Under the musical direction of Maestra Sharon Jeskey Sunday, April 12, 2026 @ 3pm St. Mark's in the Valley - Los Olivos, California Thank you for joining us for today’s performance!
Villabella: Concert March: This is one of the most celebrated compositions by Kenneth S. Williams (1920-1977). He was considered to be an exception, a jazz trumpet player, arranger, and talented composer. He arranged a great deal of music for jazz and marching band. “Villabella” was written in 1970 while Willams was living in Houston and was originally titled “Houston on the Move”. However, his publisher Alfred Reed suggested a less regional title with a Spanish sound, since the work has a slight but distinct Spanish flavor. The title came from a street in Coral Gables, Florida.
Transformations: Warren Barker (1923-2006) is a celebrated composer associated with several entertainment industries, including MGM, Fox, and Columbia. He composed and conducted for more than thirty TV series, including “Bewitched”, and also Oscar-Winning musicals such as “Hello Dolly”. Published in 1985, Transformations is a delightful and sparkling overture in ABA for exploiting the full spectrum of tonal colors. The themes are intricately woven through various sections of the instruments providing an everchanging variety of sounds and rhythms.
The Gliding Girl, Tango: The “March King: John Philip Sousa (1854-1932) also wrote music in a variety of styles and was particularly adept at dance music, which, of course, was the original purpose of this march. The Gliding Girl (1912) is a tango, and its relaxed tempo and style provides an effective contrast to his standard marches. This present edition by Loras John Schissel was prepared using Sousa's holograph wind band score, copyist parts for Sousa's own orchestral edition, and his personal taped interviews of over sixty former musicians of Sousa's concert band regarding the composer's own unique interpretation of this work.
Contre Qui, Rose: Composed by Morten Lauridsen in 2006, it is the second movement of his choral cycle Les Chansons des Roses, based on French poems by Rilke. This poem poses a series of questions, and the corresponding musical phrases all end with unresolved harmonies, as the questions remain unanswered. He notes that the thorns don’t actually deter true enemies, but instead end up wounding the very people who offer the rose affection.
Against whom, rose, Have you assumed these thorns? Is it your too fragile joy that forced you to become this armed thing? But from whom does is protect you, this exaggerated defense? How many enemies have I lifted from you who do not fear it at all? On the contrary, from summer to autumn you wound the affection that is given you.
Satiric Dances (Movement 3 Allegro Spumante): American composer Norman Dello Joio (1913-2008) was commissioned by the Concord Band of Massachusetts in 1975 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the “shot heard round the world”, the opening volley that started the Revolutionary War. He chose not to compose new music, instead basing it on a piece of background music he had written for a comedy by the ancient Greek dramatist Aristophanes. The final Movement, Allegro Spumante utilizes quick turns and dynamics to evoke the objects that were the titles of Aristophane’s plays: Clouds, Wasps, and Birds.
Toccata for Band was written in 1957 by American composer Frank Erickson (1923-1996). The piece was premiered by the UCLA band that year. Erickson was a composer, conductor, arranger, and trumpet player. During WWII he served with the US Army Air Forces arranging music for several army bands and became a prolific composer for concert bands during the 1950’s. Although Erickson began writing Toccata for Band with the intent of writing a toccata in the true baroque style, the piece evolved as he worked until only the title of the song reflected his initial inspiration. ***Intermission*** Please join us for complimentary refreshments in the courtyard. All donations received at the refreshment table will benefit St. Mark’s as a thank-you for hosting us. Their generosity allows our ensemble to continue providing free community music throughout the valley.
George Washington’s Birthday Party: C. L. Barnhouse (1865-1929) originally published this song in 1899 and described it as a Two-Step or Cake Walk. He dedicated it to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, but no one knows why he chose this title. Barnhouse is remembered as a composer of fine marches and as the founder of one of America’s oldest and largest publishing companies. This version was arranged in 1998 by Andy Clark.
Trail Scenes by Clifton Williams (1923-1976) is a suite of three movements evoking the vast, untamed wilderness and descriptive melodies that paint the scenic beauty of the great outdoors. The three movements are titled Roundup, Nighthawk, and Railhead.
Porgy and Bess: Began as an opera prepared by famous composer George Gershwin, with a libretto by his brother Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. It was adapted from a play called Porgy and a novel of same title. The opera was first performed in Boston in 1935, before it moved to Broadway. It featured a cast of classically trained African American singers, a daring artistic choice at the time. This opera has been performed on stage and in movie remakes for decades, and has featured many famous singers, including Cab Calloway, Dorothy Dandridge, William Warfield and Sammy Davis Junior. You may recognize some of the tunes in this arrangement, including I Got Plenty of Nuttin’, Summertime, and It Ain’t Necessarily So.
Curtain Call: Prepared by John Wasson (b. 1959) in 2013, Curtain Call is intended to be the fun, adventurous, “everything but the kitchen sink” tune with Vaudeville style. The wacky song is characterized by cartoon- like melodies, sudden shifts in dynamics and humorous percussion tricks.
Mark your calendars: Our next concert is Saturday, June 6 at the Elverhøj Museum in Solvang.
We are deeply grateful to the following organizations for their continued support throughout the years:
Mechanics Bank of Solvang
Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians
Santa Ynez Valley Foundation
Santa Ynez Valley Rotary Club
The Towbes Fund for the Performing Arts, a field of interest fund of the Santa Barbara Foundation
