Atlanta Youth
Wind Symphony
Sunday, December 4, 2022 4:00 pm
Lassiter Concert Hall

COME SUNDAY

Medicine songs of Indigenous Peoples, Jewish psalms, European chant, Buddhist dohas, Sufi qawwals, and ecstatic Gospel hymns are all forms of prayer, expressing what is hard to put into words.  The magic of music to inspire joy, instill calm, and make us feel alive and connected to each other remains one of the great mysteries of the human experience.   

Regardless of faith background (or non-background), we acknowledge the beautiful mystery of music’s transcendent power.  Today’s program explores the intersection of music and spirit—how it makes us feel alive and connected to each other.

There are numerous connections to Atlanta in today’s repertoire.  Chorale and Shaker Dance received its world premiere at the national MENC (now NAfME) conference in Atlanta in 1972.  Dwayne Milburn was inspired to arranged the music in American Hymnsong Suite after attending an organ recital in town.  AYWS’s percussion coordinator, Bryan Wysocki, arranged the percussion ensemble presentation. And, composer Carlos Simon grew up in Atlanta and holds degrees from Georgia State University and Spelman College!

PROGRAM NOTES

A Mother of a Revolution!

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 – which is commemorated annually during the worldwide Gay Pride celebrations. Existing as a trans woman, especially a trans woman of color, and daring to live authentically, creating space for oneself in a transphobic world is one of the bravest acts I can imagine. Over 20 trans women were murdered in the United States in 2018 alone. There is no demographic more deserving, and frankly, long overdue for highlighted heroism and bravery. The disco vibe in the latter half of the piece is meant to honor club culture, a sacred space held amongst LGBTQ persons in which to love, live, mourn, heal, strategize, connect, disconnect, and dance in defiance of those outside forces who would seek to do LGBTQ persons harm simply for daring to exist and take up space.

We pump our fists to honor the life, heroism, activism, and bravery of Marsha P. Johnson, to honor the legacy of the Stonewall revolution, to honor the memory of the trans lives violently ended due to fear and hatred, and in honor of trans women worldwide who continue to exist unapologetically and who demand to be seen. 

This piece was commissioned by the Desert Winds Freedom Band, under the direction of Dean McDowell, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising.

--notes by Omar Thomas (omarthomas.com)

Old Churches

Old Churches uses Gregorian chant to create a slightly mysterious monastery scene filled with the prayers and chanting of monks in an old church. Gregorian chant is ancient church music and that has been in existence for over 1500 years. The chant unfolds through call and response patterns. One monk intones a musical idea, then the rest of the monks respond by singing back. This musical conversation continues throughout the piece, with the exception of a few brief interruptions. Perhaps they are the quiet comments church visitors make to one another.

--notes by Michael Colgrass (michaelcolgrass.com)

Chorale and Shaker Dance

Chorale and Shaker Dance was commissioned by the Bloomington (Minnesota) Jefferson High School Band and premiered by the Medalist Concert Band in March 1972 at the Music Educators National Convention in Atlanta, with the composer conducting.

The work combines an original chorale tune and the traditional Shaker song The Gift to Be Simple. Zdechlik transforms, varies, and juxtaposes both themes throughout the entire composition, incorporating intricate counterpoint and jazz-influenced syncopated rhythms. The Shaker melody does not appear in its entirety until near the end of the piece, when the trumpet section plays the tune over a flurry of activity in the upper woodwinds and a sonorous low-brass accompaniment. A short allegro section follows, and the work draws to a close with several dissonant whole notes that resolve into a brilliant D major chord.

--notes by Travis Cross

American Hymnsong Suite

American Hymnsong Suite is firmly rooted in my family history as church musicians. I grew up singing and playing many different hymns, including the four tunes featured in this work. The final impetus to compose this particular treatment came during the course of an organ concert in Atlanta, Georgia. One section of the program featured innovative settings of three hymns. With the gracious consent of composers Joe Utterback and Brooks Kukendall, I adapted their settings to act as the inner movements of the suite, bracketed with my own original treatments of favorite hymns.

The Prelude on Wondrous Love (“What Wondrous Love is This”) opens with a chant-like statement of this Southern tune before proceeding to a more kinetic retelling. Ballad on “Balm in Gilead” features a rich jazz harmonization of this familiar spiritual. The Scherzo on “Nettleton” (“Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”) contains all the rhythmic playfulness inherent in the best orchestral third movements, and the March on “Wilson”(“When We All Get to Heaven”) calls to mind the wildest marching band ever heard.

While audience members will certainly make various connections to this piece, the ongoing goal is to introduce all listeners to the richness of our American musical heritage.

--notes by Dwayne Milburn

Sweet Chariot

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot is perhaps one of the most well-known African American spirituals. As beautiful and rapturing as its melody is, it should be. However, its beauty and popularity is often overlooked by the song’s true meaning about death. I have taken fragments of the melody and combined it with the Gregorian chant from the Latin mass for the dead, In Paradisum. Its text is as follows: "May the angels lead you into paradise; may the martyrs receive you at your arrival and lead you to the holy city Jerusalem. May choirs of angels receive you and with Lazarus, once (a) poor (man), may you have eternal rest.”

--notes by Carlos Simon (carlossimonmusic.com)

 Come Sunday

Come Sunday is a two-movement tribute to the Hammond organ’s central role in black worship services. The first movement, Testimony, follows the Hammond organ as it readies the congregation’s hearts, minds, and spirits to receive The Word via a magical union of Bach, blues, jazz, and R&B. The second movement, Shout!, is a virtuosic celebration - the frenzied and joyous climactic moments when The Spirit has taken over the service.  ​

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. To all the black musicians in wind ensemble who were given opportunity after opportunity to celebrate everyone else’s music but our own - I see you and I am you. This one’s for the culture!  

--notes by Omar Thomas

OMAR THOMAS
GUEST COMPOSER
Assistant Professor of Composition
Foxworth Centennial Fellowship
The University of Texas at Austin

Described as "elegant, beautiful, sophisticated, intense, and crystal clear in emotional intent," the music of Omar Thomas continues to move listeners everywhere it is performed. Born to Guyanese parents in Brooklyn, New York in 1984, Omar moved to Boston in 2006 to pursue a Master of Music in Jazz Composition at the New England Conservatory of Music after studying Music Education at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He is the protégé of lauded composers and educators Ken Schaphorst and Frank Carlberg, and has studied under multiple Grammy-winning composer and bandleader Maria Schneider.

Hailed by Herbie Hancock as showing "great promise as a new voice in the further development of jazz in the future," educator, arranger, and award-winning composer Omar Thomas has created music extensively in the contemporary jazz ensemble idiom. It was while completing his Master of Music Degree that he was appointed the position of Assistant Professor of Harmony at Berklee College of Music at the surprisingly young age of 23. Following his Berklee tenure, he served on faculty of the Music Theory department at The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Now a Yamaha Master Educator, he is currently an Assistant Professor of Composition and Jazz Studies at The University of Texas at Austin. He was awarded the ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award in 2008, and invited by the ASCAP Association to perform his music in their highly exclusive JaZzCap Showcase, held in New York City. In 2012, Omar was named the Boston Music Award's "Jazz Artist of the Year." In 2019, he was awarded the National Bandmasters Association/Revelli Award for his wind composition “Come Sunday,” becoming the first Black composer awarded the honor in the contest’s 42-year history. 

Now a Yamaha Master Educator, Omar's music has been performed in concert halls the world over. He has been commissioned to create works in both jazz and classical styles. His work has been performed by such diverse groups as the Eastman New Jazz Ensemble, the San Francisco and Boston Gay Mens' Choruses, The United States Marine Band, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, and the Showa Wind Symphony, in addition to a number of the country's top collegiate music ensembles. Omar has had a number of celebrated singers perform over his arrangements, including Stephanie Mills, Yolanda Adams, Nona Hendryx, BeBe Winans, Kenny Lattimore, Marsha Ambrosius, Sheila E., Raul Midon, Leela James, Dionne Warwick, and Chaka Khan. His work is featured on Dianne Reeves's Grammy Award-winning album, "Beautiful Life."

Omar's first album, "I AM," debuted at #1 on iTunes Jazz Charts and peaked at #13 on the Billboard Traditional Jazz Albums Chart. His second release, " We Will Know: An LGBT Civil Rigths Piece in Four Movements," has been hailed by Grammy Award-wining drummer, composer, and producer Terri Lyne Carrington as being a "thought provoking, multi-layered masterpiece" which has "put him in the esteemed category of great artists." "We Will Know" was awarded two OUTMusic Awards, including "Album of the Year." For this work, Omar was named the 2014 Lavender Rhino Award recipient by The History Project, acknowledging his work as an up-and-coming activist in the Boston LGBTQ community. Says Terri Lyne: "Omar Thomas will prove to be one of the more important composer/arrangers of his time."

AYWS STAFF

Scott A. Stewart, Music Director and Conductor
Kim Lorch Perrins, Executive Administrator
Preston Wilhite, AYWS Manager
Kay Fairchild, Brass Coordinator
Bryan Wysocki, Percussion Coordinator
Mark Yancich (Atlanta Symphony Orchestra), Percussion Faculty
Cathy Metzger, Graphic Designer
Huy Cat, Videographer

Eric Richards, Photographer
Mason Beyke, photography /videography intern

AYWS FOUNDATION

The Atlanta Youth Wind Symphony (AYWS) Foundation was established in 2009 to serve as the fundraising vehicle for AYWS, providing for both current needs and cultivating an endowment in perpetuity. Through the founding leadership of Larry Sykora, the Foundation is engaged in development work through family and corporate sponsors, grants, and private donors. The AYWS Foundation has provided music commission funding, supplies, reception goods, instruments, personnel fees, printing and publishing, and student scholarships in its tenure.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Chuck Musholt, President
Jonathan Craig
Danielle Conti
Greg Head
John Larkin
Yuping Luo
William Pitts
Josh Pynn
John Spinrad
Daniel Treuman
Emily Ward
Karen Zgonc