UK Wind Symphony welcomes guest conductor, composer for ‘Fantastic Dreams’
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 28, 2025) — The University of Kentucky Wind Symphony presents “Fantastic Dreams” featuring guest composer and conductor Frank Ticheli, clarinet soloist and UK Associate Professor Scott Wright, D.M.A., and Director of Bands Cody Birdwell, D.M.A., 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 1, at Singletary Center for the Arts.
The program will include “Symphony No. 4” by James Stephenson, “Concerto for Clarinet and Wind Ensemble” by Ticheli, and “Fantastic Dreams” by Ticheli. It also includes a special appearance by the Jessie Clark Middle School Symphonic Band under director Jonathan Stites.
“Frank Ticheli is one of the most prolific and widely respected American composers living today, and certainly an iconic figure in the realm of concert and wind bands throughout the world,” Birdwell said.
Ticheli will rehearse the UK Wind Symphony, the top performing ensemble in the UK Bands program, in preparation of his “Concerto for Clarinet and Wind Ensemble,” and his latest composition “Fantastic Dreams.”
“The opportunity for the UK students to rehearse and perform under the baton of a world-famous composer promises to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience that will provide an indelible impression on the lives and memories of our outstanding students,” Birdwell added.
Ticheli is well known for his works for concert band, many of which have become standards in the repertoire. In addition to composing, he has appeared as guest conductor of his music at Carnegie Hall, at many American universities, and music festivals and in cities throughout the world, including Schladming (Austria), Beijing and Shanghai, London and Manchester, Singapore, Rome, Sydney and numerous cities in Japan.
Ticheli’s music has been described as “optimistic and thoughtful" (Los Angeles Times), “lean and muscular” (New York Times), “brilliantly effective” (Miami Herald) and “powerful, deeply felt crafted with impressive flair and an ear for striking instrumental colors” (South Florida Sun-Sentinel). In 1991 Ticheli joined the faculty of the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, where he is a professor emeritus of composition. From 1991 to ’98, Ticheli was composer in residence of the Pacific Symphony.
Tickets for the concert are general admission — $14 for adults and $7 for students (fees included) — and are available at the Singletary Center Ticket Office or online at http://scfatickets.com/.
The University of Kentucky Wind Symphony consists of the finest wind and percussion graduate and undergraduate students in the nationally recognized UK School of Music. As the centerpiece of a band program that has served the Commonwealth of Kentucky for more than 100 years, the Wind Symphony continues a rich tradition of performing the finest traditional and contemporary compositions in the concert band / chamber winds repertoire.
The School of Music at the UK College of Fine Arts has garnered a national reputation for high-caliber education in opera, choral and instrumental music performance, as well as music education, music therapy, composition, theory and music history.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.