Come As You Are-Steven Banks

Select excerpts from the October 13, 2023 world premiere performance

Wind Symphony of the College-Conservatory of Music
Erik Nordstrom, narrator
Kevin Michael Holzman, conductor
Corbett Auditorium, University of Cincinnati

Bulosan: On American Democracry is the Winner of the 2023 American Prize in Composition, College/University-Level Wind Ensemble Division, as well as 2nd Prize in the Social Justice-Related Works Category, University-Level Division in the same year.  The work was also chosen for the 2022 Ablaze Records International Wind Ensemble Call-for-Scores to be featured in Volume 1 of its upcoming Wind Orchestra Masters series, anticipated Spring/Summer 2024.
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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNWTGvUJLrA2PBMsg2c3VZ6qO3nLh1p3w
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For performance materials, go to https://www.murphymusicpress.com/products/w-868
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My dissertation provides background on the life of Carlos Bulosan, as well as a thorough analysis of the work, found at this site:
https://esploro.libs.uga.edu/esploro/outputs/doctoral/Compositional-Innovations-in-PassacagliaChaconne-Forms-from/9949450527702959
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Bulosan: On American Democracy is the Winner of the 2023 American Prize in Composition, College/University-Level Wind Ensemble Division.  It was also chosen for the 2022 Ablaze Records International Wind Ensemble Call-for-Scores to be featured in Volume 1 of its upcoming Wind Orchestra Masters series, expected Summer 2024.

Bulosan: On American Democracy draws inspiration from selected excerpts from two important literary opuses written by the labor union organizer and writer, Carlos Bulosan (1913-1956), who was active on the U.S. West Coast in the 1930s-40s. In both his semi-autobiographical novel, America is in the Heart (1946), and the essay, “Freedom from Want” (1943), Bulosan wrote on themes about the preservation of American democracy at a time when it was under threat by the rise of Fascism in Western Europe and Authoritarian Communism in the Soviet Union. As the U.S. had emerged from the years of the Great Depression and entered the Second World War on two fronts, Bulosan stressed that in order for democracy to survive at home, the nation must seek to preserve a thriving, independent, and well-educated populace situated in a culture that values the natural rights of individuals as well as intellectual and artistic freedoms.  Despite numerous instances of rampant racism, xenophobia, class discrimination, and workplace-related harassment and violence, Bulosan steadfastly believed in the American values of liberty, opportunity, and excellence even in the face of abject poverty, poor working conditions, and societal marginalization which he and his colleagues had experienced living in the United States. 

The resulting text is assembled from Carlos Bulosan’s semi-autobiographic novel, America is in the Heart (1946), and the essay, “Freedom from Want” (1943). This order is meant to illustrate a ruminative evolution from darkness to light—a gradual movement (1) from a spirit of steadfastness in the face of fierce antagonism and gross inequality, (2) to a consideration of value placed upon national unity and the many faces of the American identity, and finally (3) to a contemplation on the fulfillment of the American dream based on democracy’s fundamental aims supported by the many people who embody them. Additionally, an underlying theme that is revisited in the work is the paradoxical nature of the United States as both “kind” and “cruel” in its treatment of immigrants and minorities as depicted in Bulosan’s America is in the Heart.

Bulosan: On American Democracy - Grand Passacaglia for Narrator, Wind Symphony, & Fixed Media

The world premiere of the bass trombone and wind ensemble version of Violent Shadows, performed by Evan Clifton and the Troy Athens Symphonic Band.

www.hassmusic.com

Program Notes:
Violent Shadows was originally written for AJ Muusse in 2017. The wind ensemble version of the piece was written in 2019 for Evan Clifton and a consortium of 9 bass trombonists. Inspired by progressive rock, Violent Shadows showcases the different characters of the bass trombone, from the loud and aggressive side commonly associated with the instrument to the more pure and lyrical side.

Throughout the piece, the solo and accompaniment parts work in opposition to one another. The piece begins with an energetic and fierce A section, featuring a call and response between the soloist and accompaniment where the echoed response is often melodically and rhythmically inverted. This conflict calms down in the slow and reflective B section, but some rhythmic tension persists as the bass trombone's lyrical melody often moves on contrasting beats from the accompaniment. The two halves of the ensemble fully come together in a grandiose statement of the B section, but this unification is cut short by an embellished recapitulation of the opening section and a quick, harmonically dissonant coda.

Violent Shadows for Bass Trombone and Wind Ensemble (Grade 4)

Ember Skies (2020)
Grade 1 - Concert Band 

Now published with Murphy Music Press
http://murphymusicpress.com/products/w-732

Email composer for details: 
kevindaymusic@gmail.com

www.kevindaymusic.com

Fanfare Politeia-Kimberly Archer

Murphy Music Press

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