For the President’s Own (2013), by John Williams (b. 1932)

Named by President Thomas Jefferson in 1801, “The President’s Own” United State Marine Band, at over 200 years of age, is one of our country’s most venerable musical organizations, and recognized as one of the finest of its kind anywhere in the world. As a former member of an Air Force Band myself, one can imagine my delight and pride when I was invited to conduct the Marine Band in a concert of my music at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in 2003. Working with them on several other occasions over the ensuing years, I’ve come to think of the Band and its directors, Colonel Tim Foley, Colonel Mike Colburn, and Lt. Colonel Jason Fettig as colleagues and friends, and felt extremely privileged and honored when in 2013, I was asked to write a piece celebrating the ensemble’s 215th anniversary. In writing “For The President’s Own,”I tried to create a worthy salute to the Band and its players, whose breathtaking virtuosity is always on display whenever they perform. In equal measure, their service to our country is consistently combined with their dedicated service to music itself, and we are all greatly in their debt.

– Program Note by John Williams

Speaking Truth to Power (2018), by Adam Silverman (b. 1973)

Thad Anderson, Kirk Gay, Paige Madden, Jeff Moore, Percussion Soloists Known for his percussion writing, Adam Silverman has composed several works for percussion ensemble, wind band, and chamber ensemble. One of his more notable works, Carbon Paper and Nitrogen Ink for marimba and wind band was performed by the UCF Wind Ensemble featuring Dr. Thad Anderson. Commissioned by seven universities, including the UCF Symphonic Band, Speaking Truth to Power was designed as a contemporary response to Karel Husa’s Music for Prague, 1968 and was composed for a concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of Husa’s work. Husa’s landmark composition musically addresses themes of resistance against an invasion of Czechoslovakia which was a Soviet response to the nonviolence movement of “Prague Spring” that had loosened restrictions on the media and civil liberties. According to Silverman, his work links Prague in 1968 to America in 2018, where media and civil liberties were under threat by an administration that was trying to restrict them through discrediting facts, promoting government-serving centralized propaganda, and placing new burdens on the most vulnerable citizens. In this piece, four percussion soloists are featured to speak one voice.

Echo Chamber (2019), by Alex Burtzos (b. 1985)

–World Premiere–

Echo Chamber, by University of Central Florida faculty composer, Alex Burtzos, was commissioned by the UCFWind Ensemble. It explores multiple dualities, on one hand fusing classical, contemporary, and popular musical genres in brilliantly seamless ways, and on the other, embodying a metaphorical interpretation of its own title. Dr. Burtzos, explains that “An ‘echo chamber’ can be (literally) a very reverberant space, or (metaphorically) an online community of like-minded individuals. The former is acoustically dangerous, in a way; a musical gesture, once stated, might lose its definition as it’s bounced around the reflective environment. But the latter meaning, the metaphorical one, is much more dangerous; an otherwise reasonable person, in this kind of echo chamber, might misplace their own identity, and begin to lose track of what is real and what is not. Echo Chamber is a work that plays with these dual interpretations. Ideas resound back and forth across the ensemble, evoking literal echo, while musical motives evolve, bit by bit, into unrecognizable versions of themselves.”

Zodiac Concerto II  (2022), by Jim Stephenson (b. 1969)

–World Premiere–

William Caballero, Demondrae Thurman, Solo Guest Artists
I. Leo
II. Pisces
III. Aquarius

Zodiac Concerto II was commissioned by a small consortium led by the University of Central Florida Wind Ensemble and also including The United States Marine Band, “The President’s Own.” Zodiac II is the second in a proposed “Zodiac Chronicles,” whereby at its completion there will be four Zodiac concerti, each written by a different composer, and all told, their combined twelve movements representing all twelve of the zodiac signs. UCF Director of Bands, Scott Lubaroff, along with William Caballero and Roger Oyster, commissioned, premiered, and recorded the first Zodiac Concerto, by Anthony DiLorenzo, in 2017-2018 (recording available via Flying Horse Records). In discussing this second installment there was no question that the composer to write it should be Jim Stephenson. Based in Chicago, but a long-time resident of Florida and former musician in the Naples Philharmonic, Mr. Stephenson has quickly become one of the 21st century’s most authentic and sought-after composers. Leading orchestras, wind ensembles, and instrumentalists around the world have performed and commissioned his music to critical acclaim. His music is characterized by a strong sense of melody and tonality, each embedded in a contemporary soundscape. Zodiac Concerto II’s first movement, Leo, is written in memory of Roger Oyster’s father, Dale Oyster. Pisces is Dr. Lubaroff’s zodiac sign, Aquarius the composer’s.

Smoke and Mirrors (2010), by Erica Muhl (b. 1961)

Smoke and Mirrors was commissioned by the University of Southern California for the composer’s own 50th birthday. Composer, Erica Muhl explains that “while the work is entirely an expression of my style as it has developed through 2009, it contains several paraphrases of my compositions for orchestra spanning my twenty-four years at USC, from my student days in 1985 to today.” The work opens with a simple, forceful unison in low winds and percussion, soon giving way to exchanging colors, moving slowly at first, but then suddenly rising to a rapid-fire burst in brass and percussion. The music remains somewhat volatile until it reaches a wholly unexpected scherzo that unfolds lightly, dance-like. The final section of the piece builds slowly but directly to its climax, an extended reflection of the brass chords from the opening, then gradually and delicately dissipating like smoke.

His Honor (1933), by Henry Fillmore (1881-1956)

Cincinnati native Henry Fillmore was a prolific composer-arranger and beloved band leader whose music and performances delighted audiences. He started his own professional band (the Fillmore Band) in Cincinnati in the 1930s, one of the last great professional bands of its kind. Over the span of his 50-year career, he (and his pseudonyms) wrote more than 250 original compositions, including 113 marches. Fillmore eventually moved to Miami and became involved with the bands at the University of Miami, where he had a lasting impact and where he left most of his estate. His Honor is just one of his many famous marches. Written in 1933, it is a brisk circus march with challenges for every instrument. Fillmore dedicated His Honor to Mayor Russell Wilson of Cincinnati, and it was probably played for the first time by the Fillmore Band during their concerts at the Cincinnati Zoological Gardens in August 1933.