By: Michael French, UC Davis College of Letters & Science
A featured soloist and a contemporary composition showcase the musicality of two students in the UC Davis Concert Band in their spring concert on May 21 at the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.
Music major Benjamin Saetern, flute, is this year’s winner of the Concert Band Soloist Competition. He performs Cecille Chaminade’s Concertino with the Concert Band, directed by Pete Nowlen. The band’s program includes a performance of “Dreams and Science,” a work by Concert Band member Jason Chen, a physic major.
The Concert Band also performs Philip Sparke’s transcription of Freddy Mercury’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Dennis Llinas’ “Un Cafecito,” Akito Matsuca’s suite from “Liz and the Bluebird,” and Julie Giroux’s “Evening Snow at Kambara.”
The program also features the Campus Band, conducted by alum Garrett Rigsby and Matthew Okumoto, acting director of the UC Davis Marching Band. The Campus Band program features Katahj Copley’s “Infinity,” Percy Grainger’s “Australian Up-Country Tune,” Alfred Reed’s “El Camino Real” arranged by Robert Longfield, and Johan de Meij’s Symphony No. 1, “The Lord of the Rings” arranged by Paul Lavender.
The concert begins at 7 p.m. in the Mondavi Center. Tickets are $24 for adults and $12 for students and youth and are available at the Mondavi Center Ticket Office in person or by calling 530-754-2787, Tuesday–Friday, 12–5 p.m. Tickets are also available online at tickets.mondaviarts.org.
For more information about additional concerts and performances by the Department of Music in the College of Letters and Science at UC Davis, visit arts.ucdavis.edu/music.
