To launch the 2010-2011 season, Professor Carol talks “clarinet” with one of the original members of the Dallas Wind Symphony: Regents Professor James Gillespie of The University of North Texas. A virtuoso performer, master teacher, competition judge, and long-time editor of The Clarinet Journal, Dr. Gillespie performed as soloist in Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Concert Piece for Clarinet” at their very first concert — a program that is being recreated to celebrate the DWS’s 25th Anniversary.

British conductor Timothy Reynish is a great promoter of wind bands and a commissioner of new music for wind bands.  He has conducted many esteemed orchestras, and taught conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.  Maestro Reynish talks to Professor Carol about guest conducting the season finale of the Dallas Wind Symphony, the program of British wind music, his commitment to new music, and the always entertaining distinctions between the Americans and the Brits.

Works discussed: Adam Gorb, Dances from Crete; Kenneth Hesketh, Masque; Guy Woolfenden, Illyrian Dances; Daniel Basford, Arkendale; Percy Grainger, Marching Song of Democracy

What’s this program about?
David Kehler will conduct the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra Wind Symphony as it joins forces with the Dallas Wind Symphony on the upcoming side-by-side concert. Kehler discusses how the young people get involved with the professional ensemble, the differences in conducting youth and professional ensembles, and the music of David Maslanka and Eric Whitacre.

Works discussed: Eric Whitacre, Ghost Train Trilogy; David Maslanka, Give Us This Day – A Short Symphony for Band

Carol found the U.S. Marine Drum & Bugle Corps warming up for a concert at the Texas State Fair and took that opportunity to ask Sgt. Kyle Baker about the organization’s mission and its performances at the Fair.

U.S. Marine Drum & Bugle Corps from Carol Reynolds on Vimeo.

What’s this program about?

Major Jim Keene took his musical training and talents into the Army, becoming conductor of the premier Army musical ensembles and now commanding the U.S. Army School of Music in Little Creek, Virginia. Professor Carol spoke with her former graduate student when he returned to Dallas to conduct the Dallas Wind Symphony’s Fourth of July concert. Major Keene talks about musical life in the military, performances at state events, and the role of musical ensembles in supporting the troops and representing the United States throughout the world.

Weimar. This former East German city (that seems so pastoral and peaceful) is actually a bubbling caldron for the arts and culture! Designated in 1999 as UNESCO’s Cultural Capital of Europe, Weimar is a small but unbelievably beautiful and famous city where virtually every movement in German and European cultural history seems to have left its mark.

Weimar combines the cultures of the Reformation (Luther), European Baroque (Bach and Herder), Classicism (Goethe and Schiller), and Romanticism (Liszt) with modern movements in the arts (Bauhaus), politics (Weimar Republic), and military history (Napoleon, Hitler and World War II).

After discovering Weimar in 1998, I helped create SMU’s Summer in Weimar program and co-directed the program for many years.  During that time, I developed a deep admiration for one of our German guides, Dieter Kunkel.  I asked Dieter to help me explain what makes Weimar so special.

I enjoyed my interview with conductor and virtuoso oboist Vladimir Lande so much, I decided to present highlights of it in a shorter program. Listen and enjoy as Maestro Lande talks about the legendary conductor Evgenii Mravinsky and about the powerful influence of the Russian Bells. Lande’s upbringing in the Soviet musical system, his many achievements, and his rich opportunity to learn from the greatest of Russian musicians, have given him wonderful insights into music and life.

Conductor and oboist Vladimir Lande talks with Professor Carol about the legacy of Evgeny Mravinsky and Soviet composers Shostakovich and Khachaturian, as well as the influence of folklore and the bells of the Orthodox Church on Russian composers. He discusses performances of music by John Corigliano, Gaetano Panariello, and Lorenzo Ferrero and his enthusiasm for performing contemporary music of Russia, America, and Italy at the St. Petersburg Musical Spring and Ravello Festivals.

In addition to his conducting career, Lande is a virtuoso oboist with the Poulenc Trio and the D’Amore duo. He began his career as principal oboist of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra (1984-1989), playing under such legendary conductors as Mravinsky, Mariss Jansons, Leonard Bernstein, Claudio Abbado, Valery Gergiev, and Yuri Temirkanov.

Lande has been awarded many prestigious prizes, including the First Prize of the Russian Republic Wind Competition. He was named principal guest conductor of the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra in Russia, as well as music director and conductor of the Washington Soloist Chamber Orchestra in Washington, D.C.

What’s this program about?

In today’s classical music world, there are not many composers who can stir up the excitement that might have accompanied the premiere of a new work by Brahms. But John Mackey is a composer who can. He has a popular following from all over the world. The Dallas Wind Symphony collaborated with a group of wind bands to commission Mackey’s new Concerto for Soprano Sax and Wind Ensemble. Mackey dedicated the work to Don Fabian, principal saxophonist of the Dallas Wind Symphony, and Professor Carol talks to Fabian about the upcoming premiere.

Works discussed: John Mackey’s Concerto for Soprano Sax and Wind Ensemble

Professor Carol interviews New York Times veteran reporter James Barron, author of Piano: The Making of a Steinway Concert Grand (New York: Times Books, 2006), which tells the story of a single piano (K0862) and its eleven-month journey from its beginnings as raw lumber to the concert stage at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The 9-part series in The New York Times is available online with images and interactive features.

Visit the Steinway & Sons site to learn more.

Mahler expanded the orchestra to huge proportions, going beyond the already inflated forces of Wagner.  But Mahler simultaneously achieved an striking delicacy and transparency by using solo instruments to create “chamber music” in the midst of a his massive musical canvases. He drew his inspiration from the simple tunes of his childhood, military marches, folk songs, and village dances. But he also used the Viennese traditions of Beethoven, Schubert, and the Imperial Viennese waltz. He treated all of these elements as pieces of a mosaic, and placed them in a sophisticated symphonic frame. His great range of artistic expression and his choice to empower the instrumentalists with wonderful solo passages revolutionized music.

It’s true that musicians get excited about playing Mahler in a way that can’t be compared to other composers.  Their Mahler experiences stand out – their first awed encounters with his music and their experiences performing it.  Mahler demands constant attention from the musicians and pushes them to their limits of physical endurance.  So it makes sense to let the musicians themselves talk about Mahler and explain not only why it’s electrifying to play his music, but why so many listeners identify Mahler as one of their favorite composers.

This podcast features Michael Shih, Concertmaster, Ana Victoria Luperi, Principal Clarinet, Mark Houghton, Principal Horn, Steve Wegel, Principal Trumpet, Ron Wilson, Principal Trombone, Kathryn Perry, Violin, and Brian Perry, Bass.

The Fort Worth Symphony’s Mahler Cycle at Bass Hall opens August 23, 2007, with “The Man Behind the Music,” a spectacular multimedia experience led by Professor Carol Reynolds and featuring selections from Mahler’s vocal works with mezzo-soprano Jill Grove and pianist John Churchwell.

What’s this program about?
John Gibson’s choral work “Mockingbird Sings” utilizes Native American texts of the Yuma, Zuni, Laguna, and Apache tribes. The title refers to the individual charged with remembering events and traditions and his recounting of this oral history in songs and stories. In this interview, Gibson explains his approach to setting these unusual texts to music and factors that distinguish American music from its European roots.

Works Discussed: John Gibson’s “Mockingbird Sings”

What’s this program about?
Professor Carol talks with Mary Preston, the resident organist of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, about the Lay Family Concert Organ. The organ built by C.B. Fisk for the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center is one of the finest instruments ever built. Mary Preston joins the Dallas Wind Symphony in a concert to be featured on Michael Barone’s syndicated radio show “Pipedreams.”

Works Discussed: Hindemith Kammermusik No. 7; Walton “Crown Imperial”; Guilmant Finale from Sonata in D Minor

Where you can find:
At the Meyerson
Mary Preston plays Marcel Dupre
Pomp and Pipes

What’s this program about?
Carol interviews Dean Bouras, arranger for the Dallas Wind Symphony Big Band concerts, and John Trapani, leader of the John Trapani Big Band about the era, the music, and its popularity today.

Works Discussed: Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Norman Leyden

Where you can find:
Big Band Collection
Big Band Magic

What’s this program about?
Student players in the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra Wind Symphony join the professionals of the Dallas Wind Symphony for a “side by side” concert, featuring music of Dmitri Shostakovich, Paul Hindemith, Donald Grantham, Dan Welcher, and Giovanni Gabrieli.

Where you can find:
Hindemith: Symphonic Metamorphoses
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5

What’s this program about?
The final segment of Glenn Mitchell’s interview of Carol on KERA Radio turns to the Library of Congress’s American Memory Project, Bill Monroe, John Fogerty, Harry Partch, and Scott Joplin.

Where you can find:
The Harry Partch Collection (Vol. 1)
Ricky Skaggs & Friends Sing the Songs of Bill Monroe
Bill Monroe: Blue Moon of Kentucky
Piano Rags

What’s this program about?
Glenn Mitchell’s interview of Carol on KERA Radio continues in Part 2 with a discussion of the Sacred Harp (shape-note singing), Stephen Foster, American film music, Louis Armstrong, Broadway, and Ernest Tubb.

Where you can find:
American Folk Hymns from the Sacred Harp Collection
Tubb: Waltz Across Texas
King Oliver with Louis Armstrong
Songs of Stephen Foster

What’s this program about?
Carol pays tribute to the late Glenn Mitchell with a reprise of her appearance in September 2000 on his radio program, reproduced here as a three-part podcast courtesy of KERA Radio. Carol and Glenn begin their discussion of America’s highly varied musical heritage with reference to William Billings, Jimmie Rodgers, Charles Ives, and Frank Zappa.

Where you can find:
Ives: An American Journey
Zappa: Trance-Fusion
The Essential Jimmie Rodgers

KERA Radio
Glenn Mitchell
Harry Partch
American Memory Project (Library of Congress)
Jimmie Rodgers
Shape-Note Singing

What’s this program about?
Professor Carol continues her interview of John Corigliano and Jerry Junkin. Corigliano talks about his approach to composition and how he, and other top composers, are turning to wind bands for an exciting new sound.

Works Discussed: Corigliano, Circus Maximus

What’s this program about?
Professor Carol interviews two friends and collaborators, composer John Corigliano and Maestro Jerry Junkin. Circus Maximus, Coriglian’s explosive third symphony, vividly portrays ancient Rome’s fascination with perpetual entertainment and our own culture’s similar obsession.

Works Discussed: Corigliano, Circus Maximus

Where you can find:
John Corigliano’s Altered States
John Corigliano’s Red Violin
John Corigliano’s Concerto for Clarinet

What’s this program about?
Professor Carol interviews Groucho, the singing parrot who stole the show at the Dallas Wind Symphony’s 2006 season opener. Groucho talks about his life on stage and reprises his performance at the Meyerson Symphony Center.

Works Discussed: Foster, Camp Town Races; Cohan, Yankee Doodle Dandy; Alouette

What’s this program about?
The Dallas Wind Symphony is the leading professional civilian band in the United States. Professor Carol interviews one of the ensemble’s saxophonists, David Lovrien, about Sousa, the DWS web site, podcasting, playing under Maestro Jerry Junkin, and more.