Georgia Music Educators Association Preview Concert

About the Event

What: Free concert with guest composer, David Biedenbender, and featured trumpet soloist, Jens Lindemann

Selections being performed:

Festive Overture by Dmitri Shostakovich - This excellent concert opener exhibits one of Shostakovich's greatest attributes: the skill in writing a long sustained melodic line combined with a pulsating rhythmic drive.

Enigma by David Biedenbender - Enigma comes from a Greek word meaning “to speak in riddles,” and the piece's riddle or theme, derived from a work by Bach that is one of the composer's favorite pieces of music, is revealed gradually.

Ash by Jennifer Jolley - The composer shares that, after witnessing her first ash-fall when she was in elementary school in Southern California, she couldn’t comprehend how an enormous forest fire could create a small flurry of ash-flakes. Now she has the ominous understanding that something so magical and beautiful comes from something so powerful and destructive.

The Sacred Spheres by Tyler S. Grant - This large-scale work for the wind band was commissioned to honor Professor Randall O. Coleman for his 30+ year career in music education. Coleman's interest in John Dryden’s poem, A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day, served as the composer's starting point as he focuses on the musical and celestial forces being abstractly represented through music.

Dreaming of the Masters III by Allan Gilliland, with Jens Lindemann, trumpet soloist - This three-movement jazz suite for trumpet and orchestra was originally written for Jens Lindemann, who has performed this work around the world, including its U.S. premiere at Carnegie Hall in 2012.

Danza Final from “Estancia” by Alberto Ginastera - This concluding movement of the suite, Estancia, is inspired by the flamboyant malambo dance of the Argentine gauchos and has become one of Ginastera’s most popular works.

Donation information
While the concert is free, tax-deductible donations are appreciated and accepted at the concert, via mail, or online. For more information visit www.AtlantaWindSymphony.org.

About the Atlanta Wind Symphony (AWS)

The Atlanta Wind Symphony is celebrating its 45th season as an all-volunteer community wind ensemble dedicated to delivering inspiring performances of quality wind band literature. Comprised of more than 70 adult musicians ranging in experience from music educators to hobbyists, the group has performed at Carnegie Hall and has received the John Philip Sousa Foundation's Sudler Silver Scroll, North America's most prestigious award for community concert bands. The AWS also received the honor of being selected to perform at the 2021 Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, the world’s largest instrumental music conference. Atlanta Wind Symphony Music Director David Kehler serves as Director of Bands and Professor of Music at Kennesaw State University where he oversees all aspects of the University’s expanding band program; teaches courses in instrumental conducting, symphonic repertoire, and wind literature; and serves as Music Director and Conductor of the KSU Wind Ensemble. AWS Associate Conductor Chris Shumick is in his 13th year as the Director of Bands at Milton High School, where his bands consistently win top honors at festivals and contests. For more information visit www.AtlantaWindSymphony.org.

About guest composer, David Biedenbender

David Biedenbender (b. 1984) is a composer, conductor, performer, educator, and interdisciplinary collaborator. He has written music for the concert stage as well as for dance and multimedia collaborations, and his creative interests include working with classically trained musicians and improvisers, chamber and large ensembles, interactive electronic interfaces and live brain data. His music is influenced by experiences performing in rock and jazz groups, classical ensembles and concert bands, a New Orleans-style brass band, as well as Indian Carnatic Music. David is interested in the expressive power of combining strange and unusual elements - often timbres and textures - with things that are more familiar, like harmony and melody. He often embeds the resonance of imagined spaces into the music itself, using acoustic instruments to emulate electronic processes. He is also drawn to exploring the perception of time and memory in music through the relationships between various temporal layers, rhythm, and meter. In addition to composing, David is a dedicated teacher. He is Associate Professor and Chair of Composition in the College of Music at Michigan State University.

About trumpet soloist, Jens Lindemann

As the first classical brass soloist to ever receive the Order of Canada, Jens Lindemann is hailed as one of the most celebrated artists in his instrument’s history and was recently named “International Brass Personality of the Year” (Brass Herald). Jens has played both jazz and classical in every major concert venue in the world. His career has ranged from appearing internationally as an orchestral soloist, being featured at the 2010 Olympics for an audience of 2 billion people, national anthems at the Rose Bowl and for the San Francisco Giants on Memorial Day, performing at London’s ‘Last Night of the Proms’, recording with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to playing lead trumpet with the renowned Canadian Brass and a solo Command Performance for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Jens has also won major awards ranging from Grammy and Juno nominations to winning the prestigious Echo Klassik in Germany and British Bandsman 2011 Solo CD of the year as well as receiving several honorary doctorates. Classically trained at the renowned Juilliard School in New York and McGill University in Montreal, Jens’ proven ability to perform as a diverse artist places him at the front of a new generation of musicians. Based in Los Angeles as Professor with High Distinction at UCLA, Jens is also director of the summer brass program at the Banff Centre in Canada. Jens Lindemann is an international Yamaha artist playing exclusively on 24K gold plated instruments.

About the Atlanta Wind Symphony's season sponsor, Arclin USA

Arclin is an Atlanta-based chemistry and applications company which supplies technologies to applications spanning from building products to agriculture. In addition to headquarters in Roswell, Arclin operates 12 manufacturing locations across North America and employs a team of more than 600. People are Arclin's first priority, and the company maintains a focus on investing in local communities to impact positive change. This concert and the efforts of the Atlanta Wind Symphony are examples of an organization which tirelessly works to benefit the community.

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