By Timothy Johnson - An Overture commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Model T Ford 

When asked to write a work for a local honor band in my hometown in Carrollton, I decided to take a look through younger memories. I remember starting on my saxophone and not being quite good at it and then I remembered going into sixth grade band and getting our first piece of music. It was hard work and a lot of wrong notes but at the end of it, the hard work paid off. It felt like a hard climb up a mountain. Then with time we finally reach the top of this small- but at the time huge- mountain. Young band is about taking those new challenges and finding yourself, finding others, and reaching those goals- it’s a skyward journey. And that’s when the theme of this piece finally came to me.   SKYWARD explores the moment in life where you reach towards the top of a new challenge. The work is designed for younger bands to give them a challenge and a goal of working together.  With exciting ostinatos and alluring melodies to tell a story filled with bravery, challenges, and heart, this is SKYWARD.  - Katahj Copley

Inspired by the Aztec god of fire, Xiuhtecuhtli, here is a bold work with plenty of Latin excitement and drive. Contrast is provided in the melodic middle section, then the piece roars to a powerful conclusion. 

Deep River is an anonymous spiritual of African American origin. It has been sung in several films, including the 1929 film version of Show Boat, although it was not used in the original show. The melody was also adapted into the popular song Dear Old Southland, in 1921.

At least one commentator has suggested that the song is intended to offer advice to slaves who want to run away, i.e., you should escape via a "river" to your "home…over Jordan" because the water will wash away your scent.

This energetic work makes an impressive statement for young bands. Written in a single tempo throughout, you'll be amazed at the amount of excitement that can be generated with limited technical demands.

This impressive work is based on an inspiring poem written by an American pilot in World War II. The dazzling brass sonorities and sweeping woodwind lines reflect the young man's love for flying and its release from the troubles of the world.

- Program Note from publisher

John Gillespie Magee, Jr., was 19 years old when he was killed in action on December 11, 1941. Magee was born in Shanghai, China, to an American father and a British mother, who both worked as Anglican missionaries. He came to the United States for a visit and, due to the war, was unable to return to Europe. The U.S. had not yet entered the war, so Magee joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. A poem in a letter to his parents shortly before his death has become a classic and the inspiration for this composition.

James Curnow was commissioned by the Graduates Association of Tenri High School Band in Nara, Japan, to write a piece for concert band in honor of its 50th anniversary. Curnow composed Where Never Lark or Eagle Flew with the subtitle, “Based on a poem by John Gillespie Magee, Jr”.

High Flight

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward, I’ve climbed and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds – and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of – wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace,
Where never lark, or even eagle, flew;
And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

- Program Note by Austin (Texas) Symphonic Band concert program, 7 February 2015

Tuebor Suite is a multi-movement suite honoring the agricultural, maritime and lumbering history of the state, incorporating the melodies of numerous Michigan folk-tunes in the tradition of Grainger, Holst, Vaughan Williams, and Copland.

Movement 1. The Promised Land is a march based on the melodies of Michigan-I-A, and several versions of Michigan-I-O. The lyrics of these tunes contain many appeals to Yankee farmers and laborers to come to Michigan and settle or work. Many promises are made by the singer, ensuring that with hard work, everything put in the ground would grow like “Jack’s bean.” Fortunes are waiting to be made in the logging camps of Michigan’s dense forests by the strong, brave souls who venture far from “ma & pop.”

Movement 2. Siren Songs is a ballad that incorporates the melodies of The Bigler, The Clifton’s Crew, and The Gallagher Boys. Shipping was a keystone of the state’s economy, and many sailors risked and lost their lives bringing goods from the Midwest across Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario. The Great Lakes are the largest freshwater bodies on the earth, and due to their sea-like characteristics (rolling waves, sustained winds, strong currents, great depths, and distant horizons) they have long been referred to as inland seas.

Movement 3. Timber! honors the men who made their living in lumber camps, drawing on material from One More A-Lumb’ring Go and The Logger’s Alphabet. Since the 1860s, Michigan was synonymous with pine lumbering, a dangerous and lucrative business. A vast belt of white pine grew across the Lower Peninsula and parts of the Upper Peninsula -- towering cathedrals of timber that could grow as tall as 175 feet, with stumps eight feet in diameter. In addition, Michigan was blessed with a network of rivers and creeks to transport the timbered logs to mills.

Folk song suites are a staple of the wind band repertoire, and many of the iconoclastic works for the medium are adaptations of these cherished melodies. Passed down through generations via oral tradition, and often sung accompanied by guitar, banjo or melodeon, folk songs are rich sources of material that paint pictures and tell stories of bygone eras. They help us understand what life was like for our ancestors, their traditions and values, their trials and successes, their hopes and dreams.

- Program Note by composer

Directed by Mr. Austin Tripp

Directed by Mr. John Klee

Directed by Mr. John Klee & Mr. Austin Tripp