Question 1

Letters of Congratulations

Accepted Answer

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Question 2

Program

Accepted Answer

Cave - Russell Peck

CLUTCH. - Andrew David Perkins

St. Anthony Chorale - Haydn/arr. Horton

Katrina Chaney, Conductor

Tarantella - Carol Brittin Chambers

Kai Smith, Conductor

The Lighthouse Keeps Watch - Brooke Pierson

Anthony Maiello, Conductor

Assez vif et bien rythmé – Debussy/arr. Strauss and Wallace

Amber Cao, Ryan Healy, Myah Tokajer, Glenn vanValkenburgh, Marimbas

Imminent Danger (flex version) - Jennifer Rose

Matthew C. Baker, Conductor

The Devil Went Down to Georgia - arr. Michael Brown

Audrey Goodner, Violin

Steve Rice, Narrator

March Tumbao - James David

Polka and Fugue from "Schwanda, the Bagpiper" - Weinberger/arr. Bainum

Question 3

Program Notes

Accepted Answer

Cave 
Russell Peck

At the time I wrote Cave experiments with theatre aspects in wind ensemble performance were very interesting to me… Cave has an option for theatrical performance — with musicians wearing dark glasses, using no music stands, and players moving to the music on stage (as noted in the score.)... Cave is intended as pure music also, of course, and doesn't require theatre at all. The design of the piece is the most pure example of my most essential style feature: climactic form. The piece is a 100% pure classic buildup over a drum ostinato, where the winds ride in 4/4 time over a 3/4 beat like a human pulse. (Excerpted from program note by composer)

CLUTCH. 
Andrew David Perkins

I have visceral childhood memories of going to the Belle Isle Indycar 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. This competitive spirit inspired me to write a fanfare that pushes the boundaries of tempo, range, & technical demand, and gives the conductor, performers, and listener a nice adrenaline rush too. I also wanted to push myself to write the most exciting, wildly chaotic music that I could imagine.

Fast, loud, and a little bit reckless.
​Buckle up.
(Program note by composer)

St. Anthony Chorale
Franz Joseph Haydn/arr. Raymond Horton

This arrangement for flexible ensemble is the perfect introduction to this beautiful theme for beginning players. It can be played by any SSATB combination of instruments with optional percussion, from five players through large ensembles.

We've chosen to explore a variety of potential instrumentations throughout this performance.

Tarantella
Carol Brittin Chambers

Lively and bouncy, this original work is written primarily in 6/8. The parts are written with great attention to the idiosyncrasies of the individual instruments, which not only aids considerably with the technical demands but also makes for a wonderful overall sound.

The Lighthouse Keeps Watch
Brooke Pierson

The Lighthouse Keeps Watch was written about a lighthouse in South Haven, a coastal community along Lake Michigan. Originally built as a wooden structure in 1872, the structure has been lighting the coast since 1903. This community is also a favorite summer and autumn travel destination for the composer, so he felt it was fitting to write a piece that would connect the community and music through this important landmark. This piece was the winner of the 2020 NBA/Alfred Music Young Band Composer Contest.

Assez vif et bien rythmé from String Quartet in G minor, Opus 10 
Claude Debussy/arr. by Matthew Strauss and Doug Wallace

The second movement of Claude Debussy's String Quartet in G minor, Assez vif et bien rythmé, is a scherzo very much influenced by the percussive nature of the Javanese gamelan, especially in its ostinati, or short, repeated musical patterns. This connection with Javanese percussion, coupled with the fact that most of the movement is originally scored for string pizzicato, provides an ideal opportunity to perform the piece on marimbas. (Program note by Doug Wallace)

Imminent Danger (flex version)
Jennifer Rose

In Imminent Danger, heavy bass and syncopated rhythms of dubstep, an electronic dance music that originated in London in the late 1990s, combine with sounds of trap-hop, an electronic sub-genre of hip-hop that originated in Atlanta in the 1990s. A sense of danger coming is evoked with the dissonant harmonies and syncopated and seemingly disjunct melody of the ensemble. (Program note by composer)

A slightly longer, full-band version of this piece is about to be released by Randall Standridge Music. We have used that as a point of reference for our performance of this flex version.

The Devil Went Down to Georgia 
Charlie Daniels etc./arr. Michael Brown

The Devil Went Down to Georgia is a song written and performed by the Charlie Daniels Band and released on their 1979 album Million Mile Reflections. The song's verses are closer to being spoken rather than sung (i.e., recitation), and tell the story of a young man named Johnny, in a variant on the classic deal with the Devil. The performances of Satan and Johnny are played as instrumental bridges. The song was the band's biggest hit, reaching number three on the Billboard Hot 100.

March Tumbao 
James M. David

March Tumbao is an amalgam of the rhythmic styles of the Afro-Cuban tradition with the American march forms of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The “tumbao” is the principal bass rhythm found in Afro-Cuban dance music and is also a term roughly similar to “swing” in jazz (i.e., the ineffable rhythmic sense of satisfying motion). This cross-cultural combination is far from new as the incomparable Jelly Roll Morton would incorporate Afro-Latin rhythms that he called “the Spanish tinge” into his works which used traditional march or ragtime form.

Besides the tumbao, the cascara, son clave, montuno, and other characteristic rhythms are utilized throughout my composition. The form incorporates all of the typical elements of American marches and rags including a boisterous introduction, a syncopated binary first section, a tuneful trio section, the break strain or dogfight, and a virtuosic woodwind obbligato in the final trio statement. (Excerpted from program note by composer)

We have attempted to make this "flex" piece sound as much like a "normal band piece" as possible.

Polka and Fugue from "Schwanda, the Bagpiper" 
Jaromir Weinberger/arr. Glenn Cliffe Bainum

Polka and Fugue was introduced to American orchestra audiences in 1928 by the eminent Austrian-German conductor Erich Kleiber. The score for band was transcribed by Glenn Cliffe Bainum in 1928.

Question 4

Conductors

Accepted Answer

DOUG MARTIN
Director of Bands
 
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Doug Martin currently serves as Director of Bands at Langley High School in McLean, Virginia. In this position, he teaches the three concert bands and the marching band, and oversees the percussion ensemble, jazz band, chamber winds and winter guard. During his time at Langley, enrollment in band classes has doubled, and the band program has expanded rapidly. In recent years, the Langley Wind Symphony has performed at Carnegie Hall, the National Concert Band Festival and the Virginia Music Educators Association (VMEA) annual conference. The Wind Symphony has also earned ratings of "Superior" from every judge at the band performance assessment for twelve straight years.
  
Prior to his appointment at Langley, Mr. Martin held similar positions at Mount Vernon High School in Alexandria and Stuart High School in Falls Church. During his nine years at Stuart, the Stuart Bands were named a “Virginia Honor Band” seven times, and enrollment in band classes nearly doubled. Under Mr. Martin’s leadership, the Stuart Bands commissioned and gave the world premiere of “Aurora Awakes” by John Mackey, and were part of a consortium which commissioned the popular composer Eric Whitacre.
 
Mr. Martin is the conductor of the American Youth Concert Orchestra. He served as treasurer of VMEA from 2016-2021. He has served in other leadership capacities for VMEA, including as the logistical coordinator for their annual conference. He has been an adjudicator and a clinician for concert, jazz, and marching band events across Virginia. He is a National Board Certified Teacher, and was named Fairfax County Band Director of the Year in 2017.
  
Mr. Martin received his bachelor’s in music education from Florida State University and his master’s in music education with a focus in instrumental conducting from George Mason University, where he graduated with the Distinguished Graduate Student Award.

KAI SMITH
Assistant Director of Bands

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Kai Smith joined Langley High School in January 2023 as its Assistant Director of Bands. At Langley, Mr. Smith choreographs and directs the Marching Saxons marching band program as well as directs the concert ensembles with Mr. Martin. Mr. Smith’s debut concert with the Langley bands was at Carnegie Hall in New York City in February 2023.
 
A Fairfax native, Mr. Smith graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in 2015, and from James Madison University in 2019 with a bachelor's degree in Music Education. At JMU, Mr. Smith studied tuba under Kevin Stees, was principal tubist in the Wind Symphony and in the Brass Band, and also played in the Symphonic Orchestra, The Marching Royal Dukes and several brass quintets and chamber groups.
 
Active in Drum Corps International, Mr. Smith was a member of the Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps and worked on the staff of the Spirit of Atlanta Drum and Bugle Corps.
​
After graduating from JMU, Mr. Smith was cast in the Japan tour of “Blast! The Music of Disney.” Upon his return, Mr. Smith accepted a position in Winchester, Virginia where he taught middle school band and music for the last three years, as well as worked with high school bands in the Winchester and Loudoun County areas.

DOUG WALLACE
Percussion Specialist

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Doug Wallace is a performer, composer, and educator with diverse experience in all areas of percussion performance and pedagogy. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music and The Juilliard School, Mr. Wallace has performed with a variety of acclaimed ensembles including the National Symphony Orchestra, the Washington National Opera, The Metropolitan Opera, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Theater Chamber Players, the Battery Four Percussion Group, Eclipse Chamber Orchestra, Post Classical Ensemble, Washington Symphonic Brass, and the Amadeus Orchestra. He has also held the position as Principal Timpanist of The Alexandria Symphony Orchestra since 2000. Mr. Wallace has participated in several honors ensembles and festival orchestras including Tanglewood Music Center, The National Repertory Orchestra, the National Orchestral Institute, Music Academy of the West, and the International Symphony Orchestra. With these groups and others, he has worked under the baton of Lorin Maazel, Valery Gergiev, Pierre Boulez, James Levine, John Williams, Seiji Ozawa, Kurt Masur, Leonard Slatkin, and Placido Domingo.

Mr. Wallace is currently the Director of Percussion for the American Youth Philharmonic Orchestras in Annandale, Virginia, and is an active percussion director, clinician and sectional instructor at several nationally recognized Fairfax County Public Schools. He currently runs the percussion programs at Langley High School, Marshall High School, Cooper Middle School, and Williamsburg Middle School. Formerly, he has been in charge of percussion at the Landon School, Madison High School, McLean High School, Kilmer Middle School, Longfellow Middle School, and Thoreau Middle School. Mr. Wallace is proud to have been the first full time Professor of Percussion at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia. With these groups, Mr. Wallace has performed and conducted at The Midwest Clinic, The VMEA Conference, The ASTA Conference, and Music for All.

Mr. Wallace's private students have been accepted to continue studies throughout the country, including at The Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute of Music, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the New England Conservatory, Boston University, the Peabody Conservatory, Indiana University, The University of Michigan, the Eastman School of Music, the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and The University of Miami. His teaching techniques are highlighted in his method book, Percussion with Class, published by FJH Music, and his compositions and arrangements have been performed at The Juilliard School, the Eastman School of Music, New York University, George Mason University, Christopher Newport University, the Music Academy of the West, the Aspen Music Festival, Temple University, the Noncert Chamber Series, the Music for All National Percussion Festival, the VMEA Conference, the ASTA Conference, and National's Park.

KATRINA CHANEY
Guest Conductor

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Katrina Davilis Chaney is currently the K-12 Music Educational Specialist for Fairfax County Public Schools in Fairfax, Virginia. Previous to this position, she was the band director at Thoreau Middle School in Vienna, Virginia for eleven years and the Visual Caption Head for James Madison High School in Vienna, Virginia for ten years. Prior to moving to Fairfax County Public Schools, she taught in Indiana for five years. She continues to serve as a Visual Judge for the Atlantic Indoor Association for the East Coast DrumLine Circuit, VBODA marching band adjudicator, and is a guest clinician throughout the state of Virginia. She holds a Bachelors of Science in Music Education from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana; a Masters in Music Education from Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky; and a Masters in Educational Leadership from George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia. She is currently pursuing a CakeFlix Masters Degree in cake decoration.

Katrina was nominated for the Grammy Award for Music Educators, received Teacher of the Year, commissioned two musical compositions, and served as the Music and Fine Arts Department Chairperson as a teacher. Katrina served as President-Elect and President for VAMEA and currently serves on multiple committees both for the school system and stakeholder organizations. During the pandemic she served on many national, state, and local health organization committees to promote music education and served on a research team to help with the development of safe practices for the music classroom.

Katrina holds affiliations with the National Association of Music Education, Virginia Music Educators Association, Virginia Association of Music Education Administrators, National Band Associations, Kappa Kappa Si, Delta Kappa Gamma, and Sigma Alpha Iota. She currently resides in Virginia with her loving husband, Brandon Chaney, and their dog, Ike.

ANTHONY MAIELLO
Guest Conductor

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Anthony J. Maiello, Artistic Director and Conductor, American Festival Pops Orchestra, Washington, D.C., makes professional appearances both nationally and abroad.  He has been invited to conduct music festivals, adjudicate ensembles and present clinics, lectures and workshops throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas, Europe, The Netherlands, China, Japan, Thailand, and Australia. He conducted musical activities for the Gold Medal Ceremonies at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York; served as Musical Director for Music Festivals International; was selected as President of International Association of Jazz Educators – New York State Chapter; and is a guest clinician for Yamaha Corporation and Warner Bros. Publications.  In 2010, he was inducted into the Bands of America Hall of Fame at Music for All's Indianapolis headquarters.
 
Professional recording credits include conducting the American Wind Symphony and additional studio ensembles for Alfred/Belwin Publications. Locally, Maiello has served as Associate Conductor of The McLean Orchestra, McLean, Virginia; been appointed an Honorary Conductor of The United States Navy Band, Washington, D.C.; and was a participant in the National Conducting Institute with Leonard Slatkin and the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., to which he has provided his services as a cover conductor.
 
Maiello received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Music Education from Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York in 1965 and 1967 respectively, and has extensive experience teaching in the public schools and at the university level. While at the Crane School of Music, Potsdam College of SUNY, Potsdam, New York, he served as a Professor of Music and Chairman of Performance, where he taught Advanced Instrumental Conducting, Applied Clarinet, Woodwind Techniques, Percussion Techniques and conducted the Crane Wind Ensemble.

Presently a Professor at George Mason University with George Mason University's School of Music, in Fairfax, Virginia, Maiello teaches Graduate and Undergraduate Conducting, all levels of Aural Skills, and Jazz Theory & Arranging.  He founded and conducted the GMU Wind Ensemble and GMU Chamber Orchestra.  He has served as Associate Director of the School of Music, Conductor of the GMU Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Band and Director of the GMU Jazz Ensemble. Under his direction, the ensembles at both Crane and George Mason University commissioned new works, made numerous recordings and appeared at national and international conferences.

MATTHEW BAKER
Guest Conductor

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Matthew Baker has been the Director of Bands at Cooper Middle School since 2013. He is responsible for overseeing and teaching all aspects of the band program, including three concert bands, percussion ensemble, and jazz band. Under his leadership, the bands have grown from 57 students to over 200 students.

Mr. Baker is a product of Fairfax County Public Schools, where he attended Chantilly High School under the direction of Keith Taylor and Alan P. Johnson. He received both a Bachelor of Music in Music Education and Master of Music in Music Performance from James Madison University, where he studied under Kevin Stees, Scott Rikkers, Dr. Pat Rooney, and Dr. Steve Bolstad. As the Band Director at River Bend Middle School in Loudoun County, Virginia, he was named the 2010 Teacher of the Year and built the program from 200 to over 450 students. Mr. Baker then became the Assistant Band Director at Fairfax High School in 2012, where the band performed at the Music for All National Concert Band Festival and Virginia Music Educators Association conference.

During his time at Cooper Middle School, the bands have performed at Virginia Music Educators Association conferences in 2017 and 2022, the Music for All National Concert Band Festival in 2019, and have participated in clinics with the Boston Pops and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. They recently performed at the White House and recorded for the NASA Artemis I Launch. Matthew Baker was awarded the NBA Citation of Excellence three times and has been recognized for excellence by the Fairfax County School Board, Fairfax County Board of Directors, and Virginia State Senate. The Cooper Bands received the 2019 National Band Association Blue Ribbon Program of Excellence Southern Division Award. In June of 2022, they were awarded the prestigious Sudler Silver Cup by the John Philip Sousa Foundation. He is a member of NAfME, VMEA, VBODA, and NBA. He currently resides in Ashburn, Virginia with his wife Sarah, their son Everett, and their dogs Ella and Ellington.

Question 5

Soloists

Accepted Answer

PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE

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Glenn vanValkenburgh (2025), Ryan Healy (2024), Myah Tokajer (2024), and Amber Cao (class of 2027) are percussionists in the Langley High School Wind Symphony. All four study privately with Doug Wallace. All four also are active participants in the orchestras and ensembles of the American Youth Philharmonic Organization, and each have participated multiple times in the VBODA honor groups, including District Band, Senior Regional Orchestra, and the All-Virginia groups.

AUDREY GOODNER
Violin

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Audrey Goodner, an eighteen-year-old violinist from Reston, Virginia, is a senior at Langley High School where she actively participates in the school orchestra program for which she serves as concertmaster. In the spring of 2023, Audrey was the featured soloist at Langley High School’s Carnegie Hall performance and the winner of the Hilton Head Symphony’s Youth Concerto Competition. She will perform with the Hilton Head Orchestra in November 2023. Audrey also competed as a 2023 semifinalist of the Irving M. Klein International String Competition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Audrey completed 2022 as a laureate of the Thomas and Evon Cooper International Violin Competition and performed with the U.S. Army Orchestra as winner of their Young Artist Competition. She studies violin with Ryan Meehan of the Calidore String Quartet and Jing Qiao as a member of the National Symphony Orchestra’s Youth Fellowship Program. Audrey returned to Music@Menlo for her second summer participating in the Young Performer’s Program. Other studies have included six summers at the University of Michigan’s Center Stage Strings and the Harpa International Music Academy in Reykjavik, Iceland. Audrey has performed in masterclasses at the American String Teachers Association National Conference and with violinists Francesca Dego, James Ehnes, Stefan Jackiw, Jennifer Koh, Arabella Steinbacher, and Almita Vamos.

STEPHEN RICE
Narrator

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Stephen Rice is a music educator with over 30 years of teaching experience. A native of Kentucky, he received his Bachelor of Music Education in 1988 from the University of Kentucky and received his Master of Music Education from James Madison University in 1993. He was the band director at West Potomac High School for 28 years. During his tenure there his bands received numerous superior ratings and performed on the featured stage at the Music for All National Concert Band Festival. Currently, Mr. Rice is the band director at Bishop Ireton, a Catholic college preparatory high school.

Helping music students experience the world through travel is a passion for him. Pursuant to that, he is the music and tour director for the Virginia Ambassadors of Music, a concert tour of Europe for exceptional high school musicians. He served as president of the Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors’ Association where he continues to be on its executive board. A bass trombonist, Mr. Rice continues to perform with the Fairfax Wind Symphony. He and his wife, Wendy Sue, live in Alexandria, where they are constantly being trained by their standard poodle, Boo, and are servants of Vladimir, the Maine Coon cat.

Question 6

The Ensemble

Accepted Answer

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Question 7

About Langley High School

Accepted Answer

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Langley High School is one of thirty secondary and high schools in the Fairfax County Public School system. The school district is the largest in Virginia and the eleventh largest in the country, with over 181,000 students served.

Langley High School is located in Fairfax County, just across the Potomac River from Washington, DC, in McLean, Virginia. The school's geographic attendance area, the largest in the district, encompasses residences on the border with Loudoun County as well as the community of McLean.

Langley High School's close proximity to Washington, D.C., places it in a community of well-educated, highly motivated, family-oriented individuals, many of whom are professionals. This location also provides a representation from businesses and governments, both domestic and foreign, which results in a diverse population and exposes students to many different cultures. Community participation by such an education-oriented and varied parent population is an important factor in making Langley High School an exceptional educational experience.

More than 95 percent of Langley students go on to four-year colleges. The curriculum places great emphasis on core subjects and college entrance requirements. Students and their families have come to expect that students will graduate with a solid core foundation in the humanities, math, science, and foreign languages. Advanced placement courses and examinations are available in all areas of upper-level mathematics, science, social studies, English, and foreign languages. In addition to the core curriculum, business, art, vocational, and technical offerings are available.

Langley's program for learning disabled students provides individual assistance and mainstream classes with regular and special education teachers working together in teams. Langley also has a program for students with autism in which peer helpers and other student assistants play a vital role. A full athletics program and broad student participation in a full range of extracurricular activities add to the highly energized environment of Langley High School.

Honor and integrity are important goals of the Langley High School mission. Langley prepares all students for academic and career success beyond high school, with the goal that all graduates are lifetime learners, and actively engaged in the ever-changing and connected world.

Question 8

About Langley Bands

Accepted Answer

The Langley Bands serve roughly 10% of Langley's 2,100 students. They are proud members of a music department which has earned VMEA's Blue Ribbon Award for 13 consecutive years. The tremendous growth of the Langley Band program in recent years has led to the creation of a third concert band, as well as the jazz band, chamber winds, and winter guard programs. The Marching Saxons had never performed outside Langley until 2015, which was also the first time they had full uniforms; they have now received "Superior" ratings at Marching Band Assessment every year since 2018. The Langley Bands have been named a Virginia Honor Band every year since 2018 as well, and performed at Carnegie Hall in 2019 and 2023.

The Langley Wind Symphony is the most advanced of the three bands at Langley. In 2017, the group performed at the prestigious Music For All National Concert Band Festival, as well as the VMEA Conference. It has earned ratings of "Superior" from every judge at the Band Performance Assessment for thirteen straight years. The Wind Symphony also commissioned and gave the world premiere performance of Scott Lindroth's "Eternity's Sunrise." Their performances have been praised by luminaries in the field, and the Wind Symphony regularly places numerous students in honor groups and community ensembles.

Question 9

Acknowledgments

Accepted Answer

First and foremost, thanks to these wonderful students for their incredible work in preparing for today's performance. It has been great sharing this process with you, and I am more proud of you than I can convey. Thanks also to the members of last year's Wind Symphony, especially the since-graduated seniors, whose performances at Assessment were what got us selected for this amazing opportunity!

Thank you to the parents of all these students, who support them in so many ways. We wouldn't be here without you! Special thanks to the parents who helped organize our trip today and who have joined us for today's performance. Special thanks as well to principal Kimberly Greer and FCPS music supervisor Katrina Chaney for your support.

Thank you to the countless private teachers who work with our students. I certainly DO NOT take your hard work for granted. Extra thanks to the folks who have come in to do sectionals: Susan Hayes, Mary Riddell, Kristen Sheridan, Ed Fraedrich, Dave Doescher, Brett Dodson, Jeff Bianchi, John McGinness and Ed Vinson. There's no way the bands would be as good as they are without your incredible work.

Our marching band staff – especially Julianna Lee and Rachel Robinson – got us off to an incredible start this year. Thank you for helping sustain a culture of excellence in all we do.

Kai Smith has been undowithoutable this year. Doug Wallace has been undowithoutable for TWELVE years. Congratulations and thanks to both of you for your roles in our performance today!

Thanks are not enough for Matt Baker. He is a master teacher and a true friend. Like all high school bands, we stand on the shoulders of what our middle school band does, and Langley is truly blessed to have the Cooper Middle School program achieving such amazing things before the students get to us.

Thanks and the deepest appreciation to Anthony Maiello, teacher and mentor to me and SO MANY. Your sixty years in this profession have been inspirational to countless people literally all over the world, and it is so special to share the stage with you in this final year of your time at George Mason University. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

My most fervent thanks go to my extraordinary wife. She didn't know the band world when we met, and it is…a lot. She keeps me grounded and encouraged, happy and sane. She has made my life richer and more joyful, and I will partially repay her by not making her stand up and accept applause today, because she would really really really hate hate hate that.

And finally, thanks to you for coming to our performance today, and for cheering on these extraordinary young musicians!

~Doug Martin

Langley Wind Symphony

Virginia Music Educators Association Conference

Langley High School Band