WINONA LAKE – “Potpourri of Sound” is the theme of the spring concert presented by the Grace College Community Wind Ensemble, conducted by Martin Becker. Join the Grace College Community Wind Ensemble March 20 at 7:30 p.m. at Rodeheaver Auditorium, Winona Lake, as it presents the concert, featuring several soloists in addition to the wind ensemble performing some band repertoire. The concert is free. Opening the program will be “Variations on a Shaker Melody” by composer Aaron Copland. This set of five variations on the Shaker melody “‘Tis the Gift to Be Simple” was derived by Copland from his music composed for the ballet “Appalachian Spring,” produced in 1944 in collaboration with Martha Graham. The ballet features a bride and her young farmer husband at a pioneer celebration in the spring around a newly built farmhouse. The Shaker melody provided the sense of the pioneer American spirit, with youth, optimism and hope in an elegant and simple manner, according to a press release provided by Becker. Next on the program will feature the first of three soloists, Oscar Arturo Osorio. Osorio will perform Robert W. Smith’s “Gemeinhardt Suite.” The suite was composed by Robert W. Smith in 1997. It was commissioned by and dedicated to the Gemeinhardt Company in Elkhart, makers of all types of flutes and piccolos. It is scored for the typical wind orchestra, as well as an extended flute choir. The piece is considered a staple in flute repertory. The entire suite is devoted to the flute family. It is divided into three movements: “Carousel,” “Telling Stories to the Sea” and “Ceremony of Flute and Drum.” Osorio graduated from the Honduras National Conservatory of Music in 1997 with a bachelor’s degree in music. At 14, he began performing flute and piccolo with the National Symphony Orchestra of Honduras. In late 2004, Osorio came to the United States to pursue undergraduate studies. Osorio received a bachelor’s degree in music with a minor in business management from Grace College in 2009. He has been active with multiple ensembles in the Chicago Northern Indiana area in 2007. Osorio currently serves as principal flute, substitute flute and piccolo with multiple groups such as the Grace College Community Wind Ensemble, the Elkhart County Symphony Orchestra, Maple Leaf Chamber Orchestra in Goshen, and the local Symphony of the Lakes. Osorio also works as the choir lead tenor at the Church of the Good Shepherd, and serves as the production/operations director for the MasterWorks Festival. In 1920 Ralph Vaughan Williams composed three preludes for organ based on Welsh hymn tunes, a set that quickly established itself in the organ repertoire. Of the three, “Rhosymedre,” sometimes known as “Lovely,” has become the most popular. The next portion of the program will feature a trio of musicians. The group is called Soprani Compagni and includes Dr. Tammie Huntington, soprano; Dr. Lisa Dawson, soprano; and Dr. Phoenix Park-Kim, piano. They will perform music selections by Gabriel Faure, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Irving Berlin. The trio first began collaborating on the opera stage at Ball State University when they were cast in the opera by Puccini during their graduate studies. Delighted with the way their differing personalities and voices complement and highlight each other, Dawson and Huntington, together with pianist Park-Kim, formed the group Soprani Compagni for the express purpose of researching, compiling and performing soprano art song duets, oratorio and opera scenes; modeling soprano collaboration; and commissioning new works for soprano duet, according to Becker’s press release. Soprani Compagni had its Carnegie Hall debut at Weill Recital Hall in March 2012, and presented at the NOA National Convention in Portland, Ore., in January 2013. They performed at The College Music Society International Conference in Buenos Aires and at the Conservatorio de Música Julián Aguirre in Banfield, Argentina, in June 2013, and continue to present recitals around the country. Just before intermission a group of Warsaw Community High School percussionist will perform “Fluffy Ruffle” by George Hamilton Green. This showcase piece for mallet instruments has been a favorite virtuoso selection since the early 1920s, the release states. Featured will be Eric Coppes, soloist Ben Meulink, Zach Momeyer, Sam Schroedl and Daniel Terry. Following a brief intermission, the Wind Ensemble will perform “Heartland Zeal” by composer Brant Karrick. This new selection was the 2014 Commission work by the Indiana Bandmasters Association. Becker conducted the premier performance of Heartland Zeal at the IBA Northeast All District Honor Band in November. Huntington will return to the stage and perform two solos with the wind ensemble. First, from Rossini’s popular “The Barber of Seville,” will be “Una voce poco fa.” This aria is indicative of the “Barber of Seville’s” humor and spirit of rascality, the release states. “It captures to perfection the personality of the coy and clever heroine as she sings first of her secret love for the mysterious stranger Lindoro, and then of her determination to pursue the object of her desire – and woe to anyone who tries to obstruct her.” Next, Huntington will perform “I Dreamed a Dream” from the musical “Les Miserables,” based on the 1862 novel by Victor Hugo. The final soloist to take the stage will be Dr. Judie Meulink, performing Richard Addinsells’ “Warsaw Concerto.” The piano concerto is written in imitation of the style of Sergei Rachmaninoff. It initiated a trend for similar short piano concertos in the Romantic style, which have been dubbed "tabloid concertos.” This work for piano and orchestra originally was written for the 1941 British film “Dangerous Moonlight,” which is about the Polish struggle against the 1939 invasion by the Nazis. In performance it normally lasts just under 10 minutes. The concerto is an example of program music, representing both the struggle for Warsaw and the romance of the leading characters in the film. It became very popular in Britain during World War II. Meulink received a bachelor’s degree in music education from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich.; a master’s degree in music education with an emphasis in instrumental conducting from the Hartt School of Music in West Hartford, Conn.; and a doctorate in music education from Ball State University, Muncie. In her undergraduate and master’s programs, Meulink’s major instrument was the clarinet. For her doctoral degree, Meulink focused on piano study, earning a minor in piano accompanying and chamber music. “Block M” by Jerry H. Bilik is the concert’s finale. This classic was first published in 1955 when Bilik was only 22. Becker will dedicate the playing of the march to Earl Dunn, who served both as director of bands and School of Music at Ball State University. Dunn had a significant impact as a mentor to Becker and several other musicians who are playing in concert, the release states. Contact Becker at Grace College for more information about the Grace College Community Wind Ensemble.
