Yale Concert Band Sunday Matinee Concert, feat. guest artist Ole Akahoshi, Yale School of Music Professor of Cello

Thomas C. Duffy, Music Director. Yale's premier wind ensemble presents:

● “Out of Darkness.” Amidst a world in political turmoil, where “horrors seemed unending and unsolvable, where there would be no victors, only victims,” composer Dana Wilson turned to the plaintive and intense sound of the cello for solace and to help him attempt to process these relentless human tragedies. This three-movement work (Lament, Hope, and Prayer) features soloist Ole Akahoshi, Yale School of Music Professor of Cello.

● Duke Ellington composed “A Tone Parallel to Harlem” in 1950 as a “tone poem” of New York's Harlem, evoking the atmosphere of a Sunday stroll through the neighborhood. This version for wind band was arranged and will be guest conducted this evening by James Spinazzola, Director of Winds at Cornell University.

● “Symphony No. 2” by David Maslanka is a major work for wind ensemble that deals with themes of loss, grief, and acceptance, framed by the metaphor of crossing a river. Composed in 1983 for the Big Ten Band Directors Association and premiered in 1987, the symphony's movements explore these deep personal themes, with the second movement incorporating the African-American spiritual “Deep River” to represent the journey of “crossing over” to a new state of being.