Where did the month go!?!
Well, as some of you have noticed, I haven’t been active on the blog lately. As often happens, the month of October was a blur of activity. Maybe a recap is in order.
The day after the Jon Sass concert, I performed a concert with the Cedar Rapids Symphony (CRSO). The program included Elgar’s ‘In the South’ and Respighi’s ‘Pines of Rome’. It was the opener for the season and Maestro Tim Hankevich’s debut as new music director of the orchestra. The orchestra and the audience expressed their delight in having Maestro Hankevich in Cedar Rapids.
On October 10, I performed a faculty recital at UNI. Featured on the program was Performance Artist Jeffery Byrd who added another dimension to the ‘To be or not to Be’ by Henri Tomasi. Also on the program was the Madsen ‘Sonate’, Jerry Owen’s piece which I commissioned last year ‘I Shall Buy a Black Horse’, Neal Corwell’s ‘Aboriginal Voices’ and ‘Three Ludes’ by Robert Jager. 
Special thanks to all the musicians who worked with me for this concert including faculty colleagues, Robin Guy and Chris Buckholz, as well as students Joel Nagel, Andrew Fletcher, Joe Kopacz, Jeff Waldschmitt, Jacob Guelff and Kyosuke Nakata.
Rehearsals began the next evening with the CRSO for a series of Pops Concerts on Oct. 14 & 15. These featured movie music from many of the big movies of the last few years including Harry Potter, Phantom of the Opera, Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean. The following weekend, CRSO did a set of Family ‘Discovery’ concerts on Oct. 21 and then began rehearsals for the next masterworks concert.
Sadly, in the midst of the busy fall, we suffered the loss of an esteemed collegue and friend from the School of Music. Miguel Pinto died accidentally at his home. Miguel was the Vocal Coach for the School of Music. During his career he worked with the likes of Leonard Berstein and Joan Sutherland. He is greatly missed.
On October 26, the US Air Force Band was on campus for a concert. The band sounded really great, especially in the march ‘King Karl King’ by Henry Fillmore. Colonel Laydendecker, the Music Director, is doing some very nice things with blend and balance. The ensemble played with very long phrases and very subdued dynamics all evening. There were some very nice tonal moments, though it would have been nice to hear the band open up at least once. Disappointing was the program. 20 minutes of Disney music with the Singing Sergeants and a sleeper rendition of Copland’s ‘Red Pony’ were frankly a waste of a lot of great talent.
The second masterworks set by CRSO on October 28 featured Phil Smith, principal trumpet of the New York Philharmonic in a performance of Ellen Taafe Zwilich’s ‘American Concerto’. A near capacity audience at the Paramount Theatre greeted soloist and orchestra. Needless to say, Mr. Smith did an outstanding job. Also on the program was the Barber ‘Second Essay’ and Shostakovich Symphony No. 10.
On Sunday October 30 it was a nice treat to hear Deanna Swoboda do a recital at the University of Iowa. Deanna is currently teaching at Western Michigan and back in 1999 she did a 1 semester replacement for me here at UNI when I was on a Professional Development Leave. She did about an hour program featuring a Bach Flute Concerto,Vaughan Williams’ ‘Concerto’, ‘Fnugg’, ‘Relentless Grooves’ and ‘Estrelita’. All were well performed and delivered with that special charm that Deanna is so well known for.
Now we are at the final rehearsal stages for the Fall UNITUBA concert at UNI. Tuesday November 7 will be the show. It will feature a first half which is a tribute to Rodger Vaughan and will include 13 arrangements and original compositions. Rodger has been kind enough to create an endowment here at UNI that will benefit tubists and euphoniumists for generations to come. The second half will feature Todd Fiegle’s arrangement of the John Williams ‘March from 1941’, Neal Corwell’s ‘The Furies’, Aldo Forte’s ‘Tubas Latinas’ and the ‘TubaFunk’ by Peter Rausch. Concert time is 8 pm if you’re in the area!
jeff funderburk