The Cascade Winds Presents Its Winter Concerts

Posted on 02/10/08

The Cascade Winds Symphonic Band will present the second concert series of its 2007-08 season on March 2 and 3. The Sunday concert will begin at 2:00 p.m. and the Monday performance at 7:30 p.m., both at Summit High School auditorium. The concerts are free of charge, although donations are gratefully accepted.

The Cascade Winds Symphonic Band is a 60-piece community concert band based in Bend that serves the entire Central Oregon region. The group is comprised of a wide range of volunteer musicians including accomplished high school students, area music teachers, adult amateur musicians and retired professionals. This season artistic director Michael Gesme and the Cascade Winds have arranged for three exciting guest conductors to lead the group in its concert series.

Dan Judd, conductor for the March concerts, is in his 32nd year of public school teaching and is currently Director of Bands at Summit High School. A trombone soloist and clinician/adjudicator throughout the Northwest, Judd holds degrees from Whitman College and Central Washington University and is co-founder of the Northwest Wind Symphony, an award-winning community band in the Centralia/Chehalis area of Western Washington. Mr. Judd's high school bands have earned State and regional honors in Washington and Oregon in the Jazz, Marching and Concert areas. In February the Washington Music Educator's Association installed Judd into the WMEA Hall of Fame.

The selections for this concert take the listener from Rome to Spain to the opera and back to Italy with a few detours. Pieces include Florentiner March, a 'Grande Italian' style work by Czech composer Julius Fucik, and Amparito Roca, a pasodoble and one of the better known pieces of Spanish music by Jaime Teixidor. You won't want to miss Warren Barker's beautiful arrangement of selections from The Phantom of the Opera, the beautiful Andrew Lloyd Webber melodies, the shriek of the damsel in distress, and the raw energy of the famous organ. The final movement of The Pines of Rome, a 1924 work by Italian Composer Ottorino Respighi, will highlight the winter concert. The Pines of the Appian Way depicts the ominous approach of the Roman army, moving down the famous Appian Way, muffled, ceaseless footsteps and fragmentary military fanfares, building to an inexorable climax.

The detours include Concerto for Horn No. 1, by Richard Strauss, featuring Kelli Kirkman, horn soloist extraordinaire, Alfred Reed's A Jubilant Overture, a spirited piece by one of America's most cherished composers, Flashing Winds, by Belgian composer Jan Van der Roost, an energetic and colorful opportunity for the musical virtuosity of our the players to shine, and Who Puts His Trust In God Most Just, a Bach chorale transcription by James Croft, during which the Cascade Winds sing in 4-part harmony.

These concerts are free, open to the public and suitable for all ages. For more information, contact Jan Tuckerman, 541-593-1635.