UT Concert Hall brings you excellent performances that were given at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, spotlighting faculty, guest artist, and graduate student recitals, as well as student ensemble performances. Join local host and producer, Melony Dodson, for this hour-long program, as she transports you to Cox Auditorium and/or the Sandra G. Powell Recital Hall to hear these world class performances. Thursday night at 8pm and Sunday evenings at 7pm.
UT Concert Hall, August 6 and 9, 2026
University of Tennessee
Concert & Symphonic Bands
Thursday, October 02, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
James R. Cox Auditorium
Alumni Memorial Building
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Program:
Concert Band
Michael Stewart, conductor
Dedicatory Overture
Clifton Williams (1923-1956)
Jacob Smith, graduate assistant conductor
“Acrostic Song” from Final Alice
David Del Tredici (1937-2023)
arr. Mark Spede
Jonah Klima, graduate assistant conductor
Visionaries
Ryan George (b. 1978)
Symphonic Band
Fuller Lyon, conductor
George Washington Bridge (1950)
William Schuman (1910-1992)
Whatsoever Things… (1997)
Mark Camphouse (b. 1954)
Clutch (2019)
Andrew David Perkins (b. 1978)
Alex Jett, graduate assistant conductor
PROGRAM NOTES:
Dedicatory Overture
Known by symphony patrons as a virtuoso French hornist with the San Antonio and New Orleans Symphony Orchestras, James Clifton Williams, Jr. was widely known as one of America's leading wind ensemble composers. Dedicatory Overture was commissioned by Epsilon Upsilon Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (National Honorary Music Fraternity) at Evansville College, Indiana, for use in services dedicating a new music building. A concert overture in form, Dedicatory Overture employs the composer’s own settings of the Evansville College alma mater hymn contrasted with much original material. First performances took place during the spring of 1963 by the Evansville College Concert Band under the direction of Wesley Shepard.
Acrostic Song
Pulitzer prize-winning composer David Del Tredici's Final Alice is the fifth of six large works for soprano and orchestra based on Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland books. It was commissioned in honor of the United States bicentennial and was premiered by soprano Barbara Hendricks and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Sir Georg Solti in 1976.
"Acrostic Song" is the lullaby-like concluding aria from Final Alice. The text is the seven-verse epilogue poem to Through the Looking Glass, the second of Lewis Carroll's Alice books. The poem is an acrostic; the initial letters of the lines spell out Alice Pleasance Liddell, the name of the real-life Alice for whom Carroll wrote his stories. This arrangement for band was prepared by Mark Spede at the request of the composer.
Visionaries
There are certain people in the world, from all walks of life, who envision and dream about what could be. They are forward thinkers, people who see past the status quo. They find hope and adventure in possibility and discovery. For them it's about turning the average today into an amazing tomorrow. And when these individuals take their bold ideas and combine them with action, faith, and perseverance, they become a catalyst for turning that which was previously thought impossible into reality. These people are known as visionaries.
Visionaries is based around a simple theme first stated by the clarinet. In the same way that a person goes through different challenges and stages on their way to achieving their goals, so too this "vision" theme is taken through several variations and moods before coming to a large resolution at the end of the piece.
Visionaries is dedicated to Dr. Tonya Millsap and the students of the Glenn C. Jones Middle School band, whose visionary ideas and thoughts were the inspiration behind this piece.
-Progarm note by composer
Shortcut Home
American composer Dana Wilson completed Shortcut Home in 1998, in fulfillment of a commission by the Hillsboro (New Jersey) High School Band. Showcasing each section of the ensemble, this jazz-influenced fanfare hovers around the “home” of C Major for the entirety of the piece. This “home” tonality is implied from the work’s very first note, but is obscured and clouded throughout with dense harmony, changing meter, and surprising flourishes. Utilizing devices such as pitch bends, walking bass lines, and drum set patterns, Wilson creates a stylized and energetic “shortcut” toward the satisfying final note -- the only pure major triad to be found in the piece.
George Washington Bridge
There are a few days in the year when I do not see George Washington Bridge. I pass it on my way to work as I drive along the Henry Hudson Parkway on the New York shore. Ever since my student days when I watched the progress of its construction, this bridge has had for me an almost human personality, and this personality is astonishingly varied, assuming different moods depending on the time of day or night, the weather, the traffic and, of course, my own mood as I pass by.
I have walked across it late at night when it was shrouded in fog, and during the brilliant sunshine hours of midday. I have driven over it countless times and passed under it on boats. Coming to New York City by air, sometimes I have been lucky enough to fly right over it. It is difficult to imagine a more gracious welcome or dramatic entry to the great metropolis.
— Program Note by composer
“Whatsoever Things…
Whatsoever Things… was commissioned by the Revelli Foundation for the 1997 Honor Band of America as the inaugural commission of the Paynter Project. It is dedicated to the memory of John P. Paynter (1928-1996). The title of the composition is taken from the motto of Northwestern University, where Mr. Paynter served as Director of Bands from 1953 to 1996.
The Northwestern University Motto
Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report;
if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise,
think on these things. (Philippians, 4:8)
These are words that John Paynter lived by, taught by, and made music by. I believe Mr. Paynter continues to think on these things. I honestly say I thought on those things while creating this work.
With a duration of approximately fourteen minutes, this Grade 5, single-movement work contains three major sections: a slow, mournful opening; a life-affirming middle section Allegro energico; and a reverential third section which concludes with poignant serenity. The common thematic thread in all three sections is the (varied) employment of the Northwestern University Alma Mater Hymn; the famous St. Anthony Chorale quoted by Franz Joseph Haydn in one of his wind divertimenti.
John Paynter had a unique ability to provide virtually all facets of our beloved profession with visionary leadership, steeped in the traditions of personal, educational, and artistic integrity. If there were more personal role models such as John Paynter, I am quite certain we would live in a world and work in a profession having greater truth, honesty, and justice. If we had more musical role models such as John Paynter, I am equally certain we would live in a world and work in a profession having greater purity and loveliness…indeed more worthy of good report, great virtue, and high praise. We must always think on these things.
— Program Note by composer
Clutch
I have visceral childhood memories of going to the Belle Isle Indy Car races in Detroit with my dad. The smell of high-octane racing fuel, burning rubber, domestic beer, feeling the scorching hot summer sun bouncing off the asphalt. The pitch-bending sounds of the Formula One cars screaming past us at insane speeds, the roar of the crowd at the checkered flag. Wildly dangerous, every boundary being tested, all for a chance at the winner’s circle.
The competitive spirt inspired me to write a fanfare that pushes the boundaries of tempo, range, and technical demand, and gives the conductor, performers, and listeners a nice adrenaline rush, too. I also wanted to push myself to write the most exciting wildly chaotic music I could imagine.
Fast. Loud. And a bit reckless.
— Program Note by composer