Houghton College Wind Ensemble to Perform Nov. 2

HOUGHTON, NY – The Houghton College Wind Ensemble is pleased to present its first concert of the semester on Friday, November 2 at 7:30 p.m. The performance is free and open to the public.
The ensemble, led by Dr. Tim McGarvey, director of instrumental activities and professor of conducting, will draw on a variety of musical styles and genres ranging from hymn-inspired pieces to techno beats and Broadway dances. Highlights include:

• “Four Dances from West Side Story” by Leonard Bernstein, a set of dances from the famed musical West Side Story, includes scherzo, mambo, cha-cha, and cool.
• “Sunrise at Angel’s Gate” by Philip Sparke, which was inspired by the Angels Gate rock formation on the north face of the Grand Canyon;
• “Second Suite in F” by Gustave Holst, one of the most important and significant pieces from early band repertoire. This performance, conducted by second-year graduate student Dillon Hirsch, will be a tribute to Steward Folts, the band director at local Fillmore High School from 1947-1977.
• “Mothership” by Mason Bates, a piece uniting band with techno music and featuring four Greatbatch School of Music faculty members as soloists.

The Houghton Wind Ensemble (HWE) is one of the major ensembles of the Greatbatch School of Music. It is comprised of both music and non-music majors and performs several times throughout the year. HWE seeks to expose its students and audiences to the highest quality music written for wind and percussion instruments.