UW Bands to Perform ‘Revelry’ Feb. 22

The University of Wyoming Department of Music’s Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band will present “Revelry: A Soundtrack for the Human Experience” Thursday, Feb. 22, at 7:30 p.m. in the Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts concert hall.

Tickets are $12 for the public, $8 for senior citizens and $6 for students. A nominal processing fee will be charged for each ticket. To purchase tickets, visit the Performing Arts box office, call (307) 766-6666 or go online at www.tix.com/ticket-sales/uwyo/6984.

The concert will be conducted by Ogechi Ukazu, interim director of bands, and guest student conductors Amber Sturdevant, of Gillette, and Logan Dominguez, from Lubbock, Texas.

The UW Symphonic Band will perform “The Adventurer’s Overture” by Casey Martin, a piece that developed from a beginning etude used to teach trumpet students to a full-fledged band composition. Next is “Inland Ocean” by Viet Cuong, which was inspired by Valley of Fire State Park near Las Vegas and the forces that shaped it over time. The symphonic band will close out its portion of the concert with “Lichtweg/Lightway” by Jennifer Jolley, a musical portrayal of the rhythmic placement of the neon lights in Keith Sonnier’s light installation at Munich Airport.

The UW Wind Symphony will perform “Rocky Point Holiday” by Ron Nelson, a commission from Frank Bencriscutto and the University of Minnesota band for a virtuosic piece to take on a 1969 tour of Russia. The wind symphony will follow with “Fandango” by Joseph Turrin, a six-minute piece exploring the rhythmic, melodic and syncopated elements of the Spanish fandango dance. The piece was commissioned by the University of New Mexico Wind Symphony for Philip Smith and Joseph Alessi.

Next is “Some treasures are heavy with human tears” by John Mackey, a musical meditation on grief that explores how people cope with tragedy, both personally and communally. The concert will end with the Wind Symphony performing “The Low-Down Brown Get-Down” by Omar Thomas, the soundtrack of an imagined “blaxploitation” film. The piece pulls from various sounds and styles of African American folk music, such as funk, R&B, soul, early hip-hop and the blues.

For more information, call Kathy Kirkaldie, UW Fine Arts coordinator, at (307) 766-2160 or email kirisk@uwyo.edu.