Current Concert Season

Thomas C. Duffy, Music Director.

● “The Pursuit of Happiness: A Symphony for Wind Ensemble” by Jim Colonna. World premiere of a Yale Concert Band commission. Written in 2024, this twenty-minute work celebration of optimism in the face of hardship is inspired by The Happiness Lab, a positive psychology podcast hosted by Laurie Santos, the Chandrika and Ranjan Tandon Professor of Psychology at Yale University. Each movement (“The Seeker,” “When I looked to the sky, the stars sparkled with love,” “Simply, Play,” and “Be Here, Now”) is named after a quotation from philosopher Alan Watts and derived from Colonna’s favorite consonant and dissonant musical intervals.

● David Maslanka’s monumental “Symphony No. 4” (1993) is inspired by the spontaneous rise of the impulse to shout for the joy of life. Structured as a single thirty-minute movement, the symphony’s main melodic material is derived from Bach chorales and hymn tunes, most notably “Old Hundred.” According to Maslanka, these allusions take the composer’s fascination with the life of Abraham Lincoln as an entry point for contemplating the fundamental human issues of unity, transformation, and rebirth in times of chaos.

● Kevin Day’s energetic “Stride” (2023), a Yale Concert Band commission, contrasts brass and drum grooves with a lyrical section featuring the woodwinds. The piece is inspired by the two meanings of its title: to decisively overcome obstacles, but also to march on the field, a homage to Day’s background in the Texas marching band tradition.

● Charles Ives, Yale class of 1898, composed the “Country Band March” in 1903. The “out-of-tune” introduction and eclectic allusions to nursery rhymes, country fiddling and Sousa marches parody the sounds of a country band.
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“Everyone has a Christmas album, but this one, for sure, is distinctive, different, and delightful. And a worthy successor to Ellington and Strayhorn.” — Richard J Salvucci, All About Jazz

“The Pan American Nutcracker Suite is an aural tour de force, an all-encompassing, immersive sound experience.” — music writer Ken Micallef

Presented in the spirit of the season as part of the Yale School of Music’s Ellington Jazz Series, the Latin Grammy Award-winning New York Afro Bop Alliance Big Band and the Yale Concert Band will perform two, interspersed settings of Tchaikovsky’s beloved “Nutcracker” Suite.

The New York Afro Bop Alliance Big Band will perform its famed Pan American Nutcracker Suite, a jazz/Afro-Caribbean reconceptualization of Tchaikovsky’s classic co-created and arranged by drummer Joe McCarthy and Vince Norman that unites diverse musical traditions of the Americas and beyond. Each movement of the Pan American Nutcracker Suit will be followed by one from the traditional, classical arrangement performed by the Yale Concert Band, led by Thomas C. Duffy, in a wonderful presentation that juxtaposes two complementary versions of this timeless masterpiece.

Thomas C. Duffy, Music Director. Program:

● Gustav Holst composed his “First Suite in Eb for Military Band” in 1909. This milestone in the history of band literature is one of the few early band originals that has been transcribed for symphony orchestra. The Yale Concert Band is pleased to welcome Yale staff and faculty musicians to join this performance (click link below for music and information on how to join.)

● Viet Cuong wrote “Deciduous” after his father’s death, comparing the experience of grief and healing to the cycle of life, where there is the loss of one’s “leaves,” after which the leafless winter eventually is followed by a spring.

● Edward Elgar dedicated his “Enigma Variations” “to my friends pictured within,” each variation being an affectionate portrayal of one of his circle of close acquaintances. This classic band arrangement by Earl Slocum is reminiscent of the mighty orchestral transcriptions that comprised the wind band repertoire of the early and middle 20th century.

● L’homme armé diptych: “The Armed Man” (Karl Jenkins) and “The Philosopher’s Stone” (Thomas C. Duffy) Two contemporary settings of the medieval French secular song, “L’Homme Armé.”

● “The Cancer-Free Party” by Jonathan F. Weiss ’24, composer and narrator. This piece was commissioned through the Sing Me A Story Foundation and inspired by the story written by Lola (age 7) and Hamish (age 12) from Cancer Support Community Greater NY & CT at Gilda’s Club. (SMASF is a non-profit whose mission is to serve children and families in need through the imaginative stories of their children and the power of music).

Other music: “Like an Altar with 9000 Robot Attendants” (Ryan Lindveit), “Handel in the Strand” (Percy Grainger)

Wayne Escoffery, Music Director.
In celebration of his 50th birthday and 8th year at Yale, Escoffery reflects on musical collaborations with friends and colleagues, featuring big band arrangements and compositions by:
• David Gibson: Trombonist, composer, arranger, educator, musical director, and bandleader, and member of Orrin Evans’ GRAMMY-nominated Captain Black Big Band
• Steve Davis: Trombonist, composer, bandleader, and The Hartt School Associate Professor of Music, named JJA Trombonist of the Year for four years
• Conrad Herwig: GRAMMY-nominated trombonist, arranger, bandleader, and Rutgers University Artistic Director and Chair of Jazz Studies

Director of Bands Thomas C. Duffy celebrated his 40th year at Yale in 2022. As a special gift, Yale Bands alumni and friends mounted a fundraising campaign to honor him by naming an annual concert after him. In perpetuity, the Band’s April concert will be “The Thomas C. Duffy Yale Concert Band Spring Concert,” the program of which will include one of his wind band compositions.

Thomas C. Duffy, Music Director. “Dust” for wind ensemble and brass quintet by Jennifer Jolley, feat. guest artists Seraph Brass (all-women quintet)

Jennifer Jolley wrote “Dust” in reflection of her time in Lubbock, TX, when she served on the faculty at Texas Tech University School of Music. During periods of isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, she took long drives and immersed herself in the landscape, climate, and history of the vast state. From high plains, to rolling prairies, to verdant grasslands, from being caught in brief, intense hail showers and dust storms and the scorching sun, she came to know Texas through its ambient and tactile qualities, which she saw reflected in the state’s diverse social, political, and religious climate. As she puts it, “Texas is extreme in that way, in every way. It’s immense and intimate, precarious and nurturing, vital and violent all at once.”

Seraph Brass was founded by trumpet soloist Mary Elizabeth Bowden (Yale School of Music M.M. 2006) with a mission to showcase the excellence of women brass players and highlight musicians from marginalized groups, both in personnel and in programming. In addition to performances and residencies, Seraph performs as a 10-piece ensemble, as soloists with symphony orchestras and wind bands, and in collaboration with other chamber artists. Seraph Brass performs a diverse body of repertoire, ranging from original transcriptions to newly commissioned works and core classics. More information on Seraph Brass (https://www.seraphbrass.com/)

● Viet Cuong wrote “Deciduous” after his father’s death, comparing the experience of grief and healing to the cycle of life, where there is the loss of one’s “leaves,” after which the leafless winter eventually is followed by a spring.

● Gustav Holst’s “Second Suite in F for Military Band” is based on English folk songs and dance. Each of its four movements possesses its own distinctive character—from slow and tender to lively and complex—ending with a resetting of the well-known tune “Greensleeves.”

● In his “Stand the Storm,” Julian Work’s goal was to develop his own style of orchestration, using whatever compositional devices might best serve the needs of his current subject. Describing himself as a composer influenced by the music of Debussy and Ravel, Work deliberately tried to avoid falling into predictable patterns. This march does not sound like the “usual” march, but is a compelling compilation of meters, motives, and machinations!

Other music: “Toccata Marziale” (Ralph Vaughan Williams), “Like an Altar with 9000 Robot Attendants”
(Ryan Lindveit), “The Other Side Silence - Finale” (Stephen Roberts), “Frozen Flame March” (T. C. Duffy)

The Yale Jazz Ensembles Big Band, Wayne Escoffery Music Director, will perform at Dizzy’s Club in New York. Two sets: 7:00 and 9:00 pm. Program TBA.

Thomas C. Duffy, Music Director. Celebratory music and Yale songs on the eve of Yale’s Commencement. Outside on the Old Campus (chairs provided).