Contributed by Drewcilla Holifield
Holiday favorites, sophisticated symphonic sounds, and a crowd-pleasing sing-along – Mat-Su Concert Band celebrates this distinctly Alaskan winter season with a vibrant program performed at two concerts.
The “Winter Spectacular” concerts take place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17 and 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 18 at the Glenn Massay Theater at Mat-Su College. Tickets are $20 for general admission and $5 for students. Children under 5 get in free. Tickets can be purchased online at www.matsuconcertband.org.
The band, made up of about 70 musicians under the baton of director Gleo Huyck, is composed of community members from all walks of life, from teachers to accountants and librarians.
Concert goers will recognize familiar holiday tunes sprinkled through “A Fireside Christmas” including “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Frosty the Snowman” as well as “Winter Wonderland” and “I’ll be Home for Christmas.”
More in homage to season’s introspective side, “In the Bleak Midwinter” by Gustav Holst and arranged by Julie Giroux is based on a poem by the English poet Christina Rossetti describing the birth of the Christ child on a “bleak midwinter” day and those who come to worship. Giroux’s notes ask musicians to play the piece “like you still believe in the magic of Santa Claus.”
“O Magnum Mysterium”, described as Morten Lauridsen’s reverent masterwork, was arranged for band from the choral rendition into a serene and expressive composition. The original text depicts “the birth of the new-born King amongst the lowly animals and shepherds,” the composer’s program note says. “This affirmation of God's grace to the meek and the adoration of the Blessed Virgin are celebrated in my setting through a quiet song of profound inner joy.”
Alfred Reed’s “A Christmas Intrada” represents an attempt to portray —in musical terms alone — five contrasting moods associated with the festivities of the Christmas season, according to program notes by the Illinois State University Symphonic Band: Fanfare: Christus Natus Est; Lullaby for the Christ Child; Processional of the Kings and Shepherds; Carol for the Holy Night; and Wassail and Alleluia, a joyous and triumphant conclusion.
Two pieces highlight the band’s trumpet and oboe sections: “Bugler’s Holiday” by Leroy Anderson; and “Gabriel’s Oboe” by Ennio Marricone, featuring oboist Trent Parke.
Girolamo Frescobaldi’s “Toccata”, with its opening grave section followed by a bright, fugal allegro, is a masterful piece reminiscent of a work written for orchestra for good reason: before being transcribed for orchestra, and then band, it appeared in a collection of six pieces for cello and piano by Gaspar Cassadó, according to a program note by Nikk Pilato as published by the Wind Repertory Project.
Mat-Su Concert Band got its start in 1984 as the Mat-Su Community Band, formed by Matanuska Music owner Hank Hartman. Other directors have included Neil Long and Phil Munger.
Current director Huyck is a retired music educator and private instructor. Under his baton, the band performs a wide-ranging selection of challenging music. The band rehearses every Monday night at Teeland Middle School.