EPSG:4326

Concert Band and Symphonic Band – Jason H. Nam and Eric M. Smedley, conductors

Musical Arts Center

This program celebrates Martinů’s gift for synthesizing the old and the new. Named for Renaissance part-songs and inspired by Mozart, the First Duo from his “Three Madrigals” is nonetheless contemporary in its idioms; his lyrical Third Cello Sonata features both traditional and progressive harmonies; and his Second Nonet, composed in his final months, finds fresh colors and textures within its neoclassical form. These will be heard alongside mid-century chamber works by two of Martinů’s younger contemporaries. David Diamond, a friend and colleague whom he had known in Paris, is represented by the energetic and tonally centered Quintet for flute, piano, and strings. By contrast, the Évocations de Slovaquie by Pulitzer Prize laureate Karel Husa—another Czech who settled in France before emigrating to the States—is already atonal and forward-looking, despite dating from the composer’s Paris years between the wars.

Program Eight • Tradition and Innovation

Fisher Center at Bard

Enjoy an evening of music featuring faculty from across the School of Music! UMWO is joined by Associate Professor of Flute Sarah Frisof, Oboe Lecturer Emily Tsai, Professor of Clarinet Robert Dilutis and Bassoon Lecturer Joey Grimmer for a performance of Heitor Villa-Lobos’ stunning Concerto Grosso for Woodwind Quartet and Wind Orchestra. Assistant Professor of voice Teri Bickham D.M.A. ‘19 takes the stage to perform Augusta Read Thomas’ A Plea for Peace, a meditative work representing an impassioned cry for peace.

Faculty on Stage: UMD Wind Orchestra

University of Maryland

Online

The Prague Philharmonia opens the 2024/2025 season in the final phase of the Year of Czech Music. Who would be more suitable for the opening ceremony than Bedřich Smetana? From the works of this great composer we have selected the overture to his masterpiece – The Secret. In this opera, Smetana draws from Shakespeare and transforms the theme of forbidden love into a comedy.

Smetana. Novák. Husa. Dvořák

Dvořák Hall Rudolfinum

Eastman Wind Orchestra

Eastman Theatre

The ensemble’s second winter concert opens with two works by the late Romantic composer Richard Strauss. His Festmusik der Stadt Wien is a thrilling tribute to the City Council of Vienna, who had given Strauss a Beethoven Prize the year prior. Inspired by the music of Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven, Strauss composed his Serenade, Op. 7 at the age of 17. Anna Clyne’s Masquerade, a vibrant tribute to the 18th-century promenades held in London’s Pleasure Gardens, closes the first half of the concert. Karel Husa’s Concerto for Wind Ensemble concludes the performance with a showcase of the technical and virtuosic abilities of each instrument in the ensemble.

Symphonic Wind Ensemble

Northwestern University

The Carnegie Mellon Wind Ensemble utilizes a flexible instrumentation of winds, brass, and percussion to perform repertoire from standard concert band works to contemporary compositions of various instrumental combinations. 

Carnegie Mellon Wind Ensemble

Carnegie Mellon University

This program of fascinating and varied chamber repertoire brings together Philadelphia Orchestra Principal Clarinet Ricardo Morales; violist and President of the Curtis Institute of Music Roberto Díaz; Seattle Symphony Principal Cello Efe Baltacıgil, and pianist and Artistic Director of the Kingston Chamber Music Festival Natalie Zhu. Baltacıgil, who has been praised for his “sublimely natural, so easily virtuosic, phenomenal, effortless musicianship” (Seattle Times), returns to the east coast to reunite with his Philadelphia-based colleagues.

Ricardo Morales, clarinet & Roberto Díaz, viola & Efe Baltacıgil, cello & Natalie Zhu, piano

American Philosophical Society

Imani Winds brings color, virtuosity, and storytelling to a program inspired by flight and freedom. While Beethoven does not appear directly on this program, his spirit of exploration and expansion lives on in music that breaks boundaries and celebrates individuality. From Mendelssohn’s shimmering ethereality to Stravinsky’s fire and Charlie Parker’s swing, Imani Winds connects classical tradition with global and contemporary voices. Known for their technical brilliance and expressive range, the ensemble invites listeners into a world of richly textured sound that complements the season’s Beethoven focus, showing his legacy of innovation across genres and generations.

Karel Husa

Events

Upcoming events

Apr 4, 2027

Imani Winds · Segerstrom Center for the Arts

Past events

Feb 18, 2026

Concert Band and Symphonic Band – Jason H. Nam and Eric M. Smedley, conductors · Indiana University Jacobs School of Musi

Aug 16, 2025

Program Eight • Tradition and Innovation · Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College

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