Visual & Performing Arts

Dr. Tammy Fisher is the Director of the Screaming Eagles Marching Band and Percussion Studies at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse. In addition to directing the Screaming Eagles Marching Band and Symphonic Band, she teaches courses in instrumental music education, percussion pedagogy, and conducting.

Fisher has served as principal timpanist in the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra since October 2001.  She has appeared as a percussion soloist with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra, La Crosse Concert Band, Westby Community band and several high schools across Wisconsin and Minnesota.  She is a member of the Grumpy Old Men big band jazz band as well as the Too Darn Hot and 7 Rivers Jazz bands.

Fanfare and Riffs for Tiny Despots by Jess Langston Turner

Dr. Jess Turner holds both the B.Mus degree and the M.Mus degree in trumpet performance from Bob Jones University, and the M.Mus degree in composition from the Hartt School in Hartford, Ct. He completed the D.Mus. degree in composition at Indiana University in Bloomington in 2015.

Jess was active in music making playing both trumpet and piano throughout his schooling. His interest in composition began in his high school years where his first attempts at scoring were Debussy preludes for his school orchestra. He began formal study of composition in his junior year of college, and though his graduate program was trumpet performance, Jess studied composition with Dwight Gustafson, Joan Pinkston, and Dan Forrest at Bob Jones University. At The Hartt School, his principal teachers were Robert Carl, Kenneth Steen, and Stephen Gryc. He has had masterclasses and lessons with Pulitzer Prize winners William Bolcom, Michael Colgrass, Jennifer Higdon, and Joseph Schwantner.

Jess Turner has won numerous honors for his music, including the 2005 National Winner of the Young Artist Composition Competition of the Music Teachers National Association for his Sonata for Trumpet Piano. He has won numerous prizes for his choral music, including the 2008 John Ness Beck Award and the 2009 first prize of the Roger Wagner International Choral-Composition Contest. In June, 2010, he was named to the National Band Association Young Composers Mentoring Project and was awarded the 2010 Walter Beeler Prize for Wind Composition for Rumpelstilzchen: A Fairy Tale for Wind Ensemble. In 2012, his work for young band, The Exultant Heart, was awarded the Merrill Jones Composition Prize for Young Bands sponsored by the National Band Association.

Jess's music has been performed by the U. S. Navy Band, the U. S. Coast Guard Band, the band at U. S. Military Academy at West Point, and wind ensembles of the Hartt School, Yale University, Ithaca College, the University of Georgia, the University of North Texas, West Chester State University, Bob Jones University, Furman University, Concordia University of Illinois, to name a few. Rumpelstilzchen has been recorded by the Wind Ensemble of the Hartt School and by the University of North Texas Wind Symphony. Rumpelstilzchen: A Fairy Tale for Wind Ensemble had its New York premiere at Carnegie Hall in May, 2010.

About Fanfare and Riffs...

“The ‘Tiny Despots’ I originally had in mind while writing this piece were birds. Outside my window, there is a bird feeder and most days there are several different types of (usually male) birds jockeying and posturing fiercely in order to protect ‘their’ food from every other bird in the area. However, when each of these ‘tiny despots’ are done eating, they fly off, and their miniature empires are left to the next little tyrant. This fanfare is dedicated to these, as well as the human tyrants that come and go just as quickly (and shrilly) as the tiny despots outside my window.”

-Jess Langston Turner

Fantaisie pour flûte et orchestre by Georges Hüe

Born into a celebrated family of French architects, Georges Adolph Hüe was encouraged by Gounod and later studied counterpoint with Paladilhe and the organ with Franck. In 1879 he won the Prix de Rome with a cantata, Médée, and two years later won acclaim for his comic opera, Les pantins (‘The Jumping-Jacks’). Vocal music was to form the core of his output, and the ambitious symphonic legend Rubezahl was one of his earliest large-scale successes, first given at the Châtelet. Its fairy tale atmosphere (Rubezahl is king of the gnomes) paved the way for Hüe's later works exploring similar themes, notably the operas Titania (favourably reviewed by Debussy), and Riquet à la houppe, both of which confirmed his refusal to follow the realist path taken by several of his contemporaries. Alongside his larger-scale pieces, Hüe produced songs continually throughout his life. The earliest are firmly grounded in the salon tradition, while the later songs use a more developed musical language to respond to his chosen texts: Edith au col de cygne, for example, uses bars of uneven length. Between 1910 and 1920 his harmonic language advanced considerably, absorbing the added-note harmonies and static effects of the Impressionists, while remaining essentially traditional.

His first full-scale opera Le roi de Paris, dealing with the unsuccessful attempt of the Duc de Guise to usurp the throne of Henry III, was first performed in 1901, and employed pastiche Baroque music to portray its historical setting. Titania, in direct contrast, was set in a world of fantasy and employed extended forest scenes using shimmering orchestral effects and static harmony. Le miracle concerns a sculptor who produced an image of a saint all too reminiscent of a local courtesan. As in Dans l'ombre de la cathédrale, Hüe makes extensive use of plainsong and organ music to evoke the liturgical setting. This was his most successful opera, exploring the conflicts between socialism and the riches of the church. Hüe travelled in East Asia, and his one-act chinoiserie Siang-Sin and the Poèmes japonais reflect his discovery of the music of that region.

About Fantasie:

The 1889 Paris Universal Exposition was a stage where groups from around the world displayed the best of their countries’ architecture, industry, culture and arts including music. It was here where the influence of Eastern music was first heard by many French composers such as Claude Debussy and quickly spread to other French flute composers such as Georges Hue. Dedicated to Paul Taffanel, a flautist and professor at the Paris Conservatoire, Fantaisie displays Asian tones and the virtuosity of the modern Boehm flute. As a classic French Romantic piece, it includes long lyrical lines and impressive technical passages with playful chromatic melodies exchanged between the flute and piano. The piece also requires a masterful use of extreme dynamics and tone, and as such, Hue’s Fantaisie was set as a competition piece for the end of the year exams at the Paris Conservatoire.

-Richard Langham Smith and Peter Bartels

Symphony No. 1, “Nordic” by Howard Hanson

Howard Hanson was an American composer of Swedish ancestry, conductor, educator, music theorist, and ardent champion of American classical music. He studied at Luther College, Wahoo (diploma 1911), with Percy Goetschius at the Institute of Musical Art (1914) and at Northwestern University (BA 1916), where he was an assistant teacher in 1915–16. Subsequently he was a theory and composition teacher at the College of the Pacific in California (1916–19) and became dean of the Conservatory of Fine Arts in 1919. During his time in California, Hanson wrote his first important compositions, including the Concerto da camera, a Grieg-influenced work, and California Forest Play of 1920, which won the Rome Prize in 1921. Hanson became the first American winner of the prize to take up residence in Rome and during his three years in Italy he studied orchestration with Respighi and the work of the great Italian visual artists. These experiences were to play a crucial role in Hanson's later compositions; his post-1921 compositions frequently feature lush Respighi-like orchestrations, and his variation-form work Mosaics was acknowledged by the composer as having been directly influenced by his study of Italian mosaics over 35 years before.

Back in the USA in 1924, Hanson was appointed director of the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, a post he held until 1964. He built the institution into one of the finest university schools of music in the Americas, broadening its curriculum, improving its orchestras and attracting outstanding faculty members. Among Hanson's composition students were Beeson, Bergsma and Mennin. In 1964 Hanson founded the Institute of American Music at the Eastman School, making a substantial financial contribution to help the Institute in meeting its goal of publishing and disseminating American music and providing for research in the history of 20th-century styles. Hanson was also deeply involved with national music organizations, such as the National Association of Schools of Music, the Music Teachers National Association (president, 1930–31), and the Music Educators National Conference. He was also a founder and president of the National Music Council. His addresses at conferences of these organizations frequently dealt with advocacy issues in the performing arts. Among Hanson's numerous awards were 36 American honorary degrees, membership of the Swedish Royal Academy of Music, a Pulitzer Prize for Symphony No. 4, the Ditson Award, and the George Foster Peabody Award. He was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1935 and to the Academy of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1979.

Hanson was also active for five decades as a conductor, making his American début in 1924, directing the New York SO in the première of his symphonic poem North and West, at the invitation of Damrosch. He subsequently conducted widely in both the US and Europe, his association particularly strong with the Boston SO, for which he wrote the Elegy and the Symphony No. 2. As a conductor, Hanson especially featured American compositions, and was an early champion of William Grant Still and John Alden Carpenter.

Hanson has generally been considered a neo-Romantic composer, influenced by Grieg and Sibelius, due in part to the success of the second symphony. However, he also took at times a more abstract approach to musical structure, as in the Mosaics and in the Concerto for piano and orchestra in G op.36, notable for its prevalence of short thematic fragments and traces of jazz and Tin Pan Alley. His multi-movement works also tend to be thematically cyclical. Hanson's combination of quotations from Gregorian chant and little-known chorales, sometimes biting bitonal harmonies and driving motor rhythms proved highly applicable to the concert band – a medium he explored from the mid-1950s to the 1970s, in such works as Chorale and Alleluia and Dies natalis II. His frequently performed Serenade for flute, harp, and strings op.35 and the Fantasy for clarinet and chamber orchestra (the second movement of the ballet suite Nymph and Satyr) of 1978 combine transparent textures with melodic and harmonic touches of Impressionism. All Hanson's works display rhythmic vitality, frequently using tonally-based ostinatos and sensitivity towards timbral combination.

Hanson was the author of articles in professional journals, particularly related to music education and support for the performing arts in America. He contributed regularly to the Rochester Times-Union until the mid-1970s and wrote Music in Contemporary American Civilization (Lincoln, Nebraska, 1951). His most important publication, however, was Harmonic Materials of Modern Music: Resources of the Tempered Scale (New York, 1960), a seminal work in what would later be termed pitch-class set theory.

About the Nordic Symphony:

The second movement, Andante teneramente, con semplicita, seems to open amid a dreamy, nocturnal haze. What follows is a soaringly expansive melody, simultaneously beautiful and lamenting. Listen to the way the voices of the orchestra, each with its distinct persona, come alive and enter into a sensuous and intimate conversation. The solo horn and the quiet drumbeat of the timpani evoke the ghost of a distant hero, and the movement fades into silence with the hushed voices of paired flutes and clarinets.

-Ruth Watanabe and Timothy Judd

The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Mozart was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. Mozart's father, Leopold, was a composer and violinist, working mainly as concertmaster at the archiepiscopal court and the Salzburg court. Mozart displayed an aptitude for music at a very early age, writing his first sonata at age four, his first symphony at eight, and his first opera (La Finta Semplice) at twelve. His father took advantage of his musical talents, setting out on a tour of France and England and visiting numerous courts in both countries. The young and precocious Mozart amazed audiences with his immense talent and his showmanship, as well as with his behaviour. Haydn called him “the greatest composer known to me in person or by name; he has taste, and what is more, the greatest knowledge of composition.” Mozart is best known for his operas, symphonies, and works for piano.

Mozart died of rheumatic fever in 1791. Despite persistent rumors to the contrary, Mozart was not poisoned, and the Italian composer Antonio Salieri had nothing to do with his death. Mozart was never a healthy individual, and he had suffered from rheumatic fever most of his life.

About The Marriage of Figaro:

“I would love to show here what I can really do with an Italian opera." These words are from a letter to Mozart’s father in May 1783, where he noted his resolve to compose what would end up being a masterpiece of his oeuvre: Le Nozze di Figaro. Mozart recognized his way to achieving notoriety in Vienna through a relationship with the already famous librettist Lorenzo da Ponte, and after being presented with the idea, da Ponte agreed to collaborate - though he would keep Mozart waiting two years before sending a libretto. The opera premiered on May 1, 1786, and received a tumultuous reception - so much so that the encores were limited to solos to maintain a manageable running time. The triumph of Le Nozze di Figaro led to two more very successful productions from da Ponte and Mozart: Don Giovanni and Cosi fan Tutte.

The mood of Le Nozze di Figaro is set by the overture, which begins with a busy whispering followed by a tutti theme that alerts the listener to a movement of romping clarinets and double reeds. The playful Non pià andrai (You shall go no more) is an aria sung by Figaro in which he teases Cherubino about his military future. The movement is in the style of a military march, which is called to attention by the bugle calls in the horns in the final phrase. Porgi, amor is a cavatina sung by the Countess Almaviva in the first scene of the second act. The simplicity of the melody, played here by the oboe, along with the absence of ornamentation, reflects the sparseness and melancholy of Almaviva’s lament. The finale of this set is Ecco Ia marcia, a processional from the double-wedding in the final scene of act three. The movement ends in rejoicing tones and optimism - a reflection of the feeling of the newlyweds.

The great “Deh vieni, non tardar” (Oh, come, do not delay) follows the character Susanna’s story. The crucial situation in Act II when Susanna sings “Deh vieni” called for multiple layers of meaning, which Mozart admirably achieved. Susanna and the Countess are disguised as each other to entrap the Count. Figaro has found out about their scheme, but Susanna knows he knows and that he is hiding in the bushes. Thus, as she sings of her love, supposedly for the Count, she is actually singing seductively to Figaro, though he suspects otherwise and becomes jealous. Mozart acknowledges Susanna’s being disguised as the Countess by giving her music more usually suited to noble characters than servants, including preparing it with an extended accompagnato recitative. He also provides the perfect mix of tender longing and mischief.

-Jane Vial Jaffe and Andrew Bajorek

Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra in B minor, op. 104 by Antonín Dvořák

With Smetana, Fibich and Janáček, Dvořák is regarded as one of the great nationalist Czech composers of the 19th century. Long neglected and dismissed by the German-speaking musical world as a naive Czech musician, he is now considered by both Czech and international musicologists Smetana’s true heir. He earned worldwide admiration and prestige for 19th-century Czech music with his symphonies, chamber music, oratorios, songs and, to a lesser extent, his operas.

About the Concerto:

In September 1892, Dvořák, accompanied by some of his family, arrived in America to take up the post of director of the National Conservatory of Music. The invitation came from the conservatory’s wealthy founder, Jeannette Thurber, and proffered Dvořák a substantial salary as well as the chance to perform his own compositions. Dvořák accepted the offer and spent the next two-and-a-half years teaching and performing in the United States. 

The Cello Concerto was one of only two works Dvořák composed during his last year in New York. Cellist and composer Victor Herbert was Dvořák’s unwitting muse after Dvořák attended a performance of Herbert’s Second Cello Concerto. After the performance, Dvořák is said to have gone backstage, thrown his arms around Herbert, and exclaimed, “Splendid! Splendid!” Dvořák especially liked Herbert’s brilliant use of the cello’s upper registers, which until then Dvořák had regarded as weak and limited. Dvořák would abandon conventional instrumentation in his own Concerto by adding three trombones, as well as tuba, piccolo, and triangle. 

The finale is a lively, dance-like movement partly shaped by Dvořák’s warm thoughts of his impending return home to Bohemia. The melancholy and longing of the first two movements is cast off and replaced with an exuberant hopefulness. Once in the bright key of B major, the soloist joins solo violin in a duet of absolute warmth and brilliance. The movement includes one last reference to “Leave Me Alone,” this time in a major key, as well as subtle echoes of the first movement’s theme. A brilliant crescendo for the full orchestra takes us to the thunderous final chords.

-Anthony McAlister and Klaus Döge

Wondrous by Karel Butz

Karel Butz is a Houston-based violinist, composer, and string pedagogy author for Oxford University Press. He currently teaches orchestra in the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District. His music has been performed worldwide at several venues such as the Midwest Clinic, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival, and several region and all-state honor orchestras. His book Achieving Musical Success in the String Classroom (2019) is published by the Oxford University Press.

Mr. Butz previously taught orchestra in Texas and Indiana. His orchestras have performed at The Midwest Clinic and have received several state and national awards. Mr. Butz has performed in several orchestras, including the National Repertory Orchestra, National Orchestral Institute, and Spoleto Festival USA. He has served as associate instructor of string techniques and music theory at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. In addition, he taught violin for the Indiana University String Academy, Band of America Summer Symposium Orchestra Division, and the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute. He received both his Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music in Violin Performance with high distinction from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where his principal violin instructors were Nelli Shkolnikova and Mimi Zweig. Mr. Butz is a member of ASCAP.

About Wondrous

When composing Wondrous for the Carmel High School Symphony Orchestra’s 2014 Midwest Clinic performance, I desired to capture the grandeur surrounding this celebratory occasion as well as the vibrant character of the youth performing this overture-style piece. My hope for both listeners and performers is that they gain a sense of inspiration, delight, excellence, and beauty upon listening to Wondrous.

-Karel Butz

Dr. Martin I. Gaines proudly serves as the conductor of the UWL Wind Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, and Concert Band as well as teaching courses in Conducting, Clarinet, and Music Education. Prior to this posting he served as the Director of Instrumental Studies at Morningside University and the Associate Director of Bands at McNeese State University. He holds degrees in conducting and music education from the University of Arizona (DMA), Middle Tennessee State University (MM), and the historic VanderCook College of Music (BMEd). 

As an active conductor, clinician, and music producer, Dr. Gaines’ most recent recording project David Maslanka: Music for Wind Ensemble was released in January 2021 on the Toccata Classics Label. He has also served as producer for an album featuring the wind orchestra music of Nigel Clarke. Prior to his academic appointments, he also served as the principal conductor for the Arts Express Orchestra in Tucson, Arizona and as the founding conductor of the UArizona chamber ensemble Solar Winds.

Prior to pursuing graduate studies, Dr. Gaines taught middle and high school bands and orchestras for fifteen years in Illinois, Alabama, Georgia, and most recently in Florida. His bands have consistently received top marks from adjudicators and were often featured in clinic performance, e.g. the Southeastern Band Clinic at Troy University (2010) and the University of North Florida Invitational Festival (2010, 2014). He was also named Teacher of the Year in 2015 for Oakleaf High School (FL). Dr. Gaines holds professional memberships in CBDNA, College Music Society, College Orchestra Directors Association, International Conductor’s Guild, NAfME, National Band Association, Tau Beta Sigma, WASBE, and is a Life Member of Kappa Kappa Psi.