Northshore Concert Band & Loyola Academy Bands

Welcome

We are delighted to welcome you to the third annual side-by-side performance of Northshore Concert Band and the Loyola Academy Band. Tonight’s concert celebrates the artistic partnership between NCB and Loyola Academy, which provides enriching musical experiences for students and community members alike.

Northshore Concert Band was founded in 1956 by John P. Paynter, longtime Director of Bands at Northwestern University and a pioneering music educator. Under his leadership, the Band gained international recognition for its musical excellence, leadership in community music, and commitment to music education.

The Band has been a staple of musical life in Wilmette since its founding. We have presented over 100 concerts at Gillson Park — the first on August 19, 1958, under the direction of John P. Paynter, and the most recent on October 17, 2021, under the baton of Dr. Mallory Thompson. NCB performed its first concert at Loyola Academy on May 14, 1961, and presented annual concerts at Loyola from 1985 to 2000.

Northshore Concert Band extends its deepest gratitude to the Loyola Academy administration and Director of Bands Sean McQuinn for their tremendous support and creativity, which allows this partnership to flourish and prosper.

We invite you to attend our weekly open rehearsals at the Leemputte Family Theater, and we hope you will join us again on February 16, 2025, for our next series concert, Tributes & Innovations.

Program

Artists

Dr. Mallory Thompson is emeritus director of bands, professor of music, and coordinator of the conducting program at Northwestern University, where she held the John W. Beattie Chair of Music. In 2003, she was named a Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence. During her tenure, as only the third person in the university’s history to hold the director of bands position, Thompson conducted the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, taught undergraduate and graduate conducting, and administered all aspects of the band program. She recorded five albums with the Northwestern University Symphonic Wind Ensemble for Summit Records, including landmark recordings of David Maslanka’s Symphony No. 4 and Carter Pann’s symphony for winds, “My Brother’s Brain.” Dr. Thompson has served as the Artistic Director of Northshore Concert Band since 2003.

Program Notes

Huldigungsmarsh (Homage March)
Richard Wagner (Ed. William A Schaefer)

Though Richard Wagner's discriminatory ideologies remain controversial, his contributions to opera epitomize 19th-century artistry and the harmonic evolution of the Romantic period. Born in Leipzig and rising to fame with Rienzi in 1842, Wagner introduced groundbreaking works like Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman), Tannhäuser, and Lohengrin. His operas often feature mythical characters and explore themes of good versus evil, with Wagner coining "music drama" to express his belief that these works transcended traditional opera.

Wagner's fortunes changed in 1864 when King Ludwig II of Bavaria became his patron, financing ambitious productions in Munich and supporting the creation of the Bayreuth Festspielhaus. Inaugurated in 1876 with Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), the theater was celebrated with Huldigungsmarsch, one of Wagner’s few compositions for winds. This piece begins with lyrical themes and brass fanfares, weaving intricate counterpoint and culminating in a powerful recapitulation of the main melody, showcasing Wagner’s signature harmonies and grand orchestration.

Bravado
Gala Flagello

Gala Flagello, a composer, educator, and nonprofit director, infuses her music with lyricism, rhythmic energy, and collaborative spirit. Described by Cleveland Classical as “at times endearingly whimsical, at times ominous, but always moving,” Flagello’s works resonate deeply with audiences through their emotional and expressive range. Her collaborations with renowned ensembles, artists, and institutions bring meaningful projects to stages worldwide.

Bravado, originally premiered for orchestra at the 2023 Tanglewood Festival, was arranged for wind ensemble for “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band. The piece explores the multifaceted concept of “bravado,” capturing traits like boldness, courage, and confidence through transformations of its main melody. Opening with a lilting theme, Bravado builds through rhythmic accents, a Bernstein-inspired second theme, and contrasting moods. It culminates in a jubilant reprise of its initial rhythm, celebrating the bold spirit embodied in its title.

Music for Prague 1968
Karel Husa

Karel Husa, born in Prague in 1921, initially pursued engineering but shifted to music at the Prague Conservatory to avoid conscription. He later studied in Paris under renowned composers and, after the 1948 communist coup in Czechoslovakia, settled in the United States, joining Cornell University’s faculty in 1954. Husa’s career spanned 38 years at Cornell, where he composed and lectured widely, becoming an influential voice in American and international music.

In response to the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, Husa composed Music for Prague 1968, a powerful four-movement work that became a classic in wind ensemble music, premiering in 1969 and quickly spreading across the U.S. and Europe. Its success was fueled by Cold War anti-Soviet sentiment, and it resonated deeply, symbolizing hope and freedom. Husa later premiered an orchestral version with the Munich Philharmonic and triumphantly conducted the piece in Prague in 1990, marking a hopeful return to his homeland.

The composer wrote the following of the work, and asked that it be printed in the program for each performance:

It was late August 1968 when I decided to write a composition dedicated to the city in which I was born. I thought about writing for Prague for some time because the longer I was away from the city, the more I remembered the beauty of it.

During the tragic and dark moments for Czechoslovakia in August 1968, I suddenly felt the necessity to write this piece so long meditated. As I watched day and night, I was thinking about that beautiful city where I grew up, and all that it means to me. I was concerned for my sister and family who still lived in Prague. I decided then to write a piece for Prague and what the city has stood for throughout history.

I was sure the music I would write for Prague would be scored for concert band, a medium I have admired for a long time. The combination of wind and brass instruments with percussion fascinated me, and the unexploited possibilities of new sounds and combinations of instruments attracted me.

Three main ideas bind the composition together. The first and most important is an old Hussite war song from the fifteenth century. “Ye Warriors of God and His Law” has been a symbol of resistance and hope for hundreds of years, whenever fate lay heavy on the Czech nation. It has also been utilized by many Czech composers, including Smetana in Má vlast. The beginning of this religious song is announced very softly in the first movement by the timpani and concludes in a strong unison. The song is never used in its entirety.

The second idea is the sound of bells throughout: Prague, named also the “City of a Hundred Spires,” has used its magnificently sounding church bells as calls of distress as well as of victory.

The last idea is a motif of three chords first appearing very softly under the piccolo solo at the beginning of the piece, in flutes, clarinets, and horns. Later it reappears at extremely strong dynamic levels, for example, in the middle of the Aria.

Different techniques of composing as well as orchestrating have been used in Music for Prague 1968 and some new sounds explored, such as the percussion section in the Interlude and the ending of the work. Much symbolism also appears: in addition to the distress calls in the first movement, the unbroken hope of the Hussite song, sound of bells, or the tragedy, there is also the bird call at the beginning, a symbol of the liberty which the City of Prague has seen only for moments during its thousand years of existence.

A Mother of a Revolution!
Omar Thomas

Omar Thomas, an acclaimed American composer, arranger, and educator, has made significant contributions to contemporary jazz and classical music. Born to Guyanese parents in Brooklyn, Thomas moved to Boston in 2006 to study jazz composition at the New England Conservatory, where he trained under Maria Schneider. At 23, he joined Berklee College of Music as an Assistant Professor of Harmony, launching a celebrated teaching career. He currently serves as an Associate Professor of Composition and Jazz Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.

Thomas has earned numerous awards, including the ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award, and his compositions have been performed worldwide by prestigious ensembles. His piece A Mother of a Revolution! celebrates the courage of trans women, particularly Marsha “Pay It No Mind” Johnson, a pivotal figure in the Stonewall uprising and LGBTQ liberation. Thomas honors the bravery of trans women, especially women of color, for living authentically in a world often hostile to their existence.