President's Concert Marks Centennial Of Baylor Band Program

by Richard Veit

Always one of the most eagerly awaited events of the year, the 2003 President's Concert will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 12, in Jones Concert Hall. This year's concert will be performed by the Baylor University Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Director of Bands Kevin Sedatole.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Baylor band program, and the centennial concert will feature the world premiere of a new work, Exhortation and Praise!, by Alfred Reed, a prolific composer who earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from Baylor.
Also appearing at the concert will be Wiff Rudd, a 1977 Baylor graduate who now serves on the School of Music faculty as professor of trumpet. He will be the soloist in Joseph Turrin's Chronicles for Trumpet and Wind Orchestra from 1999.
The program will begin with a performance of the stirring Vienna Philharmonic Fanfare by Richard Strauss. Dating from 1924, this short piece was composed to open Vienna's first Carnival Ball on Shrove. It was one of two fanfares that Strauss wrote that year for timpani and large brass ensemble. Following intermission, the Wind Ensemble will present a performance of David Maslanka's Symphony No. 4, which incorporates several hymn tunes and chorales, including "The Old Hundred" (Doxology), "Only Trust in God to Guide You" and "Christ Who Makes Us Holy."
"The roots of Symphony No. 4 are many," Maslanka said of his 1993 piece. "The central driving force is the spontaneous rise of the impulse to shout for the joy of life. I feel it is the powerful voice of the Earth that comes to me from my adopted western Montana and the high plains and mountains of central Idaho."
General admission tickets for the President's Concert are $5 each and are available from the Baylor School of Music by calling 710-1161.