SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music will present a concert featuring both the Crane Concert Band and the Crane Symphonic Band, on Thursday, Oct. 4 at 7:30 p.m., in the Helen M. Hosmer Concert Hall.
Conducted by Dr. Brian K. Doyle, the Crane Symphonic Band will open the concert with “La Procesión del Rocio” by Joaquin Turina, followed by an arrangement of Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Komm, Süßer Tod (Come, Sweet Death).” The band will also present “Pageant” by Vincent Persichetti and “Against the Rain” by Roshanne Etezady, concluding with Martin Ellerby’s “Paris Sketches.”
Following an intermission, the Crane Concert Band will take the stage, led by Visiting Assistant Professor Dr. Joshua Roach, performing repertoire all linked by the number eight. A private premiere of “The Planets” by Gustav Holst was given in September 1918 to a London audience of 250 people. The band will perform “Mars” from that famous orchestral suite. “Milestone” was commissioned from former Crane faculty composer Roshanne Etezady in 2008, in order to celebrate the anniversary season of a community band from Minnesota. The Concert Band will also honor the memory of Crane Professor Emeritus Elliot Del Borgo by presenting his “Adagio for Winds,” as October marks the eightieth year since the composer’s birth. The concert will conclude with “Danceries,” an eight-movement work penned by British composer Kenneth Hesketh.
This concert is free, and the public is invited to attend.
About the performers:
Conducted by Dr. Brian K. Doyle, the Crane Symphonic Band is SUNY Potsdam’s oldest wind band. James Garfield, a 1905 Potsdam Normal School graduate, established the band as The Normal Band in 1926. Although Garfield referred to the group as the Symphonic Band as early as 1940, the ensemble went through several official name changes before Professor Harry Phillips settled permanently upon the current name. Guest conductors have included Percy Grainger, Edwin Franko Goldman, Vincent Persichetti, Capt. William J. Stannard (founder of the U.S. Army Band, “Pershing’s Own”) and Col. William Santlemann (U.S. Marine Corps Band, “The President’s Own”). The Crane Symphonic Band has premiered numerous works, including those by Crane faculty members Arthur Frackenpohl, Robert Washburn and Elliot Del Borgo.
The Crane Concert Band is a 79-member wind and percussion ensemble at The Crane School of Music, conducted by Visiting Assistant Professor Dr. Joshua Roach. The ensemble performs a breadth of repertoire from traditional and contemporary composers.
This concert will be broadcast live on the Crane School of Music YouTube channel at the performance time. To view the program and see other upcoming streaming performances, visit www.potsdam.edu/academics/Crane/streaming.
About The Crane School of Music:
Founded in 1886, SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music has a long legacy of excellence in music education and performance. Life at Crane includes an incredible array of more than 300 recitals, lectures and concerts presented by faculty, students and guests each year. The Crane School of Music is the State University of New York’s only All-Steinway institution. For more information, please visit www.potsdam.edu/crane.
Arts & Culture