Andrew Boysen Jr. is an American composer, arranger, conductor, and educator. He earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in wind conducting at the Eastman School of Music, where he served as conductor of the Eastman Wind Orchestra and assistant conductor of the Eastman Wind Ensemble. Boysen is presently a full professor in the music department at the University of New Hampshire, where he conducts the wind symphony and teaches conducting, composition and orchestration.

The title of this piece refers to the idea that alchemy involves the attempt to combine and transform base metals into gold. In other words, in this piece I tried to take two individual sections and combine them to create a more perfect statement while also transforming them from a dark (minor) color to a bright (major) one. I also reinforced this concept by using only metallic instruments in the percussion section (other than timpani), including two suspended cymbals, tam-tam, china cymbal, triangle, finger cymbals, metal music stand, brake drum, ice bell, sleigh bells, snare drum (rim only), vibraphone, orchestra bells, and chimes.

Alchemy was commissioned by the Indiana Bandmasters Association for the 2008 All-District Honor Bands.

– Program Note by composer

Pavel Tschesnokoff was one of the most prolific composers of Russian Orthodox church music. All of his sacred music was written for unaccompanied choir, in keeping with the traditions of his faith. At an early age, he gained a reputation as a conductor and composer of great skill. His body of sacred works included roughly four hundred compositions, all completed before the age of 30, when the dictator Stalin outlawed religion and all its components. Tschesnokoff continued to compose secular works for the theatre and the stage, including the famous Bolshoi Theatre. Since being arranged for band in 1957 by Bruce Houseknecht, Salvation is Created has become a standard component of wind band literature. This communion hymn from the Russian Orthodox liturgy is based on a simple chant melody and Psalm 74. The English translation of the original Russian text is as follows:

Salvation is created in the midst of the earth, O God, Alleluia!

We hope you enjoy the beauty, simplicity and power of this music.  

Katahj Copley was born on January 15, 1998 and is an American saxophonist, composer, and educator. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music education and composition from the University of West Georgia and is pursuing a master’s degree in composition. He has written over sixty pieces for various ensembles, including twenty-five for wind band. Copley believes music is the ultimate source of freedom and imagination and composing is the way to open one’s heart and show the world his spirit, drive, and passion.

Salutations. Greetings. Hello. Hi. Hey. Yo. Ayo.

These terms along with countless others have been used to greet people throughout history. However, the term “AYO” is different. Rooted from hip hop and jazz cultures, AYO is built in the black language. It’s used to tell when something is right, when something is wrong, when something is awesome, and when something is too sweet for words. Its use is seen with your closest people, your family, or people who know you best. It’s personal.

In short, “AYO” is a personal embrace that can represent life.

With this piece I wanted build the kind of embrace you would get from this one word while also honoring its beginnings – using hip hop rhythms and colorful harmonies. By the end of the piece, we the listeners go from uncertainty to home; and with the uniqueness of the piece, we in turn celebrate not only a word like AYO but also celebrate life.

Featuring Padrick Sullivan, Noah Reader, Tessa Kirkman, Ethan Grimes, Onalee Fidder and Eric Wahl

On A Hymnsong Of Philip Bliss is a radical departure of style of this composer. The frantic tempos, the ebullient rhythms we associate with Holsinger are replaced with a restful, gentle, and reflective composition based on the 1876 Philip Bliss-Horatio Spafford hymn, It Is Well with My Soul. Written to honor the retiring principal of Shady Grove Christian Academy, On A Hymnsong Of Philip Bliss was presented as a gift from the SGCA Concert Band to Rev. Steve Edel in May of 1989.

Featuring Jayvon Washington, Juan Garnica, Julia Hart, Juan Figueroa, Aiden Ledbetter, Chris Lowery, and Juan Garcia

Orange Rondo was composed in 2009 for Oswego High School in Oswego, Illinois. This program has been very strong for many years, and it was a pleasure to write music specifically for them. The directors at the time were Glen Schneider and Stephanie San Roman. Glen has gone on to do great work at Wheaton College and Vandercook College, on top of a thriving career in real estate, as well as raising a large and energetic family. Stephanie continues to lead the program at Oswego, and has received a number of national and regional honors, including a CMA Music Teacher of Excellence award in 2023, performing at the Music for All National Concert Band Festival, the Illinois Music Educators State Convention and the Superstate Band Festival. She also is raising a family with three children, alongside her husband Juan. I am grateful to have enjoyed a 20 year relationship this is outstanding band program. Musically, the form of the piece is in the title! The introductory material returns several times throughout the piece, scored for various combinations of instruments. The second, highly chromatic section of the piece likewise returns throughout the structure of the composition. Glen was a percussionist, so the piece begins with the rhythmic motif of the melody played by the percussion section. They form the backbone of the piece, as well as playing an important part in the development section that leads back to the final statement of the theme. Frequent time signature changes give the music a lively feel, undergirding a memorable melody that the audience will be humming long after the concert.  (notes by composer)

Alex Harrington, Graduate Assistant and Guest Conductor

Elliot del Borgo was an American composer and educator. Born on October 27, 1938, he held a B.S degree from State University of New York and an M.M degree from the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music. Del Borgo taught instrumental music in the Philadelphia public schools and was a professor at the Crane School of Music. He was an internationally-known conductor of bands and orchestras and was elected to membership in the American Bandmasters Association in 1993.

Cast in three main sections, Chant Rituals makes use of two contrasting thematic statements to exploit the timbral and rhythmic resources of the symphonic band. A highly chromatic middle section leads to a dramatic restatement of the original material.

– Program Note from score

Ticheli is firmly established as one of the most prominent wind composers of the last two decades. His compositions cover the spectrum of instrumental literature, from his very demanding Symphony #1 for orchestra, Symphony #2 for band, numerous chamber works for many different combinations of instruments, to his compositions geared for student ensembles. He writes: Mt. Vesuvius, the volcano that destroyed Pompeii in A.D. 79, is an icon of power and energy in this work. Originally I had in mind a wild and passionate dance such as might have been performed at an ancient Roman bacchanalia. During the compositional process, I began to envision something more explosive and fiery. With its driving rhythms, exotic modes, and quotations from the Dies Irae from the medieval Requiem Mass, it became evident that the bacchanalia I was writing could represent a dance from the final days of the doomed city of Pompeii. 

Alex Harrington is a current graduate student at NIU studying Wind Conducting and assisting with the Huskie Marching Band. Prior to NIU, she taught K-12 band and general music in Novi, Michigan and taught private woodwind and piano lessons to children and adults. She received a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Olivet Nazarene University where she was a drum major for the Tiger Marching Band for two years. In addition to her college conducting experience, she was a frequent participant at the NIU Wind Conducting Symposium.