THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY College of Music presents
University Concert Band
Devan Moore, Director
Collin Clark, Graduate Associate Conductor
Keith Griffiths, Graduate Associate Conductor and
University Symphonic Band
David Plack, Director
Kaleb Switanek, Graduate Associate Conductor
Caleb Miller, Graduate Associate Conductor
Monday, November 10, 2025
7:30 p.m. | Opperman Music Hall
To Ensure An Enjoyable Concert Experience For All…
Please refrain from talking, entering, or exiting during performances. Food and drink are prohibited in all concert halls. Recording or broadcasting of the concert by any means, including the use of digital cameras, cell phones, or other devices is expressly forbidden. Please deactivate all portable electronic devices including watches, cell phones, pagers, hand-held gaming devices or other electronic equipment that may distract the audience or performers.
Recording Notice: This performance may be recorded. Please note that members of the audience may at times be included in this process. By attending this performance you consent to have your image or likeness appear in any live or recorded video or other transmission or reproduction made in conjunction to the performance.
Florida State University provides accommodations for persons with disabilities. Please notify the College of Music at (850) 644-3424 at least five working days prior to a musical event to request accommodation for disability or alternative program format.
Liquid (2010)
The Sea Traders (1975)
Hands Across the Sea (1899)
Blue Lake Overture (1971)
Concert Band
Collin Clark, graduate associate conductor
Spoon River (1922)
Waterdance (1995)
Keith Griffis, graduate associate conductor
Jay Bocook (b. 1953)
W. Francis McBeth (1933–2012)
John Philip Sousa (1854–1932)
John Barnes Chance (b. 1932)
Percy Aldridge Grainger (b. 1882)
Carl Strommen (b. 1939)
INTERMISSION
University Symphonic Band
Sailing with Whales (2020)
Riften Wed (2013)
Bayou Breakdown (2004)
Rest (2011)
Kaleb Switanek, graduate associate conductor
Caleb Miller, graduate associate conductor
Second Suite for Band: Latino Mexicana (1980)
Famishius Fantasticus (2012)
Rossano Galante (b. 1967)
Julie Giroux (b. 1961)
Brant Karrick (b. 1960)
Frank Ticheli (b. 1958)
Alfred Reed (1921–2005)
Michael Markowski (b. 1986)
Bocook: Liquid
Jay Bocook is a prolific American composer, arranger, and conductor, widely recognized for his contributions to the modern wind band and marching arts repertoire. A graduate of Furman University and University of Louisiana at Monroe, Bocook’s career spans roles as an educator, arranger, and composer. He has written for ensembles from beginning ensembles to the United States Marine Band and for Drum Corps International ensembles such as The Cadets and The Blue Knights. His successful career has resulted in him being inducted into the American Bandmasters Association (ABA), DCI Hall of Fame, and the South Carolina Band Directors Association Hall of Fame.
Liquid was originally composed for the 2019 North Carolina South Central District Bandmaster Association Honor Band. The piece uses body percussion to imitate the light patter of rain and calls upon the well-known Dies Irae theme to evoke the violent potential of liquid. Through an artistic setting Bocook immerses the listener in a sonic landscape that evokes the fluidity, shimmer, and relentless motion of water. Through shifting harmonies, cascading lines, and rhythmic interplay, Bocook paints a vivid portrait of water’s many forms including gentle ripples, surging waves, and reflective stillness. The music moves seamlessly between states of calm and intensity, suggesting both the beauty and the power inherent in nature’s most essential element.
McBeth: The Sea Traders
W. Francis McBeth was born in Ropesville, Texas where he had an early start to his musical training in piano and trumpet starting in the second grade. He pursued his formal education at Hardin-Simmons University where he obtained his Bachelor of Music degree. After college he joined the Airforce Band from 1954-1956. All the while McBeth continued his composing earing rewards such as the Howard Hanson Prize from the Eastman School of Music and the ASCAP Special Award. While McBeth wrote for both orchestra and winds, a majority of his compositions were for wind ensemble. In total, Mcbeth compose 61 works for wind ensemble.
The Sea Traders was originally commissioned and dedicated to the United State Naval Academy Band in celebration of their 150th Anniversary. This fitting composition pays homage to the service of the sailors from the Naval Academy through its imagery of adventure and discovery upon the high seas. Its sweeping melodic themes and bold brass fanfares capture both the nobility and danger of maritime exploration. McBeth’s distinctive orchestration gives the ensemble a cinematic palette in which the woodwinds suggest the rush of ocean winds, the brass herald the might of great ships, and the percussion drives the relentless rhythm of the waves. Listen for the unique use of the ships bell found in the percussion section.
Sousa:
Hands Across the Sea
John Philip Sousa, known as “The March King,” remains one of America’s most celebrated composers and bandleaders. Born in Washington, D.C., Sousa joined the United States Marine Band as an apprentice at age thirteen and would later serve as its director for twelve years. Under his leadership, the Marine Band rose to international prominence, and Sousa’s subsequent civilian band became one of the most famous ensembles in the world. His more than one hundred marches, including The Stars and Stripes Forever and The Washington Post, helped define the American patriotic sound.
Composed in 1899, Hands Across the Sea was Sousa’s musical gesture of friendship and goodwill toward the nations of the world. In answering questions sent to him while serving in the navy, Sousa gave the following account in the Great Lakes Recruit (1918).
After the Spanish War there was some feeling in Europe anent our republic regarding this war. Some of the nations...thought we were not justified while others gave us credit for the honesty of our purpose. One night I was reading an old play and I came across this line, “A sudden thought strikes me...Let us swear an eternal friendship.”
This almost immediately suggested the title Hands across the Sea for that composition and within a few weeks that now famous march became a living fact.
The march embodies Sousa’s hallmark style with vigorous marching melodies, crisp rhythmic vitality, and a noble uplifting spirit. The central trio theme, both stately and lyrical, represents unity and camaraderie transcending national borders. With its jubilant energy and bright optimism, Hands Across the Sea continues to resonate as a timeless symbol of international fellowship and the enduring power of music to bring people together.
Chance: Blue Lake Overture
Chance began composing at a young age, with his first symphony being performed in his senior year by his high school orchestra in Beaumont, Texas. Chance went on to study composition at the University of Texas with teachers such as Kent Kennan and Clifton Williams, and as a percussionist performed professionally with the Austin Symphony Orchestra. Chance went on to serve in the Eighth U.S. Army Band in Korea, where he was inspired to write one of his most iconic works for band, Variations on a Korean Folk Song. Through the Ford Foundation’s Young Composer Project, Chance wrote several important works for school-aged bands from 1960-1962 while serving as composerin-residence in the schools of Greensboro, North Carolina.
The Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp is located in Western Michigan and takes place each summer. Founded in 1966, today the camp continues to host thousands of young students from around the world for study in music, art, dance, and drama. Blue Lake Overture was the very first commission by the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, receiving its premier performance at Blue Lake by the Western Michigan University Wind Ensemble conducted by the composer in 1971. Tragically, Chance died from a fatal accident at his home in Lexington, Kentucky just one year later at the age of forty in 1972.
Grainger: Spoon River
Percy Aldridge Grainger stands as one of the most prolific and influential composers of the twentieth century. In particular, his works for winds have helped shape the core of the band repertoire. Born in Australia in 1882, Grainger was a pianist, arranger, and composer who moved to the United States in 1914 and ultimately became an American citizen. He had a particular fascination with the revival and arranging of folk music—perhaps most notably in his seminal band composition Lincolnshire Posy—and can also be heard in his setting of Spoon River
The source material for Grainger’s Spoon River comes from a fiddle tune heard in 1857 at a country dance in Illinois by Captain Charles H. Robinson. When a book of poems titled Spoon River Anthology was published in 1914 by Edgar Lee Masters, it prompted Robinson to send the fiddle tune to the author, who then passed it along to Grainger. As Grainger explains, “The tune is very archaic in character—typically American, yet akin to certain Scottish and English dance-tune types. My setting aims at preserving a pioneer blend of lonesome wistfulness and sturdy persistence.” It bears the following dedication: “For Edgar Lee Masters, poet of pioneers.’”
Strommen: Waterdance
Carl Strommen is an American composer, teacher, and conductor, and serves as an adjunct professor of orchestration and composition at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University in Brookville, New York. His many compositions for band, orchestra, and jazz band have made him one of the most frequently performed composers and arrangers today.
With Waterdance, Strommen aims to illustrate the scenery of a lake just before sunrise. As the sun rises, all of the life in and around the lake slowly begins to awaken and move across the water like a “frantic ballet.” Strommen explains that Waterdance “brings us into the rhythms of life, the patterns of nature, and an uplifting portrayal in sound.”
Galante: Sailing with Whales
Known widely for his orchestration on films such as A Quiet Place and The Mummy, Rossano Galante (b. 1967) is equally celebrated for his original contributions to the wind band repertoire. A native of Buffalo, New York, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in trumpet performance from the State University of New York at Buffalo, then pursued film scoring studies at the University of Southern California with renowned composer Jerry Goldsmith. After relocating to Los Angeles, Galante established a distinguished career orchestrating for major motion pictures and television. Simultaneously, Galante’s catalog of concert band works continued increasing. With well over 50 compositions for wind band, his music features sweeping melodies, cinematic harmonies, and rich textures that reflect his background. Commissioned and performed by university, high-school, and community ensembles across the United States and abroad, Galante’s works continue to engage performers and audiences alike.
Galante invites listeners on a maritime adventure in Sailing with Whales, capturing the excitement of observing orcas in the wild. The principal theme, introduced by the trombones, conveys both the pursuit of these commanding ocean predators and the awe of encountering them in their natural habitat. A softer, more lyrical passage then portrays tranquil moments on the water as orcas move together through calm seas, highlighting their deep social bonds. Momentum builds with a lively, technically driven section led by the woodwinds and joined by the brass, depicting the whales’ power and agility. Brief returns to earlier material suggest a full-circle voyage, and the work concludes with an energetic rhythmic drive that embodies the thrill and wonder of sailing alongside whales.
Giroux: Riften Wed
Julie Giroux (b. 1961) is an acclaimed composer, pianist, and horn player whose works span film, television, wind ensembles, orchestras, and concert bands. Trained at Louisiana State University and mentored by John Williams, Bill Conti, and Jerry Goldsmith, she began her career in 1985, working on projects such as North and South and The Karate Kid II. A multiple Emmy winner, she was the youngest and first female recipient for Outstanding Music
Direction. Since 1997, her compositions have been performed worldwide, including Carnegie Hall and presidential inaugurations. Giroux continues to compose, orchestrate, and arrange across media and ensemble formats.
Riften Wed is a musical reflection on love and union tested by adversity, honoring relationships that endure even in a world where “’til death do us part” is more than a promise—it is reality. The piece draws inspiration from Skyrim, an action role-playing game set in a vast, immersive world of mountains, forests, lakes, ruins, and cities, where dragons, magic, and civil strife shape every journey. Musically, the work blends soaring melodies, tender harmonies, and subtle rhythmic tension to evoke both the joy and fragility of love, while rich textures and dynamic contrasts mirror the perilous, unpredictable world in which these unions take place.
Karrick: Bayou Breakdown
Composer, arranger, and educator Brant Karrick (b. 1960) celebrated for his contributions to wind band literature. Growing up in a musical family, he began trumpet studies at age nine and later earned degrees from the University of Louisville, Western Kentucky University, and Louisiana State University. Karrick served as Director of Bands at Northern Kentucky University, leading ensembles and teaching conducting, theory, and instrumental methods. His compositions, including Songs of Old Kentucky, Bayou Breakdown, and See Rock City, have been performed around the world. He continues to inspire musicians as a guest conductor, clinician, and advocate for new music.
Bayou Breakdown began as an experiment in writing a fugue in the style of J.S. Bach. The piece opens with a fourpart woodwind fugue, later echoed by the brass, before giving way to a folk-like pentatonic melody. A dissonant section hints at a humorously off-kilter waltz, after which the fugue returns, featuring solos for clarinet, bassoon, alto saxophone, oboe, trumpet, and tuba. The work concludes in a lively polyphonic flurry from the full ensemble. Written for the University of Toledo Wind Ensemble, it challenges performers while remaining immediately engaging, and is dedicated to Karrick’s mentor, Frank Wickes.
Ticheli: Rest
Composer Frank Ticheli (b. 1958) was shaped early on by the rich musical traditions of the American South. Growing up near New Orleans and frequently moving throughout his youth, he absorbed the rhythmic vitality of jazz and brass band music. When his family settled in Richardson, Texas, Ticheli’s musical passion deepened through his formative experiences whilst participating in his high school band program. He later earned his Bachelor of Music Education and Composition degrees from Southern Methodist University, followed by master’s and doctoral degrees in composition from the University of Michigan, where he studied under renowned composers William Bolcom, Leslie Bassett, George Wilson, and William Albright.
Ticheli’s professional career has been marked by both academic excellence and artistic acclaim. He has served as Professor of Composition at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, continuing the distinguished legacy of past faculty members such as Ingolf Dahl, Robert Linn, and Halsey Stevens. Between 1991 and 1998, he held the position of composer-in-residence with the Pacific Symphony, developing a close artistic partnership with music director Carl St. Clair.
Critics have praised Ticheli’s music for its emotional clarity and craftsmanship—the Los Angeles Times describes it as “optimistic and thoughtful,” The New York Times calls it “lean and muscular,” and the Miami Herald hails it as “brilliantly effective.” His works have become cornerstones of contemporary band, orchestra, and choral repertoire, widely recognized as standards in their respective canons. Among his many honors are the 2006 William D. Revelli Memorial Composition Contest award for Symphony No. 2 (dedicated to James Croft of Florida State University), the Charles Ives and Goddard Lieberson Awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2012), and the Walter Beeler Memorial Prize, among others.
Beyond composition, Ticheli’s influence extends worldwide as he continues to share his artistry through guest conducting engagements at music festivals across England, Singapore, Japan, and Austria, affirming his status as one of the leading voices in contemporary American music.
Rest exists as a transcription of Ticheli’s original composition entitled “There Will Be Rest”, originally composed for a choral setting. The text of “There Will Be Rest” is derived from a poem by Sara Teasdale (1884-1933), which we have decided to reference below for your perusal.
There will be rest, and sure stars shining Over the roof-tops crowned with snow, A reign of rest, serene forgetting, The music of stillness holy and low. I will make this world of my devising, Out of a dream in my lonely mind, I shall find the crystal of peace, above me Stars I shall find.
Ticheli masterfully utilizes this text as a basis for his musical settings. The choral version was commissioned in 1999 by the Carlos St. Clair, music director, which is dedicated to the memory of Cole Carsan St. Clair, the son of the director, who passed away tragically as the result of a drowning. It was performed by the Pacific Chorale, John Alexander, conductor. The concert band work was later commissioned by Russel Mikkelson and family members in memory of his father, Elling Mikkelson.
Rest is refreshingly simplistic, and yet incredibly sophisticated in its exploration of modal key areas and brilliant orchestration that highlights the more tender capabilities of the wind ensemble. This transcription, to quote Ticheli, “preserves almost everything from the original: harmony, dynamics, even the original registration. I also endeavored to preserve carefully the fragile beauty and quiet dignity suggested by Sara Teasdale’s works”. The listener will experience a carefully constructed binary form (AABA, with coda) featuring some subtle differences and expanded sections from the original.
Reed: Second Suite for Band (Latino Mexicana)
American composer Alfred Reed was one of the most influential figures in the development of wind band literature during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Born in Manhattan to an Austrian family with deep musical roots, Reed began studying trumpet at the age of ten and was already performing professionally as a teenager. During World War II, he served as an arranger and musician with the 529th Army Air Force Band. After the war, Reed studied composition under Vittorio Giannini at the Juilliard School before joining the music faculty at Baylor University,
where he earned both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. Later, at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, he served as professor of music education, theoretician, and the inaugural director of the music industry program.
Throughout his prolific career, Reed was deeply committed to enriching the repertoire available to school and community ensembles. His catalog of more than 250 compositions and arrangements spans works for concert bands, orchestras, chorus, and chamber groups. Many of these have become cornerstones of the modern wind band’s repertoire and are performed by ensembles worldwide.
Composed in 1979 for the Sterling (Illinois) High School Wind Ensemble in memory of Ina R. Schuler, Second Suite for Band (Latino Mexicano) reflects Reed’s deep appreciation for Latin American and Caribbean musical traditions. The four-movement suite explores rhythmic vitality, melodic warmth, and stylistic variety drawn from across the Latin diaspora.
The opening movement, “Son Montuno” is built upon rhythmic ideas associated with calypso and Afro-Caribbean dance music, originating from Trinidad and Tobago and neighboring islands such as Cuba. Reed’s use of idiomatic percussion includes timbales, claves, maracas, güiro, and cowbell. He creates a lively interplay between percussion and winds, producing a sound both colorful and spontaneous.
The second movement, “Tango” presents a Brazilian interpretation of the traditional Argentine form. The result is a movement that feels dreamy, lyrical, and intimate, led by a solo clarinet and supported by cascading woodwind passages that shimmer with elegance.
In contrast, “Guaracha” is exuberant and playful, derived from an Argentinian drinking song. Its festive character provides a lighthearted departure from the more refined preceding movements, showcasing Reed’s skill in capturing joy and vitality through syncopated rhythm and spirited melodic motion.
The suite concludes with “Paso Doble” a musical depiction of a bullfight celebration. Alternating between duple and compound triple meters, the movement evokes the image of a majestic bull entering the ring amidst fanfare and excitement. The Paso Doble, meaning “two-step,” blends Spanish and Mexican influences through bold brass writing, rhythmic drive, and sweeping melodic phrasing, closing the suite with grandeur and flair.
Together, these four movements illustrate Reed’s compositional skill in crafting a vibrant homage to the rhythmic and melodic diversity of Latin American music for the modern wind ensemble.
Markowski: Famishius Fantasticus
Michael Markowski (b. 1986) carries with him a distinctive compositional background in music. A stout admirer of all things film, Markowski’s works for the wind ensemble actively reflect an appreciation for programmatic music heavily inspired by popular media. A native of Arizona, Markowski’s love of music began in elementary school, where he began participating in band class on the alto saxophone, and continued to play all throughout high school. Markowski went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film from Arizona State University. Markowski’s compositional mentors include Jon Gomez and Dr. Karl Schindler. As Markowski continued to polish his voice in music, he was invited to part of the National Band Association’s Young Composer and Conductor Mentorship program. His first work for a concert band, entitled Shadow Rituals, won first prize in the Frank Ticheli composition contest in 2006. Since then, his music has garnered the attention commissioning organizations such as the College
Band Directors National Association (CBDNA), Consortium of Wind Band Literature, and the Lesbian and Gay Band Association to name a few. Markowski continues to actively compose for several independent projects, such as Nathan Blackwells “The Last Movie Ever Made”, which streams on Amazon Prime and Apple TV. Michael is a member of ASCAP, the Recording Academy, and currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Famishius Fantasticus was commissioned by the Dakota High School Wind Ensemble, directed by Risa Hsu. The piece also timely commemorates the 100th birthday anniversary of the late Chuck Jones, director of Looney Tunes. When asked to write a piece that “captured the energy of the students”, Markowski writes that “he couldn’t help but think that Wile E. Coyote was the man (or animal) for the job.” Famishius Fantasticus is a direct allusion to the faux binomial (scientific Latin name) for Wile E. Coyote, which if real would likely be pronounced fah-ME-see-oos fahntahs-TEE-coos, translated to mean “Fantastically Famished.”
The work follows the conventions of the cartoon music genre. It is very dynamic in nature, which technically demanding passages in both the woodwinds and brass, extra-musical techniques like glisses, falls, growls, flutters, and rips, the utilization of mutes across the brass sections, and sudden dramaticism in the form of changing tempi, music moods, and energetic percussion (even the inclusion of air horn!) For the listener, the piece feels like a total immersion into the compositional world of music featured in beloved cartoon favorites, Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry, Animaniacs, and so much more.
This piece is intended to serve as a wild, energetic, and zany closer to a concert. It is dedicated to all Markowski’s friends and colleagues that vehemently chase after their dreams, who never give up, and continue to try new things no matter how crazy ideas might blow up in their faces.
Piccolo
Allie Matticez
Flute
Nicki Howard
Lexi Smith
Addison Peltier
Maya Sparks
Queen Byrdsong
Anna Todd
Kayte Warner
Oboe
Abigail Saltares
Mariana Rivera
Emma Brock
Isabella Masson
Bassoon
Benjamin Vela
Robin Moussier
Megan Meese
Aspen Atwood
Concert Band Personnel
Devan Moore, Director
Collin Clark and Keith Griffiths, Graduate Associate Conductors
B-Flat Clarinet
Nathan Edwards
Nate Odom
Chloe Kho
Natalia Morales
Zach Costea
Kate Blackadar
Abigail Flores
Eliza Taylor
Elizabeth Gonzalez
Amanda Stewart
Norah Singletary
Anthony Cieza
Hannah Ramos
Bass Clarinet
William Wagner
Alto Saxophone
Caitlyn Jones
Gracie Snider
Samantha Santiesteban
Logan Wong
Tenor Saxophone
Ellen Cohn
Baritone Saxophone
Joshua Spraker
Trumpet
Makenna Payne
Tristan Lopez
Katherine Hatfield
Evan Workman
Christian Jordan
Edwin Cintron
Horn
Maren Smith
Audra Cantrell
Nolan Beighley
Alex Rodriguez
Alexa Kielbasa
Kate Lansford
Trombone
Ben Hill
Caden Ragsdale
Easton Fuller
Blake Panepinto
Andrew Walker
Mikhael Bradshaw
Marcus Lampkin Jr., bass
Caleb Couchois, bass
Euphonium
Karina Benton
Kyle Yakinchuk
Marcelo Guerra
Ryan Nguyễn
Tuba
Paul Van Damme
Allegra Hreschak
Noah Bryant
Grant Markiewicz
Collier McBride
String Bass
Paris Lallis
Harp
Margaret Anne Altagen
Percussion
Timothy Thomas
Alex Aquino
Travis Beeton
Caleb Blakeslee
Ethan Stefanski
Piano
Bryden Reeves
University Symphonic Band Personnel
David Plack, Director
Kaleb Switanek and Caleb Miller, Graduate Associate Conductor
Piccolo
Ryleigh Templeton
Flute
Daniel Ascanio-Perez*
Krista Zimmerman
Charis Henry
Celeste Galvez
Sofía Vélez-Santiago
Kathleen Antmann
Oboe
Kyle Nishihori*
Megan Halter*
Richard Wilson
Bassoon
Diego Crisostomo*
Marcus Palermo
Sophia Clement
Robert Kennedy (+ Contra)
Clarinet
Nia Thompson*
Malik Mullino
Mia Gabriella Guerrero
John Rodda
Jacob Lirio
Gianna Iadeluca
Althea Keren Medenilla
Ryan Brabham
Daniel Stevens
Ryan Golbe
Jamari Richards
Bass Clarinet
Gabriel Dos Santos
Contra-Bass Clarinet
Alexei Kovalev
Alto Saxophone
Jack Blumer*
Jakub Zella
Caleb Wolf
Jamari Spears-Screen
Luis Angel
Tenor Saxophone
Lincoln McMullen
Parker Button
Baritone Saxophone
Steven Waterston
Trumpet
Kate Moncada*
Alisyn Jones*
Addie Elliott
Angelo Del Oro
Kai Okamoto
Kye Turner
Mikey Moore
Franki Stressman
Horn
Andrew Keller*
Brandon Bourdeau
Coen Tayler
Thiago Costa
Anna Leach
Trombone
Connor Casey*
Calvin Fein
Micah Hreczkosij
Reagan Lesser
Austin Boudi
Jane Cohen
Sam Cote
Bass Trombone
Shane O’Sullivan
Euphonium
Noah Robertson*
Brendan Dominique
Darius Drullard
Lee Anderson
Tuba
Sebastian Davey Bravo*
Xavier Gauthier
Sophia Farfante
Devin Walmsley
Allie Nutting
String Bass
Jean-Philippe Montas
Piano
Bryden Reeves
Harp
Ava Crook
Percussion
Sami Smith*
Ethan Brink
Chance Douglas
Aidan Lenski
Aiden Pippin
Alex Aquino
Owen Montgomery
Ethan Turner * Principal