NMPhil to showcase wind, brass with 'Winter Serenade'

The New Mexico Philharmonic will showcase its wind and brass sections on Sunday, Jan. 28, at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John.

Newly-appointed University of New Mexico music professor and band director Emily Moss will lead the musicians through music by Antonín Dvorák, French organist Eugène Gigout, composer/conductor Robert Spittal, trumpet player Anthony Plog, classical rock star Eric Whitacre and African American classical composer Florence Price.

A music professor at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, Spittal writes predominately for wind band. The musicians will play his “Consort for Ten Winds.”

“This is absolutely his most well-known piece,” Moss said. “There is a genre of music that is essentially music for winds that dates back to the classical music. He was inspired by that era.”

Dvorák’s “Serenade for Wind Instruments” mimics music from the same period. He evokes the old-world atmosphere of musical performances at the castles of the Rococo period, where the worlds of the aristocracy and the common folk merged.

“It’s a very important work for winds,” Moss said. “It also includes a cello and a bass.”

Gigout was a late 19th century composer and renowned improviser. His “Grand Choeur dialogué” was originally written for two choirs of pipe organ. David Miller arranged a version for a single organ and a brass ensemble.

Works by the recently rediscovered Price were unearthed by music scholars. She was active in Chicago from 1927 to her 1953 death. The musicians will play her “Octet for Brasses and Piano.”

“She’s an African American female composer who got so little acknowledgment in her lifetime,” Moss said. “This particular piece was found in a house she lived in, in a box of stuff.”

Whitacre penned his contemporary piece “October” to evoke a peaceful musical representation of the month he has called his favorite. The Grammy Award-winning composer is known for his choral work.

“He’s a handsome guy with long, flowing blonde hair,” Moss said. “He was the first to have a social media presence. He did one of the first virtual choirs. He’s also known for giving keynote addresses to Fortune 500 companies.”

Moss just completed her first semester at UNM, conducting the wind symphony, overseeing the graduate conducting program, and teaching courses in conducting and wind literature. She moved to New Mexico from her previous teaching position at California State University, Los Angeles.