marine Band when Sousa was thirteen years old. He would famously lead the organization from 1880 until 1892, when he resigned to organize his own band. During World War I, Sousa was commissioned in the United States Navy and organized fleet bands at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Illinois. A prolific composer, Sousa wrote 136 marches, fifteen operettas, seventy songs, and various other works. John Philip Sousa made it his business to know the best up-and-coming people in the band world. Among those for whom he had the greatest admiration was Albert Austin Harding, director of bands at the University of Illinois. Sousa is said to have considered this the finest college band in the world. It is not known if the march was composed at Harding’s request, or if Sousa simply wanted to express his admiration for the Illinois Band. It was completed June 6, 1929, and was given its premiere on June 17 in a Sousa Band broadcast. When Sousa next visited the Illinois campus, he was made honorary conductor of the Illinois Band. Since then, hundreds of University of Illinois musicians have performed the march with great pride. Tonight’s performance is the 97th by a University of Illinois band. — Program note provided by the University of Illinois Band Archive 10
ABOUT THE CONDUCTORS
Barry L. Houser is associate director of bands, director of the Marching Illini,
director of the Fighting Illini Athletic Bands, and clinical associate professor in the
School of Music at the University of Illinois.
His responsibilities include conducting a variety of concert ensembles, the overall
administration of the athletic bands consisting of the volleyball band, the men’s and
women’s basketball bands, and serving as the director of the 375-member Marching
Illini. He teaches undergraduate courses in instrumental conducting, marching
band procedures, and other courses within the School of Music. He is a leadership
coach for the Illinois Leadership Center and serves as the faculty advisor for the
Illinois Chapters of Phi Mu Alpha and Kappa Kappa Psi. Professor Houser’s teaching
experience encompasses both extensive public school and university experiences.
Houser served in a variety of roles throughout his time at Eastern Illinois University: director of bands, associate
director of bands, and director of athletic bands. A native of Indiana, he was director of bands and performing
arts director at NorthWood High School, NorthWood Middle School and three elementary schools in Nappanee,
Indiana, where his bands developed a reputation of fine musicianship with state and national recognition. Prior to
NorthWood, Houser served as the assistant director of bands at Buchholz High School in Gainesville, Florida.
Bands under Houser’s direction have performed throughout the world including the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day
Parade on eight occasions, the NBC Today Show, a number of NFL halftime shows, Music for All events, two tours
of Ireland and the Dublin St. Patrick’s Day Parade, and performances with Maynard Ferguson, the Dallas Brass,
Gregg Potter of the Buddy Rich Band, the Canadian Brass, the Boston Brass, Presidio Brass, and Douglas Yeo of the
Boston Symphony Orchestra. Houser is in frequent demand as a guest conductor, clinician, adjudicator, and has
presented clinics throughout the United States in both the marching and concert band mediums. Professor Houser
has served on the board of directors for the National Band Association serving as state chair, North Central Division
chair, and college/university representative. He currently serves as chair of the College Band Directors National
Association Athletic Band Committee, the chair of the athletic band directors for the Big Ten Band Director
Association as well as president and director of the Smith Walbridge Clinics, one of the pioneer marching band and
leadership camps in the country, established in 1949.
Houser holds professional memberships in the College Band Directors National Association, National Band
Association, NAfME, Golden Key National Honor Society, Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity, Kappa Kappa Psi
International Band Fraternity, honorary member of Tau Beta Sigma, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and is an elected
member of Phi Beta Mu, the international bandmasters fraternity. Barry L. Houser is a Yamaha Master Educator and
an educational consultant for Ultimate Drill Book.
11Dr. Paula Holcomb, director of bands and professor of music at the State
University of New York at Fredonia, conducts the wind ensemble and oversees
the extensive band program. She developed and implemented the highly-
successful and internationally-recognized masters of music in conducting degree
program and teaches graduate and undergraduate conducting.
Prior to her appointment with Fredonia, Dr. Holcomb served as director
of bands and professor of music at Central College in Pella, Iowa. Under
her direction, the Central College Symphonic Wind Ensemble Band toured
internationally to Canada, Europe, and Mexico, and performed at Alice Tully
Hall of New York City’s Lincoln Center. Dr. Holcomb is former assistant horn
of the Des Moines Symphony, and past president of the Iowa Music Educators
Association. As a hornist, Holcomb has performed with international artists including Tony Bennett, Chuck
Mangione, Simon Estes, Billy Taylor, Doc Severinsen, Moody Blues, Grant Geisman, Bobby Shew, Gerry
Niewood, Marvin Stamm, Ian McDougall, Arnold Chycoski, Lou Marini, Pete Christlieb, Phil Wilson, and
Roger Neumann.
Having received a doctor of music at Northwestern University studying with John P. Paynter, and master’s and
bachelor’s degrees from Drake University, Holcomb is a highly-sought adjudicator and guest conductor, having
conducted bands and orchestras in forty-two states, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, South America, Australia,
Mexico, Europe, and Canada. She has presented conducting symposiums in Canada, South America, Australia,
Europe, Asia, and the United States. Holcomb was presented with the Kappa Kappa Psi A. Frank Miller award,
served on the Council and Artistic Planning Conference Committee for the World Association of Symphonic
Bands and Ensembles, and is the past president of the Northeastern Division of College Band Directors
Association. She is also past president of the Iowa Music Educators Association, served as vice president of the
Conductors Guild, and chaired the 2012 Chicago Conference. Most recently, she has organized, facilitated and
conducted a ten-day SUNY Fredonia Wind Ensemble Tour of China, including Beijing and Guangzhou. She
also initiated and taught at the International Conducting Symposium with co-clinician Peter Ettrup Larsen at
Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland.
The first in her family to attend university, Cynthia Johnston Turner received
her BM and BEd from Queen’s University, a MEd at the University of Victoria
and a DMA (conducting) from the Eastman School of Music. She has received
numerous teaching, research, and leadership awards in Canada and the United
States.
Dr. Turner was appointed dean–faculty of music at Wilfrid Laurier University
in Waterloo, Ontario, just outside of Toronto, July 1, 2021. She leads a school of
approximately 500 undergraduate and graduate music majors with programs in
traditional conservatory programming coupled with innovative programs such
as the bachelors, masters, and PhD in community music, and artist certificates
in opera performance, chamber music, and contemporary performance. She also
oversees the Laurier Conservatory which houses the String Academy and the Beckett School, two community-
based schools serving hundreds of children and their families in the region.
Before her appointment as dean, Dr. Turner was director of bands, professor of music, and artistic director
of “CCE” at the Hodgson School of Music, University of Georgia where she conducted the Hodgson Wind
Ensemble, led the MM and DMA programs in conducting, provided strategic leadership in diversity, equity,
and belonging initiatives as well as innovative curriculum, and oversaw the entire band program including
the 400-member Redcoat Marching Band. The Hodgson Wind Ensemble performed at the CBDNA National
Convention in 2017. She is a sponsored clinician with Conn-Selmer.
Dr. Turner has guest-conducted bands, new music ensembles, and orchestras at several universities and
conservatories as well as state honor bands in the United States and abroad. She continues to actively promote
12commissions by today’s leading and emerging composers around the world with a focus on underrepresented
voices. She has been invited to present her research with teaching and technology, innovative rehearsal
techniques, and service-learning and music performance at numerous conferences nationally and
internationally.
Dr. Turner has served as a board member with WASBE and is an active member of CBDNA (vice-president
elect, SEC), Conductor’s Guild, College Music Society, Humanities Education and Research Association, the
National Association for Music Education, the National Band Association, and the American Bandmasters
Association. She currently serves on the board of the Western International Band Clinic (WIBC) and faculty
at WIBC University. She is an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi and is a National Arts Associate member
of Sigma Alpha Iota.
James F. Keene retired from the University of Illinois in 2008, where he held
the titles of director of bands and Brownfield Distinguished Professor of Music.
Appointed in 1985, he was only the fourth to hold the director of bands position
since 1905.
During his tenure at Illinois, the symphonic band and wind symphony have been
selected to perform for every major music conference in the US, toured throughout
the US and Great Britain, and have performed in America’s most prestigious
concert halls. Under his direction, these ensembles have produced an extensive
recording series on several labels. These recordings have been broadcast on
National Public Radio in the US, and worldwide, including such diverse places as
the United Kingdom, Tokyo, Warsaw, Tel Aviv, Sydney, and Vatican Radio
Professor Keene is past president of The American Bandmasters Association and served as chairman of the
board of directors. He is a past president of the National Band Association, having previously held several
other NBA offices. Additionally, he was a member of the board of directors of the historic Goldman Memorial
Band of New York City as well as a frequent guest conductor of this iconic ensemble. For several years, he was
chairman of the ABA/Ostwald Composition Contest and was a member of the editorial board of The Journal
of Band Research. Currently, he serves on the board of directors of the John Philip Sousa Foundation.
In addition to membership in several professional and honorary societies, Keene is an Evans Scholar, past
president of the Champaign Rotary Club, and a Paul Harris Fellow of the Rotary International Foundation. In
1993, he was named honorary member of the board of directors of the International Percy Grainger Society
and was presented with the coveted Grainger Medallion in recognition of his noted performances of Grainger’s
music around the world. In 2002, he was named honorary life member of The Texas Bandmasters Association,
only the fifth person so honored in their sixty-five-year history, and, in 2009, he was installed into the Bands
of America Hall of Fame in Indianapolis, Indiana . In 2013 he was honored as the international outstanding
bandmaster of the year by Phi Beta Mu in a ceremony at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic
in Chicago. More recently, he was presented with The Midwest Clinic Medal of Honor in 2018.
Keene earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Michigan, where his major
professors included Dr. William D. Revelli, Elizabeth Green and Larry Teal. Previous to his appointment at the
University of Illinois, Professor Keene taught at all levels, including building nationally-recognized programs
at East Texas State University (now Texas A & M–Commerce) and at the University of Arizona. He continues
to be in constant demand as conductor, clinician, and adjudicator of bands and orchestras, appearing in those
capacities in forty-five states and on five continents.
13Dr. Elizabeth Peterson, clinical professor of music, and associate director of
bands, joined the Illinois faculty in the fall of 2015. Dr. Peterson conducts the
Illinois Wind Orchestra, serves as the placement coordinator for student teachers
and teaches courses in instrumental conducting. Prior to her appointment at the
University of Illinois, Peterson was a tenured professor of music education at the
Ithaca College School of Music. During the seventeen years she spent at Ithaca
College, Peterson conducted numerous ensembles including the symphonic
band, brass choir, and all-campus band. She taught courses in conducting,
undergraduate and graduate courses in music education, and supervised student
teachers. Peterson was the co-conductor of the Ithaca Concert Band (community
band) for fifteen years. Dr. Peterson’s current research focuses on the experiences
of first-year teachers.
Dr. Peterson is active as a guest conductor, adjudicator, and school music consultant in the United States and
Canada. She presents clinics at the local, state and national levels in the field of music education. Peterson’s
two books, The Music Teachers First Year: Tales of Challenge Joy and Triumph, and The Music Teacher’s Later
Years: Reflection with Wisdom, are both published by Meredith Music.
Dr. Peterson received a bachelor of music education and bachelor of literature, science and arts degree from
the University of Michigan where she studied trumpet with Armando Ghitalla. She received a master of music
in music education and trumpet performance from Northwestern University, where she studied trumpet
with Vincent Cichowicz, and performed in the North Shore Community Band under the direction of John P.
Paynter. She earned a doctor of musical arts in music education from Shenandoah Conservatory.
Prior to her appointment at Ithaca College, Peterson was an arts administrator and director of bands in the
public schools of Ohio and Illinois. Dr. Peterson holds a number of professional memberships including the
College Band Directors National Association, The National Band Association, Mu Phi Epsilon, Phi Kappa
Phi, and Pi Kappa Lambda. Peterson is a member of the American Bandmasters Association and the Midwest
Clinic Board of Directors.
Gary Smith received his BA degree from Butler University and his MA degree
from Ball State University. He started his career as director of bands at Northside
High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1964–68. He became the director of
bands at Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Indiana from 1968–72. Next,
Professor Smith served as assistant director of bands and marching band director
from 1972–76 at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana.
From 1976 to 1998, and again in 2004, Smith was the associate director of bands
at the University of Illinois in Urbana–Champaign, where he conducted the
nationally-renowned Marching Illini, basketball band, and symphonic band II.
He also taught marching band procedures, and band arranging in the School of
Music.
In 2015, he was elected to serve as the president of The American Bandmasters Association. In addition, he is
a member of Phi Beta Mu, Phi Mu Alpha, and Kappa Kappa Psi music honorary fraternities, and participates
in the College Band Director’s National Association, National Band Association, and the Florida Music
Educators Association.
Smith is the former owner of the Smith Walbridge Clinics, a summer camp for drum majors, colorguard,
marching percussion, marching band student leaders, and band directors, where he continues to serve as a
clinician. Since 1949, these clinics have attracted thousands of high school and college students from across
the United States and several foreign countries.
Over his entire career, Smith has served as a consultant, guest conductor, and clinician throughout the United
States, Singapore, China, Australia, Japan, Canada, Ireland, and France.
14Presently, he serves as the assistant producer of the annual Disney Thanksgiving Parade of Bands held at Walt
Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Since 1987, he has served as the coordinator of the band festivities for the
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. In addition, he serves as the conductor of the Bonita Springs Concert Band in Bonita
Springs, Florida.
His self-published textbook, The System—Marching Band Methods, was acquired by the music publishing
company GIA Publications, Inc., in 2016.
Stephen Peterson was appointed director of bands at the University of Illinois
in the fall of 2015, and will complete his tenure in Spring 2022. He conducts the
Illinois Wind Symphony, leads the graduate wind conducting program, teaches
courses in wind literature, and guides all aspects of one of the nation’s oldest,
largest, and most storied band programs.
Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Illinois, he served as director of
bands at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York for seventeen years. From 1988–
1998, he served as associate director of bands at Northwestern University in
Evanston, Illinois. Dr. Peterson was also conductor of the renowned Northshore
Concert Band. He held positions as associate and interim director of bands at
Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas and has several years
of successful teaching experience in the public schools in Arizona.
Peterson maintains a busy schedule as a conductor and clinician, and, as such, has appeared on four continents
and in forty-four states. He is a member of the College Band Directors National Association, the World
Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, the Illinois Music Educators Association, and has been
honored with membership in the prestigious American Bandmasters Association. He is also a member of Phi
Mu Alpha, Phi Kappa Phi, Pi Kappa Lambda, and an honorary member of Tau Beta Sigma and Kappa Kappa
Psi. He is past president of the College Band Directors National Association, and currently serves on the board
of director of The American Bandmasters Association.
The first to receive the doctor of music degree in wind conducting from Northwestern University, Peterson
also earned master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Arizona State University. In 2012, he was awarded the
prestigious Ithaca College Faculty Excellence Award, recognizing his contributions to Ithaca College. His
ensembles have appeared before national conventions of the American Bandmasters Association (four times),
the College Band Directors National Association (twice), the National Association of College Wind and
Percussion Instructors, the American School Band Directors Association, and at Chicago’s Orchestra Hall and
Lincoln Center in New York City.
15ABOUT THE ILLINOIS WIND SYMPHONY Comprised of approximately fifty-five undergraduate and graduate students who have attained the highest level of proficiency on their instruments, the Illinois Wind Symphony is the premiere wind group at the University of Illinois School of Music. Most members are majoring in performance or music education. Performing the finest wind repertoire, the ensemble’s flexible format provides students with experiences in both large and small ensemble contexts, and a vast diversity of repertoire from traditional works to new compositions in the ever-expanding wind band genre. The Illinois Wind Symphony is extremely active in the commissioning and performance of new works. In addition to membership in a large number of ongoing consortia, the Wind Symphony commissioned several large works that premiered the last few years. To mark the Illinois Bands 150th anniversary, the ensemble combined with the University of Illinois Chamber Choir to commission and premiere a new work by Dominic DiOrio entitled Gathering to celebrate the sesquicentennial of the university. The Wind Symphony performs a minimum of three concerts per semester, and the performance range of this ensemble includes campus, state, regional, national, and international events and venues, including Chicago’s Symphony Center, Alice Tully Hall in New York City, and our own world-class venue, the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Graduates of the Illinois Wind Symphony are members of leading orchestras throughout the world, as well as the Washington, DC military bands. In addition, distinguished teachers at every level of music education have been members of this notable ensemble. 16
ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS BANDS
Long considered one of the most historic and significant college band programs in the world, Illinois Bands started
as a student-led organization in 1868 and quickly grew to be an integral part of the university. 1905 was a watershed
year for Illinois Bands. It was the year Fredrick Locke Lawrence, director of the School of Music and of the Military
Band, appointed the unknown Albert Austin Harding as assistant director of the Military Band—marking the
beginning of unprecedented influence and growth. Harding was only twenty-seven years old at the time of his
promotion to director. His contribution to bands is now legendary. Between 1905 and 2018, the University of
Illinois has had just six directors of bands.
The Bands Division offers students a wide variety of musical experiences through our multiple concert bands, the
popular and highly selective 375-member Marching Illini, our men’s and women’s basketball bands, the volleyball
band, and the summer band (in its 113th season next summer). More than 650 students participate in these
ensembles each year, and most of our concerts are held in the beautiful Foellinger Great Hall located in the Krannert
Center for the Performing Arts—a state-of-the-art facility which brings world artists to campus year-round.
At the forefront of band music education for over a century, the University of Illinois produced the first public
collegiate band program, setting standards for concert performance and marching band drill design, and producing
prominent performers and music educators throughout the world. Our athletic bands provide unparalleled support
and visibility to the University and Illinois Athletics. The concert program, led by the Illinois Wind Symphony, has
perpetuated years of musical distinction through its multiple recording projects, tours, premieres, and collaborations
with world artists.
Illinois Band Alumni number into the thousands, and we are proud of their continued support. We hosted a
130-member alumni concert band in June 2018, and welcomed back over 430 marching alumni in October 2018 to
commemorate and celebrate the Bands Sesquicentennial. Since 1910, local alumni and students come together each
year in our summer band to perform the popular Twilight Concerts on the University Quad.
One cannot overestimate the influence of Illinois Bands in both the education of students and service to the
University of Illinois and the music profession. We invite you to visit in person to experience the true impact of the
college band program that started it all, and we strive to continue to provide outstanding leadership into the future.
17The University of Illinois wishes to pay tribute to
the directors listed below. It is on their shoulders
that our legacy, now in its 153rd year, rests.
Harding Band
Albert Austin Harding
1908 – 1948
First Illinois Band
1868
1870 1890 1910 1930
1880 1900 1920 1940
Albert Austin Harding Glenn Cliff Bainum
1905 – 1908 1922 – 1924
Raymond Dvorak Clarence Sawhill
1922 – 1934 1937 – 1947
Edwin Newcomb Mark Hindsley
1924 – 1926 1934 – 1948
Graham Overgard
1930 – 1937
Neil Kjos
1928 – 1930
Illinois Band
1893Mark Hindsley Harry Begian James Keene Stephen Peterson
1950 – 1970 1970 – 1984 1985 – 2008 2015 – 2022
Linda Moorhouse
interim 2013 – 2015
James Curnow Robert Rumbelow
acting 1984 –1985 2009 – 2013
Mark Hindsley
acting 1948 – 1950 1960 1980 1990 2010
1950 1970 2000 2022
Cody Birdwell George Brozak
1989 – 1994 2002 – 2004
Harvey Hermann Anthony Messina
1962 – 1984 2018 – Present
James Hile Thomas Caneva
Guy Duker Elden Oyen 1985 – 1989 1998 – 2006
1953 – 1978 1975 – 1993
Elizabeth Peterson
Thomas Harris Peter Griffin 2015 – 2022
Everett Kisinger 1978 – 1981 Gary Smith
1982 – 1998 1994 – 2011
1948 – 1976
Haskell Sexton James Curnow Kenneth Steinsultz Daniel
1981 – 1984 Neuenschwander Ashley Jarrell
1948 – 1952 1993 – 2008
2006 – 2008 2013 – 2015
Austin McDowell
1948 – 1952
Lyman Starr Roby George Barry Houser
1948 – 1953 2008 – 2010 2011 – Present
Abel Ramirez Linda Moorhouse
2008 – 2012 2010 – Present
Director of Bands
Assistant & Associate Director of Bands
(Two-or-more-year appointments only)APPLIED FACULTY
Flute Saxophone Tuba/Euphonium
Jonathan Keeble Debra Richtmeyer Scott Tegge
Oboe Horn Percussion
John Dee Bernhard Scully Ricardo Flores
William Moersch
Clarinet Trumpet
J. David Harris Charles Daval Double Bass
Janice L. Minor Amy Gilreath Larry Gray
Bassoon Trombone Harp
Timothy McGovern Elliot Chasanov Ann Yeung
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS SCHOOL OF MUSIC ADMINISTRATION
Director of the School of Music Jeffrey Sposato
Associate Director of the School of Music Linda R. Moorhouse
Coordinator of Graduate Studies Reynold Tharp
Director for Advancement David Allen
Director of Admissions Angela Tammen
Director of Public Engagement Rebekka Price
To learn more about the Illinois Bands and the School of Music,
please visit bands.illinois.edu and music.illinois.edu.
University of Illinois Bands @IllinoisBands Illinois_BandsYou can also read
