NEC Wind Ensemble + James M. Stephenson

James M. Stephenson | Octet (2021)

agitato lyrica
andante cantare
presto energico

Program note

This piece is certainly meant to stand on its own, but so much of it is indebted to the gold-standard of octets – composed by Igor Stravinsky in 1923 – that a paired performance would certainly be most welcome.
        I played Stravinsky’s Octet probably nearly 10 times during my career as a trumpet player. It was always a tremendous reward to try to accomplish all of the subtleties and clever writing he incorporated for all of the musicians.
       One thing I have always loved about Stravinsky’s writing is how he dovetails lines, handing from one instrument to the other, and how it is therefore the players’ responsibilities to make those seamless. It’s like handing a baton from one runner to the next in a relay race.
        But in the macro sense, composers are always handing the baton to each other, from one generation to the next. While I could never claim to be near Stravinsky’s level, I feel like we’re hanging out together while I’m writing a piece like this. He’s handing his piece to me like a baton in a relay, and I take it and do my own thing with it. As a result, there are tributes to him throughout this piece; some obvious, and some really subtle.
        The first movement employs some of the aforementioned dove-tailing immediately during a brief introduction. Right away, however, the music “grooves” in a modern way, as if to signify that we are no longer in the world of 100 years ago.
        The second movement is entirely lyrical (no theme and variations like Stravinsky’s), and allows various soloists the spotlight, while accompanied by (again) a dovetailing effect over an unusual 9/8 pattern.
        The third movement might be the most closely related to that of Stravinsky. Similar rhythmic and spiky writing are used, but again, presented in a language a bit more related to this century.
        The ending, however, is entirely a tribute (I admittedly felt “risky” in writing it). The ending to his octet is absolutely magical. It takes us to another world. Mine attempts some of that—again, in an obvious tribute. I thought about shortening some of the repeated segments, but then I thought: “no—let’s see if we can allow the audience to enter some sort of zen-zoning-out phase.” To get the effect, the players will have to be totally committed to it. The last chord is entirely Stravinsky’s—but with the flute up an octave to signify that this octet is new!
- Jim Stephenson

Johannes Brahms (transcr. Mark Popkin) | Variations on a Theme by Haydn, op. 56a

Theme: Chorale St. Antoni - Andante
Variation I: Andante con moto
Variation II: Vivace
Variation III: Con moto
Variation IV: Andante
Variation V: Vivace
Variation VI: Vivace
Variation VII: Grazioso
Variation VIII: Presto non troppo
Finale: Andante

Short Break

James M. Stephenson | Symphony No. 2, "Voices" (2016)

Prelude: 'of Passion'
Shouts and Murmurs
Of One

Program note

On April 23, 2016, my mother, Shirley S. Stephenson, passed away, at the age of 74. It was the first time anyone that close to me had died, and I honestly didn’t know how to respond. As this new piece – the symphony – was the next major work on my plate, I thought the music would come pouring forth, as one would imagine in the movies, or in a novel. However, the opposite happened, and I was stuck, not knowing how to cope, and not knowing what to write. Eventually, after a month or so, I sat at the piano, and pounded a low E-flat octave, followed by an anguished chord answer. I did this three times, with three new response-chords, essentially recreating how I felt. This became the opening of the symphony, with emphasis on the bass trombone, who gets the loudest low E-flat. I vowed I wouldn’t return to E-flat (major) until the end of the piece, thus setting forth a compositional and emotional goal all at once: an E-flat to E-flat sustaining of long-term tension, technically speaking, and the final arrival at E-flat major (letter I, 3rd movement) being a cathartic and powerful personal moment, when I finally would come to terms with the loss of my mother. The voice in the piece is that of my mother, an untrained alto, which is why I ask for it without vibrato. In the end, she finally sings once last time, conveying to me that “all will be ok”.
        I think it is the most difficult times we endure that force us, inspire us, to dig deeper than we could ever imagine. On the one hand, I am, of course, deeply saddened by the loss of my mother; but on the other, I will always have this piece – which is the most personal to me – to in essence keep her alive in my heart. I always tear up at letter I. Always. But they are tears of joy and treasured memories of 74 years with my mother.                                                            
– Jim Stephenson; October, 2018

NEC Wind Ensemble

Flute
Anne Chao
Jeong Won Choe
Shengyu Cui
Jay Kim
Jungyoon Kim
Amelia Libbey
Yechan Min
Subin Oh

Oboe
Kian Hirayama
Abigail Hope-Hull
Sojeong Kim
Alexander Lenser
Christian Paniagua

Clarinet
Hyunwoo Chun
Phoebe Kuan
Hyeokwoo Kweon
Chasity Thompson
Cole Turkel

Bassoon
Zoe Beck
Adam Chen
Garrett Comrie
Matthew Heldt
Abigail Heyrich
Evan Judson
Erik Paul

Saxophone
Ethan Shen
Zeyi Tian
Cheng Wang
Juchen Wang

French horn
Grace Clarke
Jihao Li
Yeonjo Oh
Willow Otten
Noah Silverman
Quanbin Zhu

Trumpet
Daniel Barak
Ko Te Chen
Matthew Dao
Eddy Lanois
Reynolds Martin
Nelson Martinez
Alex Prokop

Trombone
Ethan Lehman
Quinn McGillis
Noah Nichilo
Kevin Smith

Bass Trombone
Scott Odou
David Paligora

Euphonium
Roger Dahlin
Jason Sato

Tuba
James Curto
Masaru Lin

Percussion
Ross Jarrell
Danial Kukuk
Michael Rogers
Jeff Sagurton
Halle Hayoung Song
Lucas Vogelman

Harp
Yoonsu Cha

Piano
Yujin Han

Bass
Alyssa Burkhalter

Mezzo-soprano
Sianna Monti

Wind Ensemble Graduate Assistants
Weizhe Bai
Rachel Brake