Concert Program:
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Aaron Perrine, A Glimpse of the Eternal (2016)
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Charles Ives/Elkus, Decoration Day (1912)
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David Biedenbender, Schizm (2015)
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David Maslanka, Concerto No. 3 for Piano & Wind Ensemble (2016)
Nadine Shank, piano
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Karel Husa, Music for Prague, 1968 (1968)
Schedule / Saturday
The University of Massachusetts - Amherst
Wind Ensemble
Matthew Westgate, director
Saturday, March 10, 4:00 pm
Woolsey Hall
The UMass Wind Ensemble is the premiere wind and percussion performance ensemble at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Wind ensemble is a training ground for advanced performers preparing for professional careers in performance and/or education. Members of the Wind Ensemble serve as artistic musical leaders within the department of music and dance, as well as for the university, state, region, and country.
The UMass Wind Ensemble has recorded the wind music of David Maslanka and Charles Bestor on the Albany and Centaur CD Labels. Their most recent recording, "Fantastique," on the MSR Classics label, features UMass teacher/artists Eric Berlin (trumpet) and Greg Spirodopoulos (trombone) on compositions all composed for Berlin. Recent high profile engagements include invitations to perform at the 2018 and 2016 Eastern Division College Band Directors National Association conventions at Yale University (New Haven, CT) and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (New London, CT), performances at Music Educators National Conference and College Band Directors conferences in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Washington D.C., and a special UMass 150th Anniversary Concert at Symphony Hall in Boston, MA. They embarked on their first international concert tour to Ireland in May 2017 and are planning a new CD release for 2019.
Dr. Matthew Westgate is the Director of Wind Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he conducts the Wind Ensemble and Symphony Band, and teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in conducting. Prior to his appointment at UMass, he was the Director of Instrumental Activities at Xavier University (Cincinnati, OH) where he conducted the Symphonic Winds, Chamber Orchestra, and Xavier Pep Bands. Matthew completed his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) where he studied with Rodney Winther, and his Masters Degree in Conducting at Western Michigan University, where his teacher was Dr. Robert Spradling.
Dr. Westgate is in demand as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator, and he also performs regularly as a classical and jazz trombonist. In the summer months he conducts the Wind Ensemble at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Twin Lake, MI.
His current research addresses "Real vs. Virtual Communication: The Increasing Importance of Building Community through Music Ensembles in the Age of Technology” and the wind chamber music of Swiss composer, Frank Martin. In November of 2016, he recorded "Frank Martin: Music for Winds" with members of the UMass Wind/Brass/Percussion faculty for the MSR Classics label. He is also working to bring a Full Score Edition of Rossini-Respighi's "La Boutique Fantasque" for wind band to publication. His professional affiliations include: the College Band Directors National Association (State Chair for Massachusetts), National Association for Music Education, World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors Association, and Massachusetts Music Educators Association.