Annual festival to showcase wind and percussion musicians
KALAMAZOO, Mich.—The School of Music at Western Michigan University will present the 48th annual Spring Conference on Wind and Percussion Music at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 14. Events will take place in Miller Auditorium and the Dalton Center. The event is free and open to the public.
About the festival
Each year the festival focuses on a guest composer or conductor whose works are featured during the conference. This year’s featured artist is composer Frank Ticheli.
The day's activities will include two afternoon band concerts presented by the Jenison High School Wind Symphony, conducted by David Zamborsky, at 1 p.m., and the Midland H.H. Dow High School Symphonic Band, conducted by Stephen DeRees, at 2:45 p.m. Both performances will take place in Miller Auditorium.
The conference will conclude with an evening performance beginning at 7:30 p.m. in Miller Auditorium. The concert will feature performances by the WMU Symphonic Band, conducted by Scott Boerma, and the 120-member Frank Ticheli All-Star Band. Students from over 80 Michigan high schools were nominated by their band directors for the honor of performing in this band. Traditionally, over 90 percent of this ensemble’s membership is awarded to musicians who hold first-chair-player positions in their own high school bands.
Frank Ticheli
Ticheli is well known for his works for concert band, many of which have become standards in the repertoire. In addition to composing, he has appeared as guest conductor of his music at Carnegie Hall, at many American universities and music festivals, and in cities throughout the world, including Beijing, Shanghai, London and Rome.
He is the recipient of a 2012 "Arts and Letters Award" from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, his third award from that prestigious organization. His Symphony No. 2 was named winner of the 2006 NBA/William D. Revelli Memorial Band Composition Contest. Other awards include the Walter Beeler Memorial Prize and first prize awards in the Texas Sesquicentennial Orchestral Composition Competition, Britten-on-the-Bay Choral Composition Contest and Virginia CBDNA Symposium for New Band Music.
Participating schools
Six Ticheli band works will be performed at this year’s conference. The names of the schools scheduled to participate in the 2016 conference or in the Frank Ticheli All-Star Band are as follows.
- Ann Arbor Huron
- Ann Arbor Pioneer
- Ashley
- Battle Creek Central
- Battle Creek Harper Creek
- Battle Creek Lakeview
- Battle Creek Saint Philip
- Bellaire
- Berrien Springs
- Bloomfield Hills
- Bloomingdale
- Buchanan
- Cadillac
- Carsonville-Port Sanilac
- Cedar Springs
- Central Montcalm
- Clare
- Concord
- Dansville
- Delton Kellogg
- Detroit Central
- Detroit Henry Ford
- Dundee
- East Kentwood
- East Lansing
- Eau Claire
- Edwardsburg
- Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port
- Flint Carman-Ainsworth
- Flint Southwestern Academy
- Forest Hills Eastern
- Fowlerville
- Galesburg-Augusta
- Gobles
- Goodrich
- Grand Haven
- Grand Rapids Catholic Central
- Gull Lake
- Hartford
- Holland West Ottawa
- Holt
- Howard City Tri County
- Jackson Northwest
- Jackson Preparatory
- Jenison
- Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic
- Kelloggsville
- Kent City
- Lawrence
- Lawton
- Mackinaw City
- Macomb International Academy
- Manistee
- Manistique
- Marine City
- Martin
- Mason
- Mattawan
- McBain
- Middleton Fulton
- Milford
- Morrice
- Muskegon Western Michigan Christian
- Niles Brandywine
- Novi
- Okemos
- Olivet
- Onekama
- Ortonville Brandon
- Parchment
- Plainwell
- Plymouth-Canton
- Portage Central
- Portage Northern
- South Lyon East
- Springport
- Swartz Creek
- Tawas
- Three Rivers
- Traverse City West
- Troy
- Warren Fitzgerald
- White Lake Lakeland
- Williamston
- Wyoming
- Zeeland
For more information about the concert, visit wmich.edu/music or call (269) 387-4667.
For more news, arts and events, visit wmich.edu/news.