The Cascade Winds Symphonic Band, a nonprofit partnership with Central Oregon Community College (COCC), performs its 2017-18 premiere concert at 2pm on Sunday, November 12, in the Summit High School auditorium. The event is free and open to all listeners; tickets not required.

The performance, which falls on Veterans Day weekend, is steeped thematically in Americana and features marches and patriotic tunes. Programming includes Henry Fillmore’s Americans We, The Glory of the Yankee Navy by John Philip Sousa, Russel Alexander’s The Southerner March and American Salute by Morton Gould, based on the folk melody When Johnny Comes Marching Home.

“Most importantly,” said Michael Gesme, band conductor and professor of music at COCC, “we will musically recognize the men and women who have served, or are actively serving in the U.S. military, with our rendition of the Armed Forces Salute.”

Wind ensembles by some contemporary American composers will feature in, including Raging Machines, by Brian Balmages, a mechanical whirlwind of sound, and Frank Ticheli’s subdued composition Rest. The concert concludes with Give Us This Day by David Maslanka, a substantial work cast in two movements that draws inspiration from Buddhist and Christian musical traditions.
Cascade Winds has a sixty-year history of providing music to Central Oregonians; band members are committed to keeping music accessible to all and performances are always free.

For additional information, contact Michael Gesme at 541-383-7516 or mgesme@cocc.edu.