Easter Monday on the Whitehouse Lawn

Sousa's 1911 suite Tales of a Traveler was a commemoration work designed to celebrate The Sousa Band’s world tour of that year, with each of the movements featuring a picturesque scene from a different memorable world location. The original last movement of the suite was designated for the coronation of King George V in Britain, but when the music was not used for that event, Sousa changed the title to reflect a scene at the White House. Seventeen years later, the March King became dissatisfied with this finale, so he composed a new movement that remains the most familiar part of the suite: the delightfully charming Easter Monday on the White House Lawn.

The scene of children rolling eggs outside the White House dates back to the Madison administration in 1816 and is continued today. Sousa, with the Marine Band, performed the work at the 1929 Egg Roll, recalling: “With the children rolling eggs, dancing, and romping, a scene of animation persists itself; the elders, from the President to the merest passerby, look on the scene with joy and pleasure.” The march itself is bubbly and vibrant, with the characteristic tunefulness of any Sousa march combined with a particularly demanding virtuosity, leaving nearly any audience member tapping their toe or humming its catchy melodies long after its conclusion.

Aegean Festival Overture

This piece was written in 1967 as an orchestral overture for the Washington National Symphony and was premiered by that group under Howard Mitchell a year later at Constitution Hall. Its immediate success then and on tour occasioned the collaboration between Makris and Albert Bader of the U.S. Air Force Band to arrange the overture as a concert piece for band.

From its first hammering dotted eighth rhythms, Aegean Festival Overture reflects the Greek origins of its composer, who was born in Salonika, a colorful Aegean seaport. The driving energy of the fast section with its restless 5s and 7s and the lyric plaintiveness of the contrasting middle section, all molded into a symphonic form, epitomize the musical style of Makris that is a blend of classic form and Greek folkloristic elements. 

Afterlife 

The inspiration for this beautiful commissioned work is best explained in the words of the composer:

"Since the beginning of time, man has pondered what happens when our physical body dies. Some believe we go to Heaven. Others doubt its existence entirely ... For me, I have always hoped that when we pass it will be a very peaceful experience."

A slow, soft, and delicate opening section that begins with upper woodwinds represents peacefulness returning to the soul. The approach to a new consciousness is conveyed as the piece builds to a slightly faster Grandioso section with glorious fanfare passages in the trumpets and horns and dramatic flourishes in the woodwinds. The remainder of the work represents a notion of becoming familiar with the new surroundings. A solemn closing section brings the composition to a soft, peaceful conclusion.

Ensemble Pours Toujours

Star Wars Trilogy

John Williams has rightfully earned a place in the hearts of all film lovers with his numerous brilliant scores to some of the best movies of the last half century. Capable of writing music ranging from tender, intimate moods to galactic battles, Williams carefully constructs each score as a separate, freestanding entity, not just background snippets. The selections in this exciting collection include The Imperial March (Darth Vader Theme), Princess Leia's Theme, The Battle in the Forest, Yoda's Theme, and Star Wars® (Main Theme).

In 1977, George Lucas's highly imaginative entertainment experience first transported an audience to an unknown galaxy thousands of light years from Earth. The Star Wars experience was a blending of contemporary science fiction with the romantic fantasies of sword and sorcery. The story follows a young man, Luke Skywalker, on a journey through exotic worlds in a perpetual struggle of good against evil and the eventual success of love conquering all. Star Wars and its two companion films, Return of the Jedi and The Empire Strikes Back, form the center of a planned nine-part historical series.

The five movements of the Trilogy were selected by arranger Donald Hunsberger to display the excitement, beauty, and contrast in John Williams’s soundtrack for these first three films. The Imperial March, subtitled Darth Vader's Theme, represents the evil might of the Galactic Empire and the supreme villainy of its leader. Princess Leia's Theme is much gentler and pays tribute to the romantic music of the early film heroines. Musical themes are scattered and rapidly shifting in the Battle in the Forest, reflecting the cuts in the movie as the ground battle begins. The almost comedic theme of the teddy bear-like Ewoks contrasts against the huge, but mechanical, armament of the Empire's forces. The old Jedi Master of Dagobah is honored in Yoda's Theme. The gentleness and understanding of the Master is conveyed in the ethereal setting of the swamp where Yoda harnesses the power of the Force to raise Luke's crashed X-Wing fighter. The transition into the heroic Star Wars (Main Theme) seems natural as the power of good, embodied in the Force, is triumphant.

John Philip Sousa (1854-1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for U.S. military marches. He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to distinguish him from his British counterpart Kenneth J. Alford. Among Sousa's best-known marches are "The Stars and Stripes Forever" (National March of the United States of America), "Semper Fidelis" (official march of the United States Marine Corps), "The Liberty Bell", "The Thunderer", and "The Washington Post".

Rossano Galante (b.1967) Born in Buffalo, New York, Rossano Galante received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Trumpet performance from SUNY Buffalo in 1992. That same year he was one of nineteen people from around the world to be accepted to the University of Southern California’s Film Scoring Program. He studied with the late Jerry Goldsmith, who won an Academy Award for his film score for The Omen.  In 1999, Mr. Galante moved to California to pursue a career in film composition and orchestration. Since then he has worked with two-time Oscar nominated composer Marco Beltrami, Christophe Beck, Brian Tyler and Wolfram de Marco.

Mr. Galante has composed music for the films Bite Marks, The Last Straight Man, Monday Morning and Channels. He has served as orchestrator for over sixty studio films including A Quiet Place, The Mummy, Logan, Big Fat Liar, Scary Movie 2, The Tuxedo, and Tuesdays With Morrie, to name only a few.

For his large-scale wind ensemble compositions, he has been commissioned by the Federation of Gay Games-Paris 2018, Atlanta Freedom Band, Lake Braddock High School Band, Hofstra University Symphonic Band, and the Nebraska Wind Symphony, among many others.

Lyle Ykko Benter (b.2006)

Andreas Makris (1930-2005) was a Greek-American composer and violinist, born in Kilkis, Greece, on March 7, 1930. He was a Composer-in-Residence for many years at the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington DC, working with conductors such as Howard Mitchell, Mstislav Rostropovich, Antal Dorati, and Leonard Slatkin. He composed around 100 works for orchestra, chamber ensembles, and solo instruments, including the Aegean Festival Overture, which, transcribed for concert band by Major Albert Bader of the USAF Band, became a popular piece with US bands. Grants and awards he received include the Damroch Grant, National Endowment for the Arts Grant, the Martha Baird Rockefeller Award, ASCAP Award, the Fulbright Scholarship, and citations from the Greek Government.[1]

Makris was a member of the first violin section of the National Symphony Orchestra for 28 years. He held previous positions in the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. His compositions have been performed in USA, South America, Canada, Europe, Russia and Japan.

John Towner Williams (b.1932) Over his seven-decade career, John Williams has composed many of the best known scores in film history. His compositional style blends romanticism, impressionism, and atonal music with complex orchestration Best known for his collaborations with George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, he has received numerous accolades, including 27 Grammy Awards, five Academy Awards, seven BAFTA Awards, three Emmy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. With a total of 54 Academy Award nominations, he is the second-most nominated person in the award's history, after Walt Disney. He is also the oldest Academy Award nominee in any category, receiving a nomination at 91 years old.