University Bands Open Fall Concert Season at Faulkner Performing Arts Center

Concert Hall of the Faulkner Performing Arts Center
Photo by Roy Cordell

Concert Hall of the Faulkner Performing Arts Center

The University of Arkansas Wind Ensemble and Wind Symphony will open the fall concert season with performances at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 5, at the Jim and Joyce Faulkner Performing Arts Center. The concerts may also be seen via live stream from the program's website.

The Wind Ensemble's concert will be highlighted by a performance of Gustav Holst's masterwork Second Suite in F.  Gustav Holst (1874-1934), along with fellow English composer Ralph Vaughn Williams, led a revival of English folksongs by incorporating the tunes into new works. Holst'Second Suite in F  has matured into a staple of wind ensemble literature.

"It seems fitting to open the first Wind Ensemble concert in the Faulkner Performing Arts Center with a pillar of the wind band repertoire like Second Suite in F " said Chris Knighten, director of university bands.

The Wind Symphony will close its concert will a moving performance of Heroes, Lost and Fallen by David Gillingham. The piece was written as a memorial to those who lost their lives in the Vietnam War.  The piece drew inspiration from a poem written by Gillingham.

Banish our thoughts
From this grueling war.
Let Suffering and Death
Rule no more.

Resolve this conflict
In hearts so sullen
And bring eternal peace
To the heroes, lost and fallen.

Christopher Knighten, director of bands, conducts the Wind Ensemble. W. Dale Warren, senior wind conductor and professor of music, conducts the Wind Symphony. Selected pieces at the concert will be conducted by Taylor Young, graduate conductor, Jamal Duncan, assistant director of bands, and Ben Lorenzo, associate director of bands.

The concerts are presented by the Department of Music in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. The public is invited and tickets may by purchased online

The program is as follows:

Wind Symphony, W. Dale Warren, conductor

  • The Star-Spangled Banner by John Stafford Smith arr. Jack Stamp
  • University of Arkansas Alma Mater by Henry D. Tovey scored by Chal Ragsdale; David Malis, Baritone
  • One Beautiful Life by Julie Giroux; Taylor Young Graduate Conductor
  • Coil by Steven Bryant; Jamal Duncan, Guest Conductor
  • Concerto for Trumpet and Symphonic Band by Alexander Arutiunian; Richard Rulli, trumpet
  • Heroes, Lost and Fallen (A Vietnam Memorial) by David Gillingham

Wind Ensemble, Christopher Knighten, conductor

  • Southern Harmony by Donald Grantham
  • Lullaby for Noah by Joseph Turrin; Ben Lorenzo, Guest Conductor
  • Second Suite in F by Gustav Holst 
Contacts

Robert Hopper, associate director of operations
Music
479-575-3589, rghoppe@uark.edu

Headlines

Native American Student Association to Host Annual Choctaw Stickball Tournament

Competition begins at 10 a.m. Saturday the the University Recreation fields on Razorback Road. Carly Keats, a star Razorback basketball player, will play for her home team from Choctaw, Mississippi.

Department of Music Professor to Teach at Italian Festival in June

Richard Rulli, associate professor of trumpet in the Department of Music, has been invited to teach at TrumpetFest June 16-23 in Orvieto, Italy.

Bumpers College Names Senior Scholars, Outstanding Departmental Students

Twenty-five students from 10 different majors and concentrations in Bumpers College were named Senior Scholars for 2023-24, and each department has named its outstanding students for the year.

Music Education Students Bring Fun to Child Development Center

Interactive music sessions known as "music zoos" bring creative learning of musical instruments to the children in the center, as well as providing the music education students the chance to practice their teaching skills. 

New Faculty Teaching Portfolio Authors Recognized

The faculty members successfully completed the Teaching Portfolio and will be recognized at the Fall Teaching Awards ceremony hosted by the Cordes Teaching and Faculty Support Center and the Teaching Academy.

News Daily