Rodney Dorsey, Guest Conductor

La Procession du Rocio was given its premiere in Madrid in 1913. Every year in Seville, during the month of June, there takes place in a section of the city known as Triana, a festival called the Procession of the Dew in which the best families participate. They make their entry in their coaches following an image of the Virgin Mary on a golden cart drawn by oxen and accompanying by music. The people dance the soleare and the seguidilla. A drunkard sets off firecrackers, adding to the confusion. At the sound of the flutes and drums, which announce the procession, all dancing ceases. A religious theme is heard and breaks forth mingling with the pealing of the church bells and the strains of the royal march. The procession passes and as it recedes, the festivities resume, but at length they fade away.

Composer Joaquin Turina (1882-1949) was a native of Spain, but was influenced early in his career by the impressionistic harmonies of Debussy and Ravel while studying in Paris. Upon returning to Spain, he drew inspiration from Spanish folk music with La Procession du Rocio becoming one of his best-known works. The music portrays a festival and procession that takes place in the Triana neighborhood of Seville, and is filled with wonderful idiomatic Spanish musical elements. Alfred Reed’s marvelous transcription created in 1962 remains an enduring staple in the repertoire for wind bands.

Notes from the Wind Repertory Project

Afro-Latin jazz is often described as an infectious blend of European melodies and lush harmonies with a heartbeat rooted in the rhythm treasures of Africa. The collaborations of artists like Dizzy Gillespie and Tito Puente gave way to a worldwide love of an art form with humble, profoundly spiritual, and yes, even oppressive beginnings. The intent of this original composition is not to add African rhythms in their purest form to Spanish- styled melodies reminiscent of my own ancestral heritage: rather, to pay respect to the result of the organic progression, through time — of the humble cultures thrown together on a small island, and which contributed to the development of these very specific Afro-Cuban forms into what they are… today. These four iconic styles range from ethereal, to joyful, poignant, and intense. In this work: many authentic patterns are woven into the fabric of the winds as well. The composer states:

On a personal note: It is important to acknowledge that this artistic (and spiritual) union could not have occurred without the tragic circumstances surrounding the unforgivable transportation of enslaved people to the Caribbean. Thoughts often drifted to this fact while writing, and so some of the emotions stirred at the mere contemplation of their suffering may be felt in the Bolero and Afro-Cuban 6/8 sections.

Each brief section represents elements of life that are best experienced (or endured) through unity, mutual support, and appreciation for the trials each of us experiences in our own way. It is also hoped that the exhilaration (in the wish to see others rise above their struggles) is also evident in the ending section, where the initial theme heard during the joyous (Son Montuno) returns towards the end of the Afro-Cuban 6/8 to represent the indomitable human spirit transcending the negative events that we may all suffer as a result of life’s trials.

Notes from the Wind Repertory Project

Michele Fernández is a published composer, active guest clinician, adjudicator and performer. Her Jazz and Symphonic compositions have been premiered at Midwest, CBDNA, IAJE, MEA’s and All-State /Regional venues as well as professional venues. Her works are currently (and/or scheduled to be) published through Hal Leonard, Excelcia/Kendor, Doug Beach, JW Pepper, Murphy Music Press, EJazz Lines/Walrus, Jazz Zone (as well here: *Michele Fernández Music*). She is a member of Phi Beta Mu (Omega Chapter) and an active member of FBA, JEN, ISJAC, MBDNA. She frequently serves as a guest clinician/conductor for All-State groups and Regional Honors Jazz/Symphonic groups. She has appeared as a Midwest Clinic lecturer (’07 / ’16), JEN ’22, various State MEA’s. She is a Conn-Selmer and Hal-Leonard sponsored clinician, as well as a freelance guest clinician/conductor for universities and districts across the country.

Michele recently retired from teaching in Miami after 30 years, where (among other teaching positions) her Miami Senior HS ensembles earned top honors/gained international acclaim. Her groups have been selected for Midwest Clinic (Chicago ’93 & ’98), IAJE (Boston ’94 & NYC ’97), Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland ’96), FMEA (Tampa ’94 & ’97) and various national publications. She and her students were the subject of a documentary on “CBS Sunday Morning”, cover story in Band Director’s Guide and featured as an outstanding educator in Downbeat Magazine. Before focusing on writing/clinics, she served as an active oboist in the Miami area, as well as a rhythm section player in a busy Afro-Latin /Jazz group.

NIU Wind Ensemble, Chamber Winds

Richard Strauss’s father, Franz, was the principal horn player of the Munich Court Orchestra and was recognized as Germany’s leading virtuoso of the instrument. His mother came from the prominent brewing family of Pschorr. Although he enjoyed a conventional education as a boy, Strauss still devoted most of his time and energy to music. When he left school in 1882, he had already composed more than 140 works. Through his father’s connections, Strauss met the leading musicians of the day, including the conductor Hans von Bulow, who commissioned Strauss’s Suite for 13 Winds in B flat, Op. 4, for the Meiningen Orchestra and invited Strauss to conduct the work’s first performance in Munich in November 1884. Following this successful conducting debut, von Bulow offered Strauss the post of assistant conductor at Meiningen. Had the young Strauss not written his first wind serenade (Op. 7) three years earlier, the success of his Op. 4 (errantly listed before Op. 7 due to its publication date) would likely have been in question, and his career most certainly could have developed along a different path.

The Serenade premiered in Dresden on November 27, 1882, and has aptly been explained as representing the young Strauss’s filtering and distillation of the influences of Mozart and Mendelssohn into something remarkably original. The contour of the melodies easily identifies the seventeen-year-old as the future composer of works filled with moments of the beautiful lyricism found in Der Rosenkavalier and, especially, his late opera Daphne with its rich wind scoring.

Strauss moves from calm waters one moment to surges of great intensity in the next, and his choice of orchestration throughout the Serenade embodies a depth rarely exhibited by a 17-year-old composer. One particularly notable choice can be found in the recapitulation, which begins with perhaps the most evocatively beautiful moment in the Serenade as the horns play the first theme with great warmth, an eight-bar phrase which surely must have put a smile on his father Franz’s face.

Thomas Snydacker, alto saxophone

I am deeply grateful to Dr. Greg Dewhirst for inspiring this composition. Greg first heard my music at Texas Wesleyan University, who were generous enough to perform my “Concerto for Horn”, “Suite Tuba” and “Fortress of Peace” on the same concert under the baton of Prof. Christine Beason in March of 2015. After the concert, Greg expressed interest in my music, and asked if I would be willing to write a piece for him. Given his outstanding credentials, I was excited to do so. When we began to discuss specific details of this composition in the Fall of 2016, Greg asked if we could have the music ready in time for his performance at the North American Saxophone Alliance Conference in March of 2017.  In fact, the world premiere was given on March 24, 2017 at the NASA Region IV Conference at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

I took advantage of an unusually quiet December to create “Burn” for Solo Alto Saxophone and Piano at the end of 2016. The music itself is constructed on a modified rondo form, based on the harmonic progressions of the J.S. Bach chorale “Christus, der ist mein Leben.” At Greg’s request, the first version of this piece was for Alto Saxophone and Piano, although throughout the compositional process my intent was to score the accompaniment for band.

Professor Thomas Snydacker from the NIU School of Music joins us as soloist tonight, reprising his premiere of the full band version from April 19, 2017.

Notes by Thomas Bough

Alex Harrington, guest conductor and graduate assistant for NIU Bands

Children’s March: “Over the Hills and Far Away” (1919) holds a special place in the composer’s works for band. Children’s March was not his first original work for wind band, for that honor goes to Lads of Wamphray March. Nor is it the first published work for wind band for Irish Tune from County Derry and Shepherd’s Hey appeared in 1918.

Children’s March is the first composition of his maturity originally composed and scored for wind band and, indeed, one of his few compositions that does not exist in any full-length version suitable for performances by symphony orchestra. In contrast to many of Grainger’s other compositions, the march was provided with no program notes. The score bears the dedication “For my playmate beyond the hills,” which is understood by many Grainger scholars to reference Karen Holton, who shared a lengthy relationship with him during the first decade of the twentieth century. With instrumental demands unlike any band work before its time and few since, and with matching technical challenges made to the entire performing ensemble, Percy Grainger’s Children’s March remains one of the most original and satisfying parts of the wind band essential repertoire.

Notes from the Wind Repertory Project

Alex Harrington, Conductor and Graduate Assistant, NIU Bands

Sousa served in the United States Marine Corps, and was a member of the U.S. Navy during World War I. He was asked by Army Lieutenant George Friedlander, of the 306th Field Artillery, to compose a march for his regiment. Friedlander suggested it be built around a song already known as The Caisson Song (alternatively The Field Artillery Song or The Caissons Go Rolling Along). The song was thought to perhaps be of Civil War origin, and was unpublished, and its composer believed to be dead. Sousa agreed, changed the harmonic structure, set it in a different key, refined the melody, made the rhythm more snappy, and added further new material.

Sousa and Lieutenant Friedlander were surprised to later learn that the composer of The Caisson Song was still living and that the song had been written in 1908 by artillery First Lieutenant (later Brigadier General) Edmund L. Gruber, with some help on the lyrics from Lieutenant William Bryden, and Lieutenant (later Major General) Robert M. Danford, while stationed at Fort Stotsenburg in the Philippines.Reportedly, Gruber may have been influenced by music composed by Alfred C. Montin at Fort Sheridan in Illinois, shortly before his unit was transferred to Fort Sill in Oklahoma.

The lyrics as of 1918 are as follows:

Over hill, over dale,
We will hit the dusty trail,
And those Caissons go rolling along.

In and out, hear them shout!
Counter marching all about,
And those Caissons go rolling along,

For it’s high high he,
In the Field Artillery,
Shout out your “No” [numbers] loud and strong,

For wher-e’er we go,
You will always know,
That those Caissons go rolling along.

Notes from the Wind Repertory Project

Rodney Dorsey is Professor of Music at the Florida State University College of Music where he conducts the FSU Wind Orchestra and guides the graduate wind conducting program.

Dorsey comes to FSU from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where he conducted the IU Wind Ensemble and taught graduate conducting courses. Prior to his tenure at the Jacobs School, Dorsey served on the faculties of the University of Oregon, University of Michigan, DePaul University and Northwestern University. He also gained extensive experience teaching in the public schools of Florida and Georgia.

Dorsey studied conducting with Mallory Thompson, John P. Paynter, and James Croft. He was a clarinet student of Fred Ormand and Frank Kowalsky.

During his conducting career, Dorsey has led performances at several prominent events including the American Bandmasters Association Convention, College Band Directors National Conference North/Northwest Regional Conference, and the Bands of America National Festival. He is active as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator in the United States. International engagements include Hungary, Canada, and Bulgaria.

Dorsey’s commitment to community has been demonstrated by his participation on the board of directors for Music for All and the Midwest Clinic. He currently serves as the president of the Midwest Clinic. Other professional memberships include the College Band Directors National Association, National Association for Music Education, Florida Bandmasters Association, Kappa Kappa Psi, Tau Beta Sigma (honorary), Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. Dorsey is also an elected member of the American Bandmasters Association. Most recently Dorsey was named a Yamaha Master Educator.

Thomas Snydacker, a concert saxophonist and educator based in Chicago, has been praised for his “plush tone” (South Florida Classical Review) and his “stunning tour-de-force” and “thoroughly compelling” performances (Chicago Classical Review). He is a member of the Chicago Philharmonic and frequently appears as an orchestral musician with world-class ensembles including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Milwaukee Symphony, and others under the batons of such luminaries as John Adams, Leonard Slatkin, Michael Tilson Thomas, Susanna Mälkki, Marin Alsop, Stéphane Denève, and Matthias Pintscher. His festival appearances as an orchestral musician include the Ravinia Festival, the Grant Park Music Festival, and the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music.

Snydacker is a tireless advocate for new music and has a list of well over 50 premieres to his credit, including works by Rome Prize winners John Anthony Lennon and Roger Boutry. In addition to his saxophone quartet, the Estrella Consort, he frequently performs and records with notable new music supergroup Ensemble Dal Niente. Snydacker has also performed with such icons as Claude Delangle and the Paris Conservatory Saxophone Ensemble, Bobby McFerrin, Jeffrey Kahane, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Capathia Jenkins, Byron Stripling, and Carmen Bradford, and he has appeared as a soloist with groups including the University of Minnesota Concert Choir, the University of Minnesota Wind Ensemble, the Northern Illinois University Wind Symphony, and the University of Illinois – Chicago Wind Ensemble.

Snydacker holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from Northwestern University, where his research focused on spectralism in the saxophone repertoire. He earned a Master of Music from Arizona State University under the guidance of Timothy McAllister and a Bachelor of Music in saxophone performance from the University of Minnesota, where he studied with the esteemed saxophonist and pedagogue Eugene Rousseau.

Alex Harrington is currently a Graduate Student at Northern Illinois University studying Wind Conducting and assisting with all operations of the NIU band program. Prior to NIU, she taught K-12 band and general music in Novi, MI 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. She has been an active conductor at the NIU Wind Conducting Symposium and in 2026 will step on the podium at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Wind Band Conducting Symposium.