The performance featured

• Soloist Bill Williams, principal trumpet, San Francisco Symphony playing“ Manhattan” - a cozy fireplace ballad and a sizzling virtuosic spin around NYC

• An encore performance of Steven Reineke’s brilliant Mt. Diablo: A Symphonic Portrait. “... the high point of a terrific concert...” Georgia Rowe, Contra Costa Times 4/29/2002

• A potpourri of Americana and pops music, including a new medley of Glenn Miller songs arranged for wind symphony

Click here to listen to Steven Reineke's personal description of his development of "Mt. Diablo: A Symphonic Portrait", recorded at the April 2002 performance.

The Chimes of Liberty - Edwin Franko Goldman

The military march The Chimes of Liberty (1937) is Edwin Franko Goldman’s greatest hit. It is considered one of the most lively and tuneful marches ever written. Like Sousa’s The Liberty Bell (1893) this piece unusually incorporates orchestra chimes. Here, the chimes carry the melody in the trio. {Back to Program}

Sunrise At Angel’s Gate - Philip Sparke

Composer Philip Sparke wrote this about Sunrise At Angel’s Gate:

"In October 1999, I was privileged to be invited to Flagstaff, Arizona, to take part in the centenary celebrations of Northern Arizona University. The University is two hours drive from the Grand Canyon, so a visit was compulsory!

“It's really not possible to describe this amazing natural phenomenon – it's just too big. You can't even photograph it effectively but it undoubtedly leaves a lasting impression on anyone who visits it.

“ Sunrise and sunset are the best times to view the Canyon, as a sun low in the sky casts shadows that give depth and form to the vast panorama. Angel's Gate is one of the many named rock formations on the northern side of the Canyon and in this piece I have tried to depict the sights and sounds of dawn there, birdsong in the early morning sky and the gradual revelation of the Canyon itself as sunlight reaches into its rocky depths.

“The faster central section depicts the arrival of the tourist buses, which run back and forth along the Southern Rim, and towards the end of the piece, to the sound of a tolling bell, we are reminded of the dangers that the beauty of the Grand Canyon so cleverly hides."

Sunrise at Angel's Gate was commissioned by Colonel Finley Hamilton, conductor of the United States Army Field Band, and first performed by them in March 2001. {Back to Program}

Manhattan - Philip Sparke

The “theme” is a weekend in New York and the opening bluesy movement, “Saturday Serenade,” describes the city on a Saturday night, perhaps in a smoke-filled jazz bar. While writing “Sunday Scherzo”, the composer pictured an early morning jog in Central Park and this vivaciously rhythmic movement ends with an even quicker coda, which brings the work to a brilliant close.

Manhattan was commissioned by the United States Army Band for their solo trumpet, Woodrow English, and first performed by them in Carnegie Hall, New York, in November 2003. {Back to Program}

Las Vegas Holiday - Roger Nixon

California premiere. In 2001 composer Roger Nixon visited Las Vegas, staying at the Luxor Hotel. This megaresort is a 30 story high replica of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Guest rooms are arranged against the exterior and have bizarre 39-degree sloping windows. Until 2006 the Luxor included a nightclub Ra, named after the sun god. Ra contained dim twisting corridors, recalling the confines of the ancient pyramid. This experience so impressed Nixon, he commemorated it with a suite in the following seven movements played without pause:

1. Arrival: the Strip. The Luxor pyramid (Allegro con brio)
2. The Casinos (Allegro con brio)
3. Exotic “Egyptian” Dance by costumed showgirls (Allegro moderato)
4. Luxor Casino (Allegro con brio)
5. Ode to Queen Nefertiti (Andante cantabile)
6. King Tut’s Tomb (replica) (Allegro alla breve)
7. Departure: Reflection and Appreciation (Maestoso)
{Back to Program}

Glenn Miller Medley

Little Brown Jug – Swing version of an old drinking song.

In The Mood – Possibly the most recognizable Big Band song ever, it is a Miller rewrite of a Joe Garland arrangement. Used in countless films, the funniest was Cannery Row, during which Nick Nolte attempts a swing routine with Debra Winger. This was Glenn Miller’s biggest hit. ("In The Mood" refers to a desire to have sex. Considered a bit indecent at the time, it seems innocuous to the modern audience.)

Tuxedo Junction – Erskine Hawkins tune about a jazz and blues club outside Birmingham, Alabama .

American Patrol – March written by Tin Pan Alley composer, Frank W. Meacham. Jerry Gray arranged a swing version for Miller in the late 30s.

Moonlight Serenade – Written by Miller and originally named "Now I Lay Me Down To Weep." The most striking part of the piece was its use of clarinet-led saxophone section, which is widely considered the classic Glenn Miller style. The first eight bars of the melody follow the form of the 12-bar blues. Premier example of the American big-band sound from the mid-20th Century. Moonlight Serenade was the Glenn Miller Band theme song. {Back to Program}

Kentucky Sunrise - Karl L. King

Kentucky Sunrise was the name of a famous “trick” horse that performed with Barnum & Bailey’s Circus. Originally written to accompany the act, the tune soon became so popular that it was used for a wide variety of acts including clown “walk-a-bouts”. It is a classic circus piece with a happy ragtime beat. The horse’s trainer and rider was Rhoda Royal to whom the piece was originally dedicated. {Back to Program}

A Northern Legend - Alfred Reed

Freely developed rhapsody in three-part form based on several themes drawn from the music of the Chippewa Indian nation that for many years was located in what is now Minnesota.  {Back to Program}

Mt. Diablo: A Symphonic Portrait - Steven Reineke

Composer Steven Reineke provided this narrative for the original performance of Mt.Diablo: A Symphonic Portrait:

“I. Ascension and Eagle Flight. The work opens with a single alto flute intoning a Native American chant-like call. This call conjures the birth and ascension of the mountain, rising steadily to its grand summit. As we reach the summit, the great eagle takes flight giving us a bird’s eye view of the glorious vistas of this great landscape.

“II. Spirit of the Ancients. The second movement portrays the spirituality of the mountain to its native people, the Bay Miwok Native Americans, who have lived within sight of the mountain for at least 5000 years. The high slopes of the mountain were once used by these natives to pray and perform rituals.

“ III . Arachnia. The third section of the work is a fanciful depiction of the tarantula mating ritual. Every autumn, the male tarantula leaves his burrow in search of a female to mate with. Once a female is located, the male creates a tapping sound to entice her out her den. At this point he must convince her that he is a suitor and not lunch. To be successful in his mission, the male tarantula must use the small spurs on his front legs to hold the female’ savage jaws at bay while they mate. The hairy little hero of our tale is not so fortunate in his conquest.

“IV. Creation of the Sun. The finale of the piece tells the ancient myth of Too-Le-Loo, the white-footed mouse, and how he stole fire from his neighboring tribe. One night he crept into their village and lulled them to sleep with the playing of his flute. When all of the villagers were asleep, he stole their precious fire and stored it in his flute. As Too-Le-Loo arrived home, he placed the fire on the ground and covered it with leaves and pine needles. O-la-choo, the coyote smelled the fire and wanted to steal it for himself. When he approached the mound and prepared to swallow it, the fire suddenly shot up into the sky, thus creating the sun.”

Mt.Diablo: A Symphonic Portrait is an original work commissioned by and commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Contra Costa Wind Symphony. The Wind Symphony performed its premier under the baton of Stephen Reineke on April 27, 2002. {Back to Program}

America The Beautiful - Arr. Carmen Dragon

This is one of Carmen Dragon’s most famous orchestrations. Typically lush in musical content, it demonstrates his unique way of expressing emotion through music. {Back to Program}

The Stars and Stripes Forever – John Philip Sousa

This piece is likely the most famous march in the world. It is also the official march of the United States .  With crashing cymbals, swirling brass and lyrical piccolos, "The Stars and Stripes Forever" causes the audience to visualize a grand parade band. Virtually never heard now, the march even has original lyrics by Sousa.

Sousa wrote the march in 1896, returning from a vacation to Europe .  He explained the creative process in his autobiography "Marching Along":

"Here came one of the most vivid incidents of my career.  As the vessel steamed out of the harbor I was pacing on the deck, absorbed in thoughts of my manager's death and the many duties and decisions which awaited me in New York .  Suddenly, I began to sense a rhythmic beat of a band playing within my brain.  Throughout the whole tense voyage, that imaginary band continued to unfold the same themes, echoing and re-echoing the most distinct melody.  I did not transfer a note of that music to paper while I was on the steamer, but when we reached shore, I set down the measures that my brain-band had been playing for me, and not a note of it has ever changed." {Back to Program}

Roger Nixon (1921 - ) was born and raised in California's Central Valley towns of Tulare and Modesto. Nixon acquired a taste for the rhythms and dances of California’s early settlers. These influences can be heard in many of his works. His musical interests were nurtured in the public school music program, summer camp at Pacific Grove, and Modesto Junior College, where he studied clarinet with Frank Mancini, formerly of Sousa's Band. He continued his studies at the University of California at Berkeley, majoring in composition and receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1941. He spent the war years in the Navy commanding a vessel in the Atlantic. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley, where he studied with Roger Sessions, Sir Arthur Bliss, Ernest Bloch, and privately with Arnold Schoenberg. In 1960, he joined the faculty at San Francisco State University, where he is now professor emeritus of music. He has written over 60 compositions for orchestra, band, choir, and opera. In 1997, Nixon was honored by the Texas Bandmasters Association as a Heritage American Composer. {Back to Program}

 Glenn Miller (1904-1944), along with Benny Goodman, defined the American swing era.

Born in Iowa, his family homesteaded in Nebraska when Miller was 3. Their sod house (!) was filled with music as his mother played their pump organ. A decade later they moved to Missouri , where Miller earned money milking cows to buy a trombone. He went to the University of Colorado for two years, but the new dance band music called to him. So he went to Los Angeles to try his luck.

He found work in several groups, including Ben Pollack’s orchestra, touring alongside a clarinetist named Benny Goodman. When Pollack’s orchestra moved to New York, Miller left the group to successfully freelance. In 1934, he helped Ray Noble organize an orchestra that gained popularity through its radio broadcasts. Four years later, he started the Glenn Miller Orchestra. With engagements at summer resorts in New York and New Jersey, together with radio broadcasts, the orchestra broke attendance records. Contributing to the special sound of his arrangements was the use of the clarinet as the lead instrument, harmonically supported by saxophones. His recording of Tuxedo Junction sold 115,000 copies in the first week of its release. He earned the first gold record ever awarded for his Chattanooga Choo-Choo.

Too old to be drafted, Miller volunteered for the Navy in 1942, but they could not use his services. Miller tried the Army next and persuaded them to accept him “to put a little more spring into the feet of our marching men and a little more joy into their hearts.” He joined the Army Air Corps as a Captain, later rising to the rank of Major. During World War II, Miller’s band entertained more than a million troops. On the night of December 15, 19 44, Miller embarked on a military flight to Paris to make arrangements for a Christmas broadcast to the troops. The flight took off in foggy weather and was lost over the English Channel.

Miller once famously said, "A band ought to have a sound all of its own. It ought to have a personality." His certainly did. Miller's tunes are still familiar us, even to generations born decades after his unfortunate disappearance. {Back to Program}

Karl L. King (1891-1971) joined Robinson's Famous Circus at the age of 19 as a baritone player. At the time, circus acts were clamoring for special music since standard fare simply did not fit. Karl King was a master at writing music to match the rhythm of the acts and quickly rose to leadership positions in some of the most famous circus bands in the country, including the Buffalo Bill and the Barnum and Bailey. He contributed more circus marches than any other composer. Aerial waltzes and circus gallops were his specialty.

When he finally put down his pen after 50 years, Karl King had published 280 musical compositions. He was at his best composing under pressure. In fact, many of his works were written in tents by the light of a kerosene lantern moments before they were needed! It is a testimony to his talents that so much of his music is still played today all over the world.{Back to Program}

Alfred Reed (1921 – 2005) was one of America 's most prolific and frequently performed composers, especially for the modern symphonic band.

Reed was born in Manhattan in New York City. His formal music training began at the age of 10, when he studied the trumpet. As a teenager, he played with small hotel combos in the Catskill Mountains. His interests shifted from performing to arranging and composition. In 1938, he started at the Radio Workshop in New York as a staff composer/arranger and assistant conductor. With the onset of World War II, he enlisted and was assigned to the 529th Army Air Corps Band. During his three and a half years of service, he produced nearly 100 compositions and arrangements for band.

Following his military service, he attended the Juilliard School, after which he was staff composer and arranger for NBC, then later for ABC. In 1953 he became the conductor of the Baylor Symphony Orchestra at Baylor University. From 1955 to 1966 he was the executive editor of Hansen Publications, a music publisher. He was professor of music at the University of Miami from 1966 to 1993. There he established the very first college-level music business curriculum, advising students "You can't give away what you are trying to sell and expect to stay in business."

 Later in life he claimed, "I am the second most published composer next to J.S. Bach" At the time of his death, he had a backlog of commissions that would have kept him occupied until he was 115. {Back to Program}

Carmen Dragon (1914 –1984) born in Antioch , California , was an American conductor, composer and arranger.

He was very active in pops music, conducting and composing scores for such films as At Gunpoint (1955), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Night into Tomorrow (1951), and Kiss Tomorrow Good-bye (1950). He conducted the orchestra for the popular musical Cover Girl (1944 film), starring Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly, which featured songs by Jerome Kern and Ira Gershwin.

In total he composed and conducted thirty motion picture scores and released fifty-seven best-selling record albums. Personable, gregarious, at home in all areas of public performance, and at ease before audiences young and old, Dragon was one of our most respected and beloved musicians.

Dragon's lush arrangements are appreciated by conductors and musicians for their rich musical content and diversity of style, and every audience enjoys his unique way of expressing emotion through music.

His arrangement of "America the Beautiful" is considered to be the arrangement of that song: it is regularly played by "The President's Own" United States Marine Band, and by countless school and community bands across the country.

Dragon’s legacy lives on through his children. His son, Daryl Dragon, is better known as the instrumental half of the “Captain and Tennille”. Another son, Dennis, was the founding member of the tongue-in-cheek punk rock group, “The Surf Punks”. His daughter, also Carmen Dragon, was a member of a 60s pop group "The Leftovers" and is now a celebrated harpist.

The Carmen Dragon Elementary School in Antioch was named after the composer in 2004. {Back to Program}

Edwin Franko Goldman (1878 - 1956) composed over 150 works. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Goldman’s mother had been a professional pianist. At the age of nine, Goldman studied cornet at the Hebrew Orphan Asylum in New York. In 1892, he won a scholarship to attend the National Conservatory of Music, where he studied music theory and played trumpet in the Conservatory orchestra. During this period, the National Conservatory’s director was the great Czech composer, Antonín Dvorák.

Goldman is known for founding the renowned Goldman Band of New York City in 1918. This band performed free concerts until 2005. It was considered one of New York’s civic treasures. Then the American Federation of Musicians, Local 802 rejected a labor agreement and the band was no more.

During concerts, Goldman would encourage audiences to whistle or hum along to his marches. This has become a tradition with his famous march, On the Mall. {Back to Program}

John Philip Sousa (1854 - 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era, known as "The March King".

When Sousa started playing the violin at the age of six, he was found to have absolute pitch. At 13, Sousa tried to run away to join a circus band. So his father, a trombonist in the Marine Band, enlisted his son in the U.S. Marine Corps as an apprentice. Sousa served his apprenticeship for seven years, until 1875, and apparently learned to play all the wind instruments while improving his violin skills.

Several years later, Sousa left his apprenticeship to join a theatrical orchestra where he learned to conduct. He eventually conducted Gilbert & Sullivan's “H.M.S. Pinafore” on Broadway.

He returned to the U.S. Marine Band as its head in 1880, and remained as its conductor until 1892. Sousa organized his own band in 1892. It toured widely, and in 1900, represented the United States at the Paris Exposition before touring Europe. Sousa repeatedly refused to conduct on the radio, fearing a lack of personal contact with the audience. In 1929 he relented and became a smash hit.

Sousa died at age 77, after conducting a rehearsal of the Ringgold Band in Reading, Pennsylvania. The last piece he conducted was "The Stars and Stripes Forever". {Back to Program}

Larry Widener was born in Seattle, Washington. He earned his Masters degree in Conducting at Southern Oregon University. He holds a Bachelor degree from Californian State University in Fresno, where he studied percussion with Sandy Schaeffer and Steven Schick. He studied conducting with Dr. Lawrence Sutherland. Larry also attended Los Medanos College in Pittsburg.

Larry Widener is a very versatile musician who has played a wide variety of music, from Dixieland to symphony orchestras. He is currently the Director of Bands and Orchestra at Deer Valley High School in Antioch. {Back to Program}