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Frank Ticheli visits Carthage

May 14, 2010

Frank Ticheli

Frank Ticheli, regarded as one of the world’s most foremost composers of music for bands, visited Carthage Feb. 26-27, 2010, to work with the Carthage Wind Orchestra and talk with students. Mr. Ticheli was the featured guest conductor at the eighth annual Lakeside Band Festival Feb. 27, held on the Carthage campus.

Through the cooperation of KUSD Fine Arts and local band directors Louis Covelli, Paul Taylor and Ken Wiele, the Festival Band joined the forces of the top bands at Tremper and Bradford high schools with a select group of regional high school students recommended by their band directors. The event culminated in the Festival Concert, held at 7 p.m. Feb. 27 in A. F. Siebert Chapel.

The Carthage Wind Orchestra opened the concert with three selections by Mr. Ticheli, conducted by the composer: Pacific Fanfare, Shenandoah and Angels in the Architecture. Vocal soloist for Angels in the Architecture was Christopher Wojciehowicz, a student at Lance Middle School in Kenosha. Mr. Ticheli then led the Festival Band in four of his own compositions: Nitro, An American Elegy, Vesuvius and Amen!. Mr. Ticheli’s itinerary also included meetings with the Carthage student composers' club and music theory classes, and isits to Bradford and Tremper high schools.

“As long as I’ve been in town, I’ve heard our school bands playing the music of Frank Ticheli, and I thought it would be a great opportunity for them to get to meet him and see how passionate he is about music-making,” said festival director James Ripley, director of bands at Carthage. “We have great music programs in town, and everyone is looking forward to working with him and playing a very challenging program.”

Mr. Ticheli's music has been described as being "optimistic and thoughtful" (Los Angeles Times), "lean and muscular" (New York Times), "brilliantly effective" (Miami Herald) and "powerful, deeply felt crafted with impressive flair and an ear for striking instrumental colors" (South Florida Sun-Sentinel).  Mr. Ticheli (b. 1958) joined the faculty of the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music in 1991, where he is professor of composition.  From 1991 to 1998, he was composer in residence of the Pacific Symphony, and he still enjoys a close working relationship with that orchestra and their music director, Carl St. Clair.

Mr. Ticheli is well known for his works for concert band, many of which have become standards in the repertoire. In addition to composing, he has appeared as guest conductor of his music at Carnegie Hall, at many American universities and music festivals, and in cities throughout the world, including Schladming, Austria, at the Mid-Europe Music Festival; London and Manchester, England, with the Meadows Wind Ensemble; Singapore, with the Singapore Armed Forces Central Band; and numerous cities in Japan, with the Bands of America National Honor Band.

Mr. Ticheli received his doctoral and master’s degrees in composition from The University of Michigan. His works are published by Manhattan Beach, Southern, Hinshaw and Encore Music, and are recorded on the labels of Albany, Chandos, Clarion, Klavier, Koch International and Mark Records.