Wind Ensemble to open its season with festive musical array

Wind Ensemble
Wind Ensemble

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Wind Ensemble in the Glenn Korff School of Music opens the season with a festive musical array inspired by William Makepeace Thackeray’s novel Vanity Fair, or Pen and Pencil Sketches of English Society on Wednesday, October 4 at 7:30 p.m. in Kimball Recital Hall.

The concert opens with Percy Fletcher’s comedy overture on characters from the novel. What follows are two decidedly non-English gems by Aaron Copland to provide dramatic counterbalance: The Promise of Living from his opera The Tender Land and Variations on a Shaker Melody derived from his ballet Appalachian Spring. Then it’s on to the Nebraska premiere of Carter Pann’s At Her Ladyship’s Request, a rollicking drama in four acts that could easily be the sequel to Thackeray. Pat Dunnigan’s brilliant setting of dances from Susato’s Danserye of 1551 extends the celebratory mood, and Ira Hearshen’s charismatic arrangement of the symphonic dances from Harnick and Bock’s Fiddler on the Roof brings the evening to an exhilarating close.

The Wind Ensemble is the university’s premiere concert band. Its select mission is to provide instrumentalists of advanced technical proficiency a pre-professional ensemble experience. With an emphasis on 20th century American compositions, the Wind Ensemble’s repertoire reflects the most recent technical and textural innovations, as well as the rich tradition of wind and percussion music extending back to the Renaissance.

Tickets are General Admission $5; Students/Seniors $3 and available at the door.