Composer Paul Dooley Is Guest Artist with the Wind Ensemble

The Baylor University Wind Ensemble will host composer Paul Dooley as its special guest on Tuesday, February 8, beginning at 7:30 p.m. in Jones Concert Hall, located within the Glennis McCrary Music Building. The 76-member Wind Ensemble is led by Baylor’s Director of Bands, J. Eric Wilson.
Opening the program will be the familiar “Rákóczy March” from French composer Hector Berlioz’s La damnation de Faust, Op. 24. Originally conceived for an outdoor concert in Pest in 1846, this march was later interpolated into Berlioz’s concert opera. Its theme, written by an unidentified Hungarian composer, is based on a melody celebrating the Hungarian patriot Count Rákóczy, who led a rising against Austrian rule in the early eighteenth century.
Paul Dooley is one of the most prolific and performed composers in America today. His path has embraced not only his Western Classical heritage, but also a cross-cultural range of contemporary music, dance, art, technology, and the interactions between the human and natural worlds. Two of his works will be performed on this Wind Ensemble concert, including the world premiere of his three-movement Canticles.
Also to be heard is Dr. Dooley’s Yellow Red Blue, a two-movement work from 2021. This piece was commissioned to honor Dr. Joseph Missal’s retirement after thirty-five years of distinguished service at Oklahoma State University.
The program will also feature David Maslanka’s Traveler, which was commissioned in 2003 by the University of Texas at Arlington Band Alumni Association in honor of the retirement of UTA’s Director of Bands, Ray C. Lichtenwalter.
This Wind Ensemble concert is free of charge and open to the public. It is also available for livestreaming at baylor.edu/music/live.