September 18, 2023 – The Santa Fe Winds will inspire their audience during the fall “Winds and Classics” concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023, in the Lyceum Concert Hall at the Santa Fe College Northwest Campus, 3000 NW 83 Street, Gainesville.
The concert is free but because of space limitations, tickets are required. To get tickets, call the Santa Fe College (SF) Box Office at 352-395-4181 or click the “Buy Tickets” link at showpass.com/winds-and-classics-3.
Santa Fe College Associate Professor of Music and Band Director David L. Smith will conduct the 13 students as they perform several classic musical selections for wind instruments.
“Our students work hard every semester preparing to perform for everyone, whether our audience members are music enthusiasts or casual listeners,” Smith said. “This concert offers you the opportunity to hear music that expresses different cultures, different styles and different emotions. The beauty of the arts is that they help you to relax and reflect while, at the same time, they reach the soul. Hearing music is like getting a medicine without taking a medicine—all you have to do is listen!”
The concert will open with “Amparito Roca,” a fast Spanish march or pasodoble written by the musician and composer Jaime Texidor, who named the piece for one of his piano students. “This is a well-known, upbeat concert opener from the early 20th century that carries a Spanish flair and can help to educate us about the culture of Spain,” Smith explained.
The program also includes “Chaconne,” the first movement from the “First Suite in E-Flat for Military Band” by the English composer Gustav Holst; “Yorkshire Ballad” by the American composer James Barnes; and “Explorations” by Ed Huckeby, also an American composer.
“’Yorkshire Ballad’ is a sentimental piece inspired by Percy Grainger’s ‘Irish Tune from County Derry,’” Smith said. “The ballad enables one or two musicians to be featured at a time and then includes everyone at the climax of the piece. ‘Chaconne’ is an up-tempo standard waltz, a fun piece. ‘Explorations’ challenges the musicians to pay attention by moving through a mixture of different meters or recurring patterns in the music.”
“Music is a universal language and this concert is about the students having fun while engaging in a musical conversation with the audience,” Smith concluded.
“Winds and Classics” is organized and sponsored by the Santa Fe College Fine and Performing Arts and Entertainment Technology Department. For more information about the concert, call Smith at 352-395-5313. For questions about tickets, call the SF Box Office at 352-395-4181.