Band to premiere new music

Fri, October 16, 2009 |

Valparaiso University's Department of Music will host its annual Family Weekend Concerts on Oct. 24, highlighted by original music and a special tribute.

Valpo's Chamber Concert Band, Luce Concert Band and Community/University Concert Band will perform at 7:30 p.m. in the Chapel of the Resurrection. Earlier on Oct. 24, the Luce Concert Band and Community/University Concert Band will perform at 4 p.m. in the Chapel.

The 7:30 p.m. concert will feature the world premieres of composer Michael Boo's "Towering Windows," and "A Handful of Butterflies," and William Repperger's "Freiburg Cathedral." Dr. Jeff Doebler, associate professor of music, will conduct the ensembles.

Boo's "Handful of Butterflies" is a special tribute dedicated to the memory of his mother, Maralyne Boo, and in honor of the Arthur and Ethel Horton VNA Hospice Center in Valparaiso, where she spent the last two days of her life.

"In the lobby of the center is a sculpture holding a stained glass butterfly, the symbol of the hospice movement, and from the ceiling hang other butterflies that have taken flight to begin the journey of their new life," said Boo. "As death is but a transition and not an end, the work is intended to capture the wonder of the new life.

"Handful of Butterflies" is scored for full band with solo flute, which was the instrument Boo's mother played for much of her life.

Boo scored "Towering Windows" to commemorate the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Valpo's Chapel of the Resurrection. The work is conceived as a large-scale trilogy reflecting on each of the stained glass Munderloh Windows that rise 98 feet in the Chapel.

Other pieces featured in the concert include "The Four Noble Truths" by Philip Sparke," "I've Got Rhythm" by George Gershwin and "Golden Jubilee March" by John Philip Sousa.

Dr. Doebler received the 2006 Outstanding University Music Educator Award from the Indiana Music Educators Association in honor of his outstanding achievements in the field of music education. He is a past president of the IMEA, is editor of the association's quarterly magazine and frequently serves as a guest conductor and clinician. Dr. Doebler led a band tour in China for the fifth consecutive summer in 2009.

More information about Valpo's Department of Music, including future concerts and recitals, is online at http://www.valpo.edu/music or by calling the Valpo Center for the Arts at (219) 464-5162. The public also is invited to sign up for a monthly e-mail that will announce upcoming Valpo visual and performing arts news and events at http://www.valpo.edu/vuca/mailinglist.php.