Axe ’Em, Jacks!
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Wind Ensemble at Stephen F. Austin State University will present “The Music of Omar Thomas” for its first concert of the 2023-24 academic year. The program will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17, in Turner Auditorium inside the newly renovated Griffith Fine Arts Building on the SFA campus.
“This will be the first concert for the Wind Ensemble in Turner Auditorium since the spring semester of 2020 before the COVID pandemic,” said Dr. Tamey Anglley, director of bands at SFA and director of the Wind Ensemble. “We have an exciting first program planned featuring the music of highly acclaimed and award-winning jazz and wind band composer Omar Thomas.”
Thomas, assistant professor of composition and jazz studies at The University of Texas at Austin, is guest composer in residency at SFA in early October, working with all three SFA concert bands, Swingin’ Axes jazz band and the SFA composition studio during his time on campus.
The Wind Ensemble will perform three pieces by Thomas as well as the band arrangement of “Summerland” by William Grant Still, which was originally composed for piano. Still was known as the “Dean of African-American Classical Composers,” composing nearly 200 works. “Summerland” is the second movement from “Three Visions” for piano and integrates hints of the blues and gives a nod to his fellow composer Claude Debussy, according to Anglley.
The first piece by Thomas will be “A Mother of a Revolution!” written in 2019. The composer writes, “this piece is a celebration of the bravery of trans women, and in particular, Marsha “Pay It No Mind” Johnson. Marsha is credited with being one of the instigators of the famous Stonewall uprising of June 28, 1969 – one of the pivotal events of the LGBTQ liberation movement of the 20th century.” Thomas integrates both a march-like style along with a disco vibe to honor the legacy of the Stonewall revolution.
“The Low-Down Brown Get-Down” was written in 2020, and Thomas describes it as “the soundtrack for a nonexistent blaxploitation film. It pulls from various sounds and styles of African-American folk music, such as funk, R&B, soul, early hip hop, the blues and even film noir.” He also gives a nod to the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, both in the composition and in the title.
The concert finale is Thomas’ most performed piece, “Come Sunday,” written in 2018. Thomas writes that it “is a two-movement tribute to the Hammond organ’s central role in black worship services. The title is a direct nod to Duke Ellington, who held an inspired love for classical music and allowed it to influence his own work in a multitude of ways.” “Come Sunday” is in two movements, including “Testimony” and “Shout!,” and is reminiscent of church services across the nation.
“This concert is not one to miss,” Anglley said.
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 sfasu.edu/boxoffice. For additional information, contact the SFA School of Music at (936) 468-4602.