American Horizons

Fanfare Esprit (2022)                           Carol Britten Chambers

(b. 1970)

Dedicatory Overture (1964)                     Clifton Williams

(1923-1976)

Lighting Field (2015)                       John Mackey

(b. 1973)

an American Elegy (2000)                         Frank Ticheli

(b. 1958)

America, the Beautiful                          Samuel Augustus Ward

Arr. Carmen Dragon

This program is more than a collection of compositions by American composers; it is a journey through the “sounds of us.”

The Announcement (Fanfare Esprit): We begin with a burst of modern energy. This is the sound of the present—optimistic, lively, and full of "esprit" (spirit). It sets the stage for a celebration of American creativity. Carol Brittin Chambers is a Texas-based composer whose music is celebrated for its energy and approachability. Commissioned in 2022, this piece is a "modern classic". It uses the traditional, bold language of a concert fanfare but infuses it with what Chambers calls a "twist" of intricate rhythms and lush, contemporary melodies. It represents the spirit of today’s American musical landscape: vibrant, inclusive, and forward-looking.

The Tradition (Dedicatory Overture): While Fanfare Esprit looks forward, Clifton Williams’s Dedicatory Overture (1964) provides the cornerstone of the American wind band tradition. Williams was a pioneer who helped elevate the concert band to a serious artistic medium. This work is a masterclass in thematic development; the entire overture grows out of the bold, opening fanfare. It was originally written for the dedication of a new fine arts building, and as such, it carries an air of dignity, academic rigor, and professional pride—traits that have defined the American band movement for decades.

The Power (Lightning Field): We then turn to the land itself. John Mackey takes that initial "fanfare" energy and turns it into something primal and electric, reflecting the raw power of the American desert. Lightning Field takes its inspiration from a massive land art installation by Walter De Maria in the high desert of New Mexico. The artwork consists of 400 polished stainless steel poles arranged in a grid across a vast plain—a landscape designed to literally "summon" nature’s power during lightning storms.

Mackey’s music captures the "barely contained energy" of this installation. The piece doesn't just describe a storm; it evokes the feeling of standing in that desert grid, waiting for the first strike.

The Heart (An American Elegy): After the storm of the Lightning Field, we pause. We acknowledge that our story is not always one of triumph. This Elegy is our collective breath; a moment of prayer and a promise of hope in the face of loss. Composed in 1999, An American Elegy was written as a tribute to the victims and survivors of the Columbine High School shooting. However, Frank Ticheli famously stated that the work is, "above all, an expression of hope."

The piece does not dwell solely in the darkness of the event. Instead, it serves as a musical prayer for healing. It features a soaring, lyrical theme and a lonely, offstage trumpet solo that sounds like a distant call for peace. The climax of the piece is not a cry of despair, but a powerful, resonant statement that Ticheli described as a "rebirth." It acknowledges that while we are broken by loss, we are defined by how we care for one another in the aftermath.

I hope the work can also serve as one reminder of how fragile and precious life is and how intimately connected we all are as human beings. -Frank Ticheli 

The Vision (America the Beautiful): Finally, we arrive at the summit. If An American Elegy is the sound of a community finding its footing after a tragedy, Carmen Dragon’s arrangement of America the Beautiful is the vision of what that community is building toward.

In America the Beautiful, we sing "God shed his grace on thee / And crown thy good with brotherhood." The poet Katharine Lee Bates, professor at Wellesley College,  wrote those words not as a boast of perfection, but as a plea for it—at a time when she was deeply concerned about social inequality and the soul of the nation.

In a time of political unrest, this program suggests that "America" is not a single thing. It is the bold spirit of the Chambers, the steady tradition of the Williams, the raw energy of the Mackey, the resilient heart of the Ticheli, and the shared aspiration of the Dragon. Together, they form a portrait of a nation that is complicated, beautiful, and, most importantly, still singing.