MetWinds Winter 2025 Concert: "Danzon"

Pre-Concert Lecture by Conductor Richard Wyman at 2:30 pm

* On the day of the concert, tickets can be purchased at the door.

About the Concert

This music will make you want to dance! Virtuosity will be on display in this concert inspired by a wide spectrum of dance styles. Warren Benson’s beautiful band classic The Solitary Dancer contrasts nicely with Florence Price’s rhythmic Juba Dance. The jazz-influenced Jubilo was written by Wynton Marsalis for the New York City Ballet in 1993. Scott McAllister’s Krump emulates the energy and passion of the dance style that evolved in the early 2000’s among teens in Los Angeles neighborhoods such as Compton, South Central and Watts. The afternoon concludes with an authentic transcription of Massenet’s beloved ballet suite Le Cid, with its dances from different regions of Spain.

PROGRAM

Dance of the Jesters - Tchaikovsky, arr. Cramer

The Solitary Dancer - Warren Benson

Juba Dance - Florence Price, arr. Jay Bocook

- Mark Olson, Assistant Conductor

Krump - Scott McAllister

Sun Dance - Frank Ticheli

Jubilo - Wynton Marsalis, arr. James Spinazzola

Le Cid - Jules Massenet, trans. Verne Reynolds

About the Conductor

Dr. Richard E. Wyman is the former Assistant Director of the United States Coast Guard Band, where he regularly conducted throughout the United States and abroad in concert tours of Japan and Taiwan, and led the Band’s educational initiatives. He also served as the Band’s producer for ten CDs and two White House “Pageant of Peace” PBS specials.

Dr. Wyman is currently the Executive Director of the Community Music School in Centerbrook, CT and Music Director of the MetWinds (Metropolitan Wind Symphony) of Boston. He enjoys working with musicians of all ages, regularly appearing as clinician and guest conductor with a variety of school and honor festival ensembles. Wyman’s work as a saxophonist earned two year-long residency grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, four performance visits to the White House, an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and employment at Disneyworld and Busch Gardens (FL). He holds degrees from the University of Connecticut, University of Illinois, and Eastman School of Music.

About the Assistant Conductor

Mark Olson, Director of Harvard Band and Wind Ensemble, conducts the Harvard Wind Ensemble, serves as an advisor to the Harvard University Band, and administers all aspects of the band program at Harvard. Under his direction, the Harvard Wind Ensemble has commissioned and premiered works by Libby Larsen, Tania León, and David Amram. Olson also is the Director of the Middlesex Concert Band and the New England Brass Band. Olson received degrees from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, and the University of Minnesota. An active trumpet performer and soloist, he plays trumpet in the MetWinds, The Tarnished Brass, and has been a member of the New Sousa Band as well as the symphony orchestras in Austin and Rochester, Minnesota.

About MetWinds

The Metropolitan Wind Symphony was Founded by Jerry Gardner in 1971, and was awarded the prestigious 2015 Sudler Silver Scroll Award for Community Concert Bands by the John Philip Sousa Foundation. Currently celebrating its 54th anniversary, MetWinds comprises over 60 talented woodwind, brass, and percussion instrumentalists who audition for membership and seating. It makes a significant contribution to the cultural life of the Greater Boston community by providing its audiences with high quality concerts and its members with opportunities for musical growth.

MetWinds presents formal performances of traditional and contemporary wind band literature, as well as more informal pops concerts throughout the metropolitan Boston area. Members rehearse Wednesdays from September through June, traveling from more than 30 communities in Massachusetts and neighboring states. All volunteers, they also pursue careers as varied as education, engineering, computer science, medicine, law, music, and public health.

Host or Publisher The Metropolitan Wind Symphony (MetWinds)