The Leesville Road High School Symphonic · PDF fileThe Leesville Road High School Symphonic Band Raleigh, North Carolina Alyssa M. Montgomery, Conductor North Carolina Music Educators

The Leesville Road High SchoolSymphonic BandRaleigh, North Carolina

North Carolina Music Educators Association In-Service Conference

Benton Convention Center

Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Tuesday, 14 November 2017 11 a.m.

The Leesville Road High SchoolSymphonic Band

Raleigh, North Carolina

Alyssa M. Montgomery, Conductor

North Carolina Music Educators Association In-Service Conference

Benton Convention Center

Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Tuesday, 14 November 2017 11 a.m.

About The Leesville Road High School Bands

The Leesville Road High School Band Program is known as one of the finest high school bands in the state of North Carolina. Founded by David Saleeba Albert in 1993, the tradition

of excellence has continued under the direction of Leesville High School Band Alumnus

Alyssa M. Montgomery. The program has grown to over 200 students and includes the

Symphonic Band, Concert Band, Ninth Grade Band, Marching Band, Colorguard, Jazz Band,

Pep Band, and various other small ensembles.

Unlike most high school bands, Leesvilles Symphonic Band (top wind ensemble) and

Marching Band are the same group of students. Members of the band switch gears to fill out the drumline, front ensemble, and colorguard during marching season. Every member

of the Marching Band is a top player on their concert band instrument - including the

colorguard! The LRHS Bands and Ensembles consistently receive superior ratings and first place awards in numerous marching band contests and have received superior ratings at

the Central District Bandmasters Associations Music Performance Adjudication in Grades

IV, V, VI and Masterworks. The bands have traveled all over the nation receiving countless

first place awards and superior ratings in San Francisco, New York City, Chicago, Orlando, Atlanta, Williamsburg, and more in addition to a performance at the 55th Midwest Clinic

International Band and Orchestra Conference. This fall will be the third appearance of the Leesville Road High School Symphonic Band at the North Carolina Music Educators

Association Conference in Winston-Salem.

Many Leesville Band members are selected each year to participate in the North Carolina

Central District All-District Band, North Carolina All-State Honors Band, Central-Region

Jazz Band, North Carolina All-State Jazz Band, UNCG Honors Band, NC Governors

School and more. Several Band alumni are working on or have completed music degrees in

colleges and universities in addition to performing in university and military bands across

the United States.

The Symphonic Band is Leesville Road High Schools premier band with students ranging from freshman to seniors. The Symphonic Band has received Superior Ratings at the NCBA State Contest in Grade VI as well as attended numerous national festivals.

FLUTESRachel McIrvine

Elise Newhouse

Daryn Wilkerson

Emily Guettler

Lauren Tidwell

Melanie Altenkirch

Erin Schuttler

Sophie Cho

Colette Pappas

Olivia Gardner Hannah Tilley

Megan Bryenton

Emilia Anderson

OBOESMegan Vezzetti

Roxann Brna

BASSOONSElliott Gyll

Emeline Wilson

CLARINETSSarah Gress

Julie Miles

Samantha Waller

Anya Wilson

Rhiannon Williams

Lauren Marcellino

Miranda Darwin

Barbara Hinkey

Margaret Haney

Meagan Oliveira Kayla Crossley

BASS CLARINETSDrew Guettler

Emerald McNeil

Connor Kells

Caroline Lipson

ALTO SAXOPHONESZach Marcellino

Brett Rothman

Kyla Kurosawa

Nikita Varma

Aaron Carino

Caroline Snell

TENOR SAXOPHONESDaniel Boodee

Alexander

Romero-Chavez

BARITONE SAXOPHONEAndrew Davis

CORNETSJohn Preston

Caroline Konrad

Jake Moody

Gabriel Behler

Alexa Warkentin

Harry Shrager

Matthew Farber

Luke Lisowe

Ben Barkley

TRUMPETSReis Rothman

Mary Petersen

Devin Clark

Matthew Dillard

HORNSAlex Troutman

Eileen Lavery

Alexis Gracey

Sophie Bowles

Kesenia Dewell

TROMBONESScott Davis

Sam Gray

Alexander

Boltinhouse

Joel Warsing

James Odametey Kenneth Schechter

Lydia Snell

EUPHONIUMSKevin Batz

Samuel Adeyemo

Tommy DBella

Max Moody

BASSESDavid Johnson

Avery Greene

Kenny Poole

Alexander Horsky

PERCUSSIONPhillip Brown

Jiovanni

Ortiz-Anglero Wesley Pretsch

James Tidwell

Tyler DAgostino

Shane De Leon

Alec Carawan

Andrew Woody

Jack Dezzutto

The Leesville Road High School Symphonic Band 2017-2018

PROGRAM

The Star Spangled Banner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Stafford Smith

Zachary Marcellino, Student Conductor

Arranged for Band by the United States Navy School of Music, Little Creek, Virginia (1949). John Stafford

Smith, the son of an organist, was born in Gloucester in 1750. He became an organist, choir director, tenor,

and finally a composer. He is remembered most for his music To Anacreon in Heavn which became the music for our The Star Spangled Banner.

It was after the bombardment of Fort McHenry that Francis Scott Key wrote the immortal words of The Star Spangled Banner. The verses were immediately printed on Broadsides (handbills) and distributed in Baltimore. It was Keys brother-in-law, Judge Nicholson, who suggested that the words be sung to To Anacreon in Heavn. Within days, an actor, Ferdinand Durang, began to sing it from the stage.

It was not until 1931 when the Veterans of Foreign Wars collected 50,000,000 signatures requesting that

Francis Scott Keys The Star Spangled Banner be our national anthem, that Congress passed a bill designating The Star Spangled Banner as our National Anthem. President Herbert Hoover signed the bill on 3 March 1931.

Eternal Father, Strong to Save. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Claude T. Smith

The powerful piece Eternal Father, Strong To Save is based on the missionary hymn of the same name composed in 1860 by William Whiting. It is rich in harmony, dynamics, and thematic interplay and

was adopted as the official hymn of the U.S. Navy. It has become the signature hymn of presidents, seamen, and naval officers and is often used at funerals for dignitaries. This stirring setting by the prolific composer Claude T. Smith features uplifting and brilliant fanfares and a set of variations based on thematic material extracted from the hymn tune. As the work nears closure, the entire melody is

finally revealed first by a noble horn choir and then repeated richly by the full ensemble. Claude Smiths background is in horn, so it is only fitting that the melody be revealed by this instrument. The work was written in 1974 and was dedicated to the U S Navy Band Conductor, N E Muffley and premiered at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Be Thou My Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . David Gillingham

While growing up in Wisconsin, David R. Gillingham was trained as a pianist and church organist. His experience

made him extremely familiar with hymn tunes and the power of text, as illustrated in Be Thou My Vision:

Be thou my vision, oh Lord of my heart;

naught be all else to me save that thou art.

Thou my best thought, by day or by night,

waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

Although commonly known as Be Thou My Vision, the hymn tune itself is of Irish origin and originally

entitled Slane. Having found inspiration in the Irish roots, Gillingham composed an original second

theme in the spirit of an Irish ballad. The work opens with a medieval-like flavor of reverence leading to the first presentation of Slane in chant-like somberness by the euphonium. Following this, the newly composed Irish ballad is sung by the flute which leads to a dramatic statement of Be Thou My Vision by the full ensemble. The work is interrupted by a prayerful interlude. This leads into the marriage of the two

Irish tunes which grows to a glorious climax and then subsides. A heavenly benediction closes the work.

Gillinghams Be Thou My Vision conveys an uplifting message of hope that inspires all listeners.

Ignition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Todd Stalter

Cara Vernon, Guest Conductor, Director of Bands at Leesville Road Middle School

Ignition is a blindingly fast, raucously energetic concert opener that derives its title from the consecutive rising three-note cells that are the building blocks for almost the entire work. The energy unleashed

in the music and the imagery of the title serve both as a metaphor for the spark of creativity and as

a celebration in sound for those who follow their own true lifes passion and pass it along to others,

igniting the flame for another generation.

British Eighth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Zo Elliot

Born in Manchester, New Hampshire in 1891, Alonzo Zo Elliott began composition at age 14. Among

his teachers were Leonard Bernstein and Nadia Boulanger. British Eighth was dedicated to Gen. Bernard Montgomery and the Eighth Army after a triumphant sweep across North Africa in 1942. Following the

victory at El Alamein in Northern Africa