REPERTOIRE SESSIONS

Session 6: Saturday, July 18

Amador Valley High School

Jonathan Grantham, Director

Pleasanton, California

Champ de Mars Par Jour de Lumere - Eric Champagne

Fanfarria - Javier Perez Garrido

On This Bright Morning - David Maslanka

Persian Dances No. 2&3 - Amir Molookpour

Arcana - Kevin Houben

Champ-de-Mars, Par Jour de Lumiere (2004)

20’ Grade 5.5 Editions GAM, Canada

The symphonic band work Champ-de-Mars, Par Jour de Lumiere (Champ-de-Mars, By Day

of Light) was inspired by a large, abstract stained-glass design that was integrated into the sta-

tion above Montreal's Champ-de-Mars metro stop in the 1960s. The composition won the Mi-

chael Hennigan Memorial Composition Prize at Oklahoma State University. Written in 12

continually connecting tableaux, Champagne's colorfully orchestrated composition captures

the impressions of light refracted by Marcelle Ferron's fresco.

Eric Champagne (b. 1980)

Born in Montreal, Eric Champagne began his musical

training in 1992, studying both the clarinet and the bass

clarinet. As an instrumentalist, he played primarily in

wind ensembles including Grande Fanfare Classique

and Harmonie Laval. He studied composition with

Michel Tétrault at CÉGEP de Saint-Laurent and then

with Michel Longtin, Hugues Leclerc and Robert Nor-

mandeau at the University of Montreal. He completed

his Baccalaureate in 2002 and his Masters in 2003 un-

der the supervision of Hugues Leclair. As part of his

graduate level studies, Eric composed his first opera,

Miss Julie, based on the work of August Strindberg. His

compositions focus mainly on instrumental music, with

an interest also for the human voice and wind instru-

ments.

Fanfaria (2013)

3’ 30” Grade 4 Molenaar Editions, The Netherlands

Fanfarria is a short fanfare commissioned by the Municipal Symphonic Band of Alicante for

the centenary of their founding. The main epic theme is introduced by the trumpets in a style

reminiscent of Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man. The theme is developed through the

appearance of the different band sections in counterpoint. Finally, a brilliant coda that builds

to a final apotheosis ends the composition, which was also written to celebrate the

completion of fifty compositions in Perez Garrido´s opus collection.

Javier Perez Garrido (b. 1986)

Composer, conductor, clarinetist and teacher, Javier

Pérez Garrido has studied with many renown

musicians in Spain and other countries, and holds

an Advanced Degree in Clarinet Performance and

Composition from the Conservatory of Murcia,

Spain. He has been given performance and

composition awards in several national and

international music competitions. Pérez Garrido has

played as soloist with many of the most important

youth wind and symphonic orchestras around

Europe. Since 1998, he has composed nearly 80

works including solo, chamber music,

ensemble, choir, concert band and orchestra pieces.

He has both conducted and performed as a solo

clarinetist with numerous bands and orchestras

across the country. Currently he continues

composing, conducting, playing and teaching

master classes in various music schools and

conservatories in Cartagena, Spain.

On This Bright Morning (2013)

10’ Grade 4 Maslanka Music Press, United States

There are times of stability in life, and times of significant transition. Transitions can be

upsetting, often provoked or accompanied by physical or emotional troubles. They are times

of uncertainty and unknowing, but also the times of greatest creative change. On This Bright

Morning acknowledges the struggle, and the feelings of pain and loss in times of transition,

but embodies the pure joy of realizing the bigger life. On this bright morning, life is new, life

is possible.

David Maslanka (b. 1943)

David Maslanka was born in New Bedford,

Massachusetts. He attended the Oberlin College

Conservatory where he studied composition with

Joseph Wood. He spent a year at the Mozarteum in

Salzburg, Austria, and did masters and doctoral

study in composition at Michigan State University

where his principal teacher was H. Owen Reed.

Maslanka’s music for winds has become especially

well known. Among his more than 130 works are

forty pieces for wind ensemble, including seven

symphonies, fifteen concertos, a Mass, and many

concert pieces. His chamber music includes four

wind quintets, five saxophone quartets, and many

works for solo instrument and piano. In addition, he

has written a variety of orchestral and choral pieces.

Persian Dances Nos. 2 & 3 (2014)

3’ (each movement) Grade 3.5 Hafabra Music, Belgium

In these four Persia Dances commissioned by Louis Martinus, the Iranian composer uses some of the peculiar-

ities of the Persian traditional and folkloristic music with a mixture of various rhythmic and structural ap-

proaches. Each of the dances is written in a different traditional Persian scale and there is a very strong ten-

dency towards the creation of the melodies almost in the same way used by the Iranian composers of the tradi-

tional music in the past centuries. Furthermore, Molookpour on the one hand tries to create these dances with

this kind of intention toward the melody structures, and on the other hand, he uses the western musical tech-

niques of composition in a very simple manner to bring these two cultural diversities more close. The four

dances are each published separately.

Amir Molookpour

Amir Molookpour began to study the traditional

Persian music at the age of nine. After some years he

began to study the Western music as an autodidact

and since 1994 followed specialization classes with

Hassan Riahi, the composer of the last Iranian

National Anthem. In 1995 he began to collaborate

with the symphony orchestra of the Iranian radio and

television as a composer and arranger, writing

several pieces for symphonic and chamber orchestra,

including a Fantasy for Tar and Orchestra and the

Short Suite for small orchestra, which was elected as

one of the best composition of the Iranian National

Radio in 1999. He was one of the first members and

co-founders of the Association of Young Iranians

Composers who has had a considerable success at

national level. In 2001 Molookpour moved to Italy to

study Musicology at the University of Pavia (in

Cremona) continuing to work with the Symphony

Orchestra of the Iranian Radio as a composer. He did

researches on the role and functions of music in the

religious rituals of the Zoroastrians of Iran, which

later became the subject of his thesis in the Faculty

of Musicology in Cremona.

Arcana(2004)

10’” Grade 5 Dehaske Publications, The Netherlands

Arcana is the plural of the Latin word “arcanum”, meaning secret. In the title, it is used in the

sense of unraveling the rich past of the Royal Fanfare Sint-Jozefsgilde Mol-Sluis (Belgium)

and opening up perspectives for its future. During the misterioso beginning of the work, a

historic atmosphere is created to reflect the founding of the society. Then follows a bustling

middle part, which provides a challenge for each musician because of the difficult rhythms

and combined play. After this energetic passage, a very melodious part follows that makes

people overlook earlier problems, and that offers new possibilities by means of the musical

reflection of a consequent youth policy, which determines the future of

each society. Finally, there is a broad build-up to the festive finale, once more symbolizing the

strength and energy of youth.

Kevin Houben (b. 1977)

Kevin Houben was born in Peer (Belgium) in 1977. From a

young age, Kevin had a strong fascination for music. After

high school in Peer, he studied at the Lemmens Institute in

Leuven. He obtained a master in Concert Band conducting

(with Jan Van der Roost), Symphonic Band conducting

(with Edmond Saveniers), composition and orchestration

(with Jan Van der Roost), chamber music and solfege.

Kevin Houben's oeuvre, from 2001 composed only on

commission, comprises works for solo instrument, brass

quintet, brass ensemble, percussion ensemble, wind

orchestra, fanfare orchestra, brass band and symphonic

orchestra. Kevin is also conductor of the Youth Wind

Band of the Koninklijke Harmonie van Peer and the

Fanfare Orchestra St. Jozefsgilde Mol-Sluis. He is

assistant conductor at the Koninklijke Harmonie van Peer.

With the Youth Wind Band of the Koninklijke Harmonie

van Peer, he won first prize at the International

Competition for Youth Wind Bands of the Mid Europe

festival in Schladming (Austria) in July 2010.

All works on today’s reading

session are available for sale from:

Midwest Sheet Music

2616 Metro Blvd

Maryland Heights, MO 63043

Ph. 314-942-1522

Instrumental@MidwestSheetMusic.com