Sequim City Band Winter Concert – Music, She Wrote
Free (donations welcome; free on-site parking)
Cait Nishimura — Chasing Sunlight
Haley Woodrow — In Two Places
Julie Giroux — Symphony No. I "Culloden"
Julie Giroux — Symphony No. III "No Finer Calling" ("I. Integrity Fanfare and March")
Jennifer Higdon — Rhythm Stand
Anne McGinty — Spectrum
Shelley Hanson — Albanian Dance (Shota)
"Music, She Wrote" is a concert of contemporary classical music written by women composers. These female composers have attained many ‘firsts’ along the way. Amy Beach's Bal Masque (1893), arranged from her orchestral piece, has the energy and charm of the masquerade balls, for which it is named.
The featured composer – Julie Giroux – composes for various musical ensembles. The concert includes her 3 movement Symphony No. I "Culloden" highlighting Scottish/Highland/Gaelic music from the mid-1700s and "Integrity Fanfare and March" (Mvt 1 from Symphony No. III "No Finer Calling"). This latter piece was commissioned to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the U.S. Air Force in 2007 and was used for the 2021 presidential/vice-presidential inauguration – making it the first time music composed by a woman was used for that ceremony.
The other female composers were born in the mid-20th Century and later. Cait Nishimura (b. 1991) is the youngest – and the only non-American – composer on the program. Chasing Sunlight, written in 2017, was inspired by her experience of driving west into the setting sun, as if trying to keep up with the earth's rotation to catch the last few rays of light before dusk.
Other concert pieces are by composers Shelley Hanson, Jennifer Higdon, Anne McGinty, and Haley Woodrow.
About Sequim City Band
The Sequim City Band – an all-volunteer 75-musician strong wind ensemble – performs, promotes, and preserves symphonic band music by providing quality, inspiring performances and education in partnership with the North Olympic Peninsula community and beyond. The Band has been recognized for its accomplishments in arts and culture and commitment to the community with the receipt of the 2023 Governor's Arts & Heritage Award for an organization.
Phone: (360) 207-4722
https://www.sequimcityband.org/