Axe ’Em, Jacks!
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Wind Ensemble at Stephen F. Austin State University will present the program “American Steampunk” in its first concert of the 2022-23 season. Featuring music by American composers, the concert is at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 11, in Cole Concert Hall, Wright Music Building, on the SFA campus.
The four-movement work “Steampunk Suite” by Wisconsin composer Erika Svanoe is a program highlight, according to Dr. Tamey Anglley, director of bands at SFA and director of the Wind Ensemble.
Written in 2017, Svanoe writes about the piece: “‘Steampunk Suite’ attempts to depict various scenes that take place in a fictional alternate history that features notable people alive in the Victorian era, including Charles Ives, Marie Curie, H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, P.T. Barnum and Nikola Tesla.”
The concert will open with “Canzona,” Peter Mennin’s only wind band composition, which has “remained a staple in our repertoire,” Anglley said. “‘Canzona’ was one of the many important commissions by Edwin Franko Goldman through the League of Composers and was composed and performed in 1951.”
The Wind Ensemble will also perform the SFA premiere of “Keepers of the House” by Nashville-based composer Conni Ellisor. “Keepers of the House” began as an idea in the fall of 2019 and was realized two years later following a pandemic that halted large ensemble music making. Ellisor's two-movement work was inspired by Suzanne Simard's book, “The Mother Tree.”
The final concert piece will be Donald Grantham’s “J’ai été au bal,” which translates to “I went to the dance.” Written in 1999, Grantham celebrates some of the popular/folk music styles of Louisiana, in particular Cajun music and the brass band tradition of New Orleans.
Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. To purchase tickets, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit finearts.sfasu.edu. For additional information, contact the SFA School of Music at (936) 468-4602.