On the evening of November 25th, 2008 the California State University, Northridge's (CSUN) Wind Ensemble performed “...and This Is Now”, the second of four shows scheduled throughout the 2008/2009 school year in honor of the university's 50th anniversary.
The follow-up to their October 7th performance, “That Was Then...”, began with the conductor, Lawrence Stoffel, taking his place on stage and welcoming the audience to the second performance of the 2008/2009 year.
“It is a great time to be alive,” said Stoffel. “Music is changing at a rapid rate. The music played when I was a little boy is much different than the music my ensemble will be playing tonight. Everything you will hear tonight was written after the 1990s, which coincidentally is the year the freshman students at CSUN were born,” said Stoffel with a smile.
Lawrence Stoffel assumed the position of Director of Bands at California State University, Northridge in 2004. There he serves as conductor of both the internationally-recognized Wind Ensemble and the Wind Symphony. Stoffel holds the degrees Doctor of Music from Indiana University, the Master of Music from the University of Colorado, and both the Bachelor of Arts in Music and the Master of Education degrees from the University of California–Los Angeles.
One of the contributers to Tuesday night's performance was Elizabeth Sellers, director of the Media Composition Option for the Music Department at CSUN.
“In Spring of 2008 I was approached by Larry Stoffel about writing a new fanfare for the Wind Ensemble, to mark the 50th Anniversary of CSUN and its band program,” says Sellers. “As I did preliminary research before beginning to write I thought about all the CSUN students who come from very different ethnic backgrounds. My hope is that the optimism, vitality and exuberance of our great CSUN students, past and present, speak to you.”
Sellers' graduates have won local, national and international awards. Sellers is also in demand professionally. Scoring credits include UnBowed, which premiered in Hollywood, won festival awards and aired on cable television. Sellers received Primetime Emmy honors for contributing to the Emmy Award winning achievement of Outstanding Music Direction for the 2002 Winter Olympics.
“The performance we played in October's performance, “That Was Then...”, was music that was around when CSUN first opened 50 years ago. Tonight, we played music that current students have probably heard throughout their life. The concerts we perform during the 2008-2009 year are a tribute to the evolving music that CSUN students have experienced during their lifetime,” says Brayan Morales, one of the ensemble's oboe players.
The Wind Ensemble's next performance will be in February titled “Hurray for Hollywood!” Stoffel explained the performance will include songs from motion pictures that have been made famous because of Hollywood Blockbusters. He thought it would be appropriate to dedicate a part of CSUN's history to Hollywood, because it is so close to what we call “home”.
California State University, Northridge's (CSUN) Wind Ensemble perform Peter Graham's "The Red Machine" during their "...and This Is Now" performance.
Posts
