SFA Wind Ensemble to premiere Composing in the Wilderness program pieces

Six composers who drew inspiration from Lake Clark National Park's serene and wild setting, pictured here, during the 2023 Composing in the Wilderness program will have their works premiered Oct. 15 at the Stephen F. Austin State University Wind Ensemble's first performance of the 2024-25 school year.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas -- Stephen F. Austin State University's Wind Ensemble will present their first concert of the 2024-25 school year at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 15 in the Griffith Fine Arts Building's Turner Auditorium. This will be the first of three concerts to be held nationally featuring six brand new pieces created as part of the Composing in the Wilderness project that took place at Lake Clark National Park in Alaska during the summer of 2023.

"The SFA Wind Ensemble is excited to present these new works for the unique perspectives they add to the wind band repertoire," said Dr. Tamey Anglley, SFA director of bands. "All six of the pieces are programmatic based on the different experiences each composer had while on their Alaskan adventure. Many include innovative sounds and tone colors that have never been experienced in a wind band setting, such as the sound of snow melting or birds stepping on leaves in a forest. The process of bringing these pieces to life has been fun and innovative for our students to experience."

The Composing in the Wilderness program is led by adventurer-composer Dr. Stephen Lias, SFA professor of composition, and offered by the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival in collaboration with Alaska Geographic and the National Park Service.

Selected through a rigorous national application process, six composers chosen to participate in the program were transported by bush planes into the remote and stunning wilderness of Lake Clark National Park. They camped, hiked and paddled while drawing inspiration from the wildlife, geology, scenery and dangers of their surroundings then spent three days in a secluded retreat to begin composing their pieces.

After months of finalizing pieces, many of the composers will visit the SFA campus to watch the SFA Wind Ensemble premiere their compositions. The pieces will then be performed by Carolyn Barber and the University of Nebraska - Lincoln Wind Ensemble, and The Grand Valley State University Wind Symphony under the direction of Kevin Tutt.

"Our adventure in Alaska was full of surprises. Everyone got out of their comfort zone and pushed themselves to their physical and mental limits," Lias said. "In doing so, we became close friends and got deeply in touch with our wild surroundings. It is a great mystery how inspiration becomes music; but the greater the inspiration, the more we hope the resulting music will resonate with authenticity. I'm so excited to bring these new works to the concert hall here at SFA!"

To learn more about Composing in the Wilderness, visit their website.

For information on SFA's Micky Elliott College of Fine Arts performances and to purchase tickets, visit the Fine Arts Box Office website.