UW Symphonic and Community Bands Present ‘Settling the West’ May 1

“Settling the West,” a concert of music inspired by the completion of the transcontinental railroad and the oil fields of the 1900s, is the theme of a University of Wyoming Department of Music concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 1, in the Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts concert hall.

The UW Symphonic Band, conducted by Joseph Carver, UW Department of Music associate bands director, and the Community Band, conducted by Robert Belser, UW emeritus professor of music, will lead the performance that focuses on the conflict of people and the progress of moving west. Also serving as conductor for the Symphonic Band is graduate student Logan Dominguez.

Tickets are $17 for the public, $9 for senior citizens and $12 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 Community Band opens the concert with “The Boys of the Old Brigade” by William Paris Chambers, one of more than 90 marches by the composer. Following is “Masque” by W. Francis McBeth, a nod to both the fashionable entertainments of 16th and 17th century English nobility as well as the literal masks they wore during concurrent times of plague.

“Dusk” by Steven Bryant musically expresses his perceptions of sunset to sunrise. The piece -- conducted by Malori Barnhart, one of UW bands’ McMurry Graduate Assistants – will assist with the Western Thunder Marching Band, Symphonic Band and Wind Symphony.

“Fandango,” by Frank Perkins, is inspired by the lively dance of its title and was one of the most popular encores by the U.S. Air Force Band in the late 20th century. The Community Band closes its set with “1900: Corn, Cows and Music” -- subtitled “Haying the Horses and Slopping the Pigs -- and Playing Sonatas and Rags and Jigs” -- is a musical autobiography by Robert Russell Bennett charting the stages of his life in seven vignettes.

The Symphonic Band opens with “Light Cavalry Overture” by Franz von Suppé, which originally introduced an operetta with its spirited themes, driven rhythms, and sweeping melodies. It has long been a favorite on concert programs and in popular culture.

Next is “Call of the Prairie” by Lisa Galvin, a musical journey through the American West that uses folk-inspired melodies, rich harmonies and flowing rhythms to paint a vivid picture of the wide-open plains, the quiet beauty of the land and the enduring strength of the Ioway Sioux people.

“Transcontinental Union for Wind Ensemble” by Thomas Rohrer celebrates the completion of the first U.S. transcontinental railroad in 1869, capturing both the spirit of adventure and the human effort that made it all possible.

The concert closes with “March of the Roughnecks” by Ed Huckeby, a piece commissioned  by the Glenpool, Okla., high school band to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Glenpool, named for the famous “Ida Glenn” well that was discovered and helped kick off the oil boom that started in Oklahoma.

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