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Godzilla eats Las Vegas during an April 23 concert by the
Appalachian Symphonic Band. The 8 p.m. concert will be held
in Broyhill Music Center’s Rosen Concert Hall at Appalachian
State University. Admission is free.
“Godzilla Eats Las Vegas” is a composition by Eric
Whitacre that will be performed by the band. Also on the program
is “Mangulina” by Paul Basler, “You Were There”
by James Woodward and “Third Suite” by Robert Jager.
Whitacre composed his piece as a soundtrack to a fictional
movie, said Scott Tobias, the band’s director. “The
audience will be asked to follow the ‘screenplay’
printed in the program,” he said. Tobias called the
piece “campy and fun.” For instance, at one point
in the “screenplay,” Frank Sinatra enters and the
band plays excerpts from the Sinatra signature song “New
York, New York.”
The composition also has musical references to Elvis, Liberace
and Wayne Newton and to signature Las Vegas landmarks, such
as Treasure Island and the Sphinx at the Luxor hotel. “Mangulina”
was commissioned by and written for the wind ensembles at Appalachian,
Western Carolina University, Mars Hill College and the University
of Kentucky.
James Woodward’s was commissioned by Thomas Dvorak, director
of bands at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, in honor
of his parents.
“Third Suite” is considered part of the standard
repertoire for concert band. The first movement is a march,
the second movement is a waltz. The final movement is a lively
rondo.
Alumni Concert Band & Appalachian Wind Ensemble perform
April 25
Appalachian State University alumni return to Boone for an
alumni concert band performance April 25. The 2 p.m. concert
in Broyhill Music Center’s Rosen Concert Hall is part of
Spring Alumni Weekend activities on campus. The Appalachian
Wind Ensemble also will perform. Admission is free.
James K. Flynn, a 1977 graduate, returns to perform in the
concert band’s percussion section. A former radio personality,
Flynn is president and owner of Ayort Communications. He is
a member of the Department of Communication’s Professional
Advisory Board and the Alumni Council for Communication
as well as the Theatre and Dance Alumni Advisory Board.
James Laughridge, a retired band director from Avery High School
and a 1959 graduate of Appalachian, returns to perform in the
woodwind section.
The alumni band will perform “Flourish for Wind Band”
by Ralph Vaughan Williams, conducted by Dr. Scott C. Tobias;
“March of the Belgium Paratroopers” by Johannes Hanssen
and Glenn C. Bainum, conducted by professor emeritus Joe Phelps;
“An American Elegy” by Frank Ticheli, conducted
by William A. Gora, director of bands emeritus; “ASTC March”
by professor emeritus William Spencer, conducted by director
of bands emeritus Charles Isley; and “Lincoln Legend”
written and conducted by William Harbinson, dean of the Hayes
School of Music.
John Stanley Ross will conduct the Appalachian Wind Ensemble
in a performance of Benjamin Britten’s “The Courtly
Dances” and Frank Ticheli’s “Blue Shades.”
The combined ensembles will perform “Be Thou My Vision,”
with Ross conducting.
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