The SUNY Fredonia Wind Symphony Concert on Tuesday, March 5 at 8 p.m. in Harry A. King Concert Hall will feature a live performance of The Blue Marble with synchronized video.
The concert is free and the public is invited to attend.
Conductor Donna Dolson notes that larger music schools across the county have performed composer Julie Giroux's The Blue Marble since its debut in 2022, and “with the help of SUNY Fredonia's outstanding Sound Recording and Technology area, we are thrilled to perform it here at [SUNY] Fredonia for the first time.”
The concert will open with the March from “Raiders of the Lost Ark” by John Williams, followed by “O Magnum Mysterium” by Morten Lauridsen, which will be conducted by Assistant Conductor Devin Banning. Mr. Banning is a graduate student in the School of Music from Getzville, NY, pursuing a Master of Music degree in Music Performance with a focus in Conducting. He was also a winner of the Fredonia School of Music’s 2022 Concerto Competition and graduated in 2023 with a degree in Music Education, with saxophone as his primary instrument. Outside of music, Banning co-founded the Chautauqua-Warren Birding Association, which strives to foster a vibrant community of birders across Chautauqua County, and frequently leads field trips and educational programs for the club.
The concert ends with the performance of The Blue Marble. In this featured work, stunning visuals projected on a large screen will accompany the Wind Symphony.
A description by composer Giroux of her work:
Symphony No. VI: The Blue Marble (24') Movement I - “The Blue Marble”: It is often said that the first full image of Earth, Blue Marble, taken by Apollo 17 in 1972 was the first full picture of the planet Earth. The picture is actually upside down. It happened sometime between 4:59:05 and 5:08:14 hours after Apollo's launch as they traveled up to 25,000 miles an hour. This movement celebrates our home in a variety of ways; think of it as an abbreviated introduction to planet Earth through music. Movement II - “Voices in Green”: I spent hours, simply listening to the recordings of the Amazon jungle by the world-renowned sound engineer, George Vlad. The sounds transport you into the heart of the jungle which feels incredibly alive. The exotic calls of the birds and the echoes from other birds of the same species, the insects, the frogs and the rain; you can practically feel and smell the rain. The density of growth with every shade of green is the backdrop for this beautiful, strange opera. Think of this movement as a concert taking place in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest. Movement III - “Let There Be Life”: Violence, death, murder, birth, and life; I wanted to capture that commonality with music in the third and final movement. A recurring theme moves through the music, transporting us from one musical setting to the next, ending in a majestic, grandiose way. The miracle of Earth is life. As with the famous Blue Marble photograph, I hope this symphony reminds people just how frail and beautiful Earth is. Earth is the one thing we all have in common. It is our only home and we should always treat it as such with every generation leaving it healthier and happier than the way they found it.
