The Tri-County Symphonic Band, under the direction of Philip Sanborn, will continue its 56th season with a program entitled “March Mania” on Sunday, March 18 at 3:00 pm in the Fireman Performing Arts Center at Hoyt Hall on the campus of Tabor Academy, 235 Front Street, Marion, Massachusetts. “March Mania” will be a vibrant collection of band repertoire that celebrates, accentuates and illuminates the month of March. The Resurgam Saxophone Quartet will be the soloists in a program that mixes new music with some venerable favorites.
The concert begins with “Chester” composed by William Schuman. “Chester” is based on the third movement of Schuman’s “New England Triptych,” considered to be his most famous work. Music from composer Frederick Delius will follow with his ode to the changing season, “On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring.” Performed for the third time ever, composer Ted King-Smith’s “Breaking Point” will electrify the audience with its new, unique and energizing soundscape for saxophone quartet as interpreted by The Resurgam Quartet.
The Resurgam Quartet formed in 2015 at the Hartt School in Hartford, CT. Its current members are Harrison Kliewe (soprano saxophone), Colette Hall (alto saxophone), Sean Tanguay (tenor saxophone), and Michael Raposo (baritone saxophone). Recently, the quartet was a semi-finalist at the international Fischoff Chamber Music Competition for the second time. The quartet also won the 2016 Paranov Concerto Competition at the Hartt School performing William Bolcom’s “Concerto Grosso.” Resurgam enjoys an active performing schedule. Dedicated to expanding the saxophone quartet repertoire, the quartets latest commission “Breaking Point” is set to be premiered in March, 2018 at the North American Saxophone Alliance’s Biennial Conference. The Quartet also presented a concert of new works at the Hartford New Music Festival and will continue to create new music for the saxophone quartet. Education is an important part of Resurgam’s mission, which has presented masterclasses and educational concerts in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, and Indiana.
A Norwegian march closes out the first half of the program. Johannes Hanssen was one of Norway’s most active and influential bandmasters, composers, and teachers during the first part of the 20th century. He wrote the march “Valdres” as a tribute to the beautiful region in Norway between Oslo and Bergen.
The second half opens with a march for an unlikely group: “March of the Belgian Paratroopers.” It is a delicate, European-style march that is uniquely tuneful and is sure to delight. The next two pieces are a tribute to the Irish who will have celebrated St. Patrick’s Day the day before the concert. “Irish Tune from County Derry” is Percy Grainger’s masterful setting of the traditional folk song we know today as “Danny Boy.” The powerful “Ireland: Of Legend & Lore” is certain to set the Irish blood boiling as tin whistle and bodhran help the full band to portray castles and colorful characters from Irish history and folklore and put their legendary deeds to music.
The concert will close with the Resurgam Quartet joining the band for William Bolcom’s “Concerto Grosso for Saxophone Quartet and Band.” A student of Darius Milhaud, Bolcom taught composition at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and served as chairman of the composition department from 1998 to 2003. Bolcom has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize, four Grammy Awards, and the National Medal of Arts. “Concerto Grosso” was written purely as a piece to be enjoyed by performers and listeners. The second movement, “Song without Words,” is a lyrical larghetto and the final Badinerie, a title borrowed from Bach, evokes bebop and rhythm-and-blues.
Since 1962 the Tri-County Symphonic Band has been part of the cultural life of Southeastern Massachusetts. The primary aim of the organization has been to make live performances of quality concert band repertoire available in the community and to give musicians a chance to share their love for the art of making music.
Tickets for the concert are $15 for adults, $5 for students, with children 12 and under admitted for free. Tickets can be purchased at the Symphony Music Shop in Dartmouth and The Bookstall in Marion. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.brownpapertickets.com. Any remaining tickets will be sold at the door.