Cedar Park Winds

Ryan George

There you are fast asleep, when the alarm clock slowly pulls you out of your dreamy slumber.  You roll over to hit snooze, and it’s in that moment you realize through groggy eyes that you set your alarm for the WRONG time. PANIC!! 

In the Nick of Time was commissioned by the Cedar Park Winds (Jeremy Spicer, Director) for their performance at the 2024 Midwest Band & Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, Illinois. 

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David Biedenbender
Christopher Yee, Conductor

The original version of This Night is a Christmas hymn that was written for Minneapolis-based choir VocalEssence. This arrangement for band was created for Alex Kaminsky and the VanderCook College of Music Symphonic Band. The text for the choral version is a setting of the text Dies ist die Nacht, da mir erschien­en, (“This Night a Wondrous Revelation”), which was written in 1683 by Caspar Fried­rich Nach­ten­höf­er.

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Aaron Perrine
Mike Howard, Conductor

A Place in the Stars references Perseus. In Greek mythology, this son of Zeus was a great hero and slayer of monsters. Perseus has a constellation named after him. According to legend, he was given a place in the stars forever for his bravery in rescuing the beautiful Andromeda from Cetus, a huge sea creature.

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Katahj Copley
Christopher Yee, Conductor

This piece was inspired by the different colors of modern jazz like Snarky Puppy to the likes of George Gershwin to hits like Estelle’s American Boy in order to create a kaleidoscope of colors and energy. This is a celebration of life and all the small things that lead to the big things. This is In Living Color.

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Steven Bryant
Richard Floyd, Conductor

Aloft evokes the relentless pursuit of powered flight by the Wright Brothers at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, as well as the broader sense of persistence and elation during any creative act.

Aloft is meant to be truly accessible to a very wide range of musicians, conforming to the North Carolina Bandmasters Association MPA grade 2 guidelines, and thus playable by young and inexperienced musicians everywhere.

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Andrew David Perkins

​Commissioned by the Grandville Calvin Christian School Music Department, in memory of Jeff Looman. Jeff was the 5th-12th Grade Band Director at Calvin Christian for 23 years, and was tragically killed in a car-bicycle accident in 2013. He left a lasting legacy as a master-teacher and valued colleague, largely because of his ability to live life to its fullest in his faith, his relationships, and in his love for music education.

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Viet Cuong
Aruna Quartet
Mike Howard, Conductor

The term “second nature” typically describes a skill that, while baffling at first, becomes effortless once mastered. Naturally, Second Nature calls for a quartet of saxophonists to tackle the virtuosic demands of the piece and make their efforts look easy. But the virtuosity in their music runs deeper than speedy flurries of notes or sky-high belts. The solo quartet must also play with exacting ensemble coordination as they emulate complex electronic delay effects, which, when combined with thumping four-on-the-floor drumbeats, capture the infectious exuberance of House music.

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Edward Victor Cupero
Ed. by John R. Bourgeois
Mike Howard, Conductor

This "screamer" minstrel march, with its optional challenging piccolo-clarinet-cornet feature, was dedicated to George "Honey Boy" Evans and published by Fillmore Brothers Co. of Cincinnati in 1914, one year before the death of the famous minstrel. Evans was always billed as "Honey Boy" because of the popularity of his song I'll Be True to My Honey Boy. Other songs include In the Good Old Summertime, Standing on the Corner, and Down Where the Watermelon Grows.

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Chris M. Bernotas
Christopher Yee, Conductor

Dancing Kites is dedicated in memory of Douglas Vermilya Jr., who passed on December 22, 2014, at the age of 3 1/2. In dedicating Dancing Kites to the memory of Douglas, I thought about the happiness and playfulness that children bring to us and that I imagined Douglas brought to his friends and family. The stories shared about his life were heroic with his battle against congenital heart defects and a family life filled with lots of laughter, fun and music.

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Dennis Llinás

La Chancla is Spanish for a slipper - more accurately a flip flop. While Cubans usually say "chancleta", Puerto Ricans refer to it as "chancla." It is a common meme or joke among Hispanics that a mother with a chancla in her hand could get an entire room of unruly kids in line or even chase away a bear (look it up on YouTube – it happened!). It is the Excalibur of Hispanic mothers and grandmothers everywhere and so I thought it would be a fun project to write a piece with this title and play between the mythical and merengue.

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