Cal Poly Wind Bands to Perform ‘Music for the Moment’ March 5

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Actor and stage director Josh Machamer will be the guest artist for Cal Poly’s Winter Band Concert at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 5, in Harman Hall of the Performing Arts Center's Christopher Cohan Center.

This annual concert will feature the university’s 55-member Wind Ensemble and 70-member Wind Orchestra performing “Music for the Moment.” From the American Civil War to the brutal suppression of the Czech people’s assertion of freedom in 1968, this program features a selection of works written to commemorate a person, place or event in history.

Machamer, associate chair of the Theatre and Dance Department, will join the Wind Orchestra as narrator in Aaron Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait.” Composed in 1942, this inspirational work features speech excerpts and quotations by the nation’s 16th president. The narration speaks eloquently on the subjects of freedom and slavery and reflects upon what Lincoln hoped for the future of the U.S.

The Wind Ensemble will feature a performance of Karel Husa’s tours de force, “Music for Prague, 1968.” This wind band masterwork was inspired by the Soviet invasion of the composer’s native Czechoslovakia.

The program also will feature “Dragon Fight” (written to commemorate the Liechtenstein bicentennial in 2006), “Time Remembered” (an elegy for the new millennium in 2000) and Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man.” The concert also will include performances of band favorites such as “Celebrations” by John Zdechlik and “The Circus Bee” by Henry Fillmore.

Director of Bands Andrew McMahan and Associate Director of Bands Christopher J. Woodruff will conduct the concert.

Tickets are $8 to $19 and are on sale at the Performing Arts Ticket Office 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. To order by phone, call SLO-ARTS (805-756-2787). Discounts are given to patrons who buy tickets to four or more Music Department events.

The Winter Band Concert is sponsored by Cal Poly’s Music Department, College of Liberal Arts and Instructionally Related Activities program.

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