Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band
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New: You Tube performances of the Butler Wind
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Information:
The Band Department at Butler consists of the Symphonic Band
& Wind Ensemble, the Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Combo, the
Marching
Band, and the Basketball Band.
The Butler University Symphonic Band & Wind Ensemble,
conducted by Dr. Robert Grechesky, Director of Bands, has
established a reputation for the highest standards of excellence in
musical performance. Comprised of students from majors across the
University, the band performs its home concerts at Butler's
magnificent Clowes Memorial Hall. The band has also performed at
conferences and conventions for the Indiana Music Educators
Association, Music Educators National Conference, College Band
Directors National Association, American Bandmaster's Association,
the International Mid-Europe Conference in Schladming, Austria, the
International Spring Music Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia, the
Soirées Musicale de Bissen in Luxembourg, and the International
Percussive Arts Society.
The Symphonic Band & Wind Ensemble has traveled extensively;
in 2000 the band traveled to Budapest, Prague, and Vienna and
performed a featured concert for the prestigious International
Mid-Europe Conference of Wind Bands and Ensembles in Schladming,
Austria. In 2005 it represented the United States as the first
American wind ensemble invited to perform at the International
Spring Music Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia. The band performed
three concerts to wildly enthusiastic audiences, including a
sold-out finale performance at the Great Philharmonic Hall (after
Shostakovich). In 2008, the Wind Ensemble took its second tour of
Europe, traveling to Prague, Kremsmunster, Vienna, Luxembourg, and
Amsterdam. Under the patronage of the U.S. Embassy, the band was
honored to be the first American ensemble ever to perform at the
international music festival, Soirées Musicale de Bissen, in
Bissen, Luxembourg. Recently, the Wind Ensemble performed a concert
tour in Italy and Greece during Spring Break in March of 2011.
The Symphonic Band & Wind Ensemble has had the privilege of
working with numerous outstanding guest conductors, including H.
Robert Reynolds, Dr. Frederick Fennell, Karel Husa, Col. Arnald
Gabriel, Dr. William D. Revelli, Col. L. Bryan Shelburne, Col. John
Bourgeois, Commander Allen Beck, Major Matthew Henry, Stephen
Eggleston, Dr. John Colbert, Michael Leckrone, Dr. Eric Stark,
Henry Leck, and many others.
Soloists who have appeared with the band include the American
Brass Quintet, the Empire Brass Quintet, Doc Severinsen, Zack De
Pue, Concertmaster of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Marianne
Tobias, Kate Boyd, William Grubb, Larry Shapiro, Andrew Russo,
Michael Strauss, Douglas Spaniol, Ross Walter, Sharon Searles,
Melissa Williams, Nancy Davis Booth, Andrea Gullickson, Rolf
Smedvig, Marvin Perry III, Allen Miller, Jared Rodin, Nicholas
Brightman, Greg Imboden, Mark Gilgallon, Davis Brooks, Lisa Brooks,
Csaba Erdelyi, and the Indianapolis Children's Choir.
The Butler Bands have a long and distinguished history of
commissioning and premiering new works for the wind band. A partial
list of composers whose works were either commissioned by, or
premiered by the band include Eric Ewazen, Arnold Franchetti, James
Beckel, Jr., Michael Schelle, Frank Felice, Robert Jager, Timothy
Broege, James Syler, Michael Close, James Woodward, David
Gillingham, Daron Hagen, Dong Wook Park, Bradley Nelson, and James
Mulholland. Composers with whom the band has worked include, among
others, Paul Chihara, Jennifer Higdon, Elliott Schwartz, Karel
Husa, Samuel Hazo, Wallace De Pue, Stephen Gryc, and Paul
Kilstofte.
The Symphonic Band is open to any Butler student by audition.
Learn about Butler's annual All-Star Band for Indiana high school
students.
Click here for the ensemble concert
schedule for this current semester.