Brunswick High School Honors Wind Ensemble

MMEA All State | Friday, May 16 2025 | 10:55am

About the Music

  • Eureka, a word to express triumph on a discovery. Many of us have felt this feeling before. I've always wanted to write a piece about this, but I could never describe it in music form. Until final (ironically) EUREKA! I figured out how with this short scherzo-like piece for concert band.

    The beginning with the woodwinds and the percussion represents the short burst of energy that lights the spark of curiosity. From there we build all the way to the next big moment of the melody. Finally we reach the final explanation – the final discovery that is the culmination of everything!

    - Program Note by composer

  • Echoes of a Northern Lake was commissioned in celebration of the National Youth Band’s 30th anniversary with support from the Canadian Band Association, the Ontario Band Association, and a consortium of 60 ensembles and individuals from across North America. As a proud alumna of the NYB, it was a great honour to write music for this occasion and for this community.

    The inspiration for this piece is rooted in my relationship with the natural world. I spent much of my childhood on a lake* where I had the privilege of interacting with an abundance of plants and animals -- most notably, the common loon. This piece is my musical interpretation of the loons’ song and the beautiful yet rapidly declining ecosystems they rely on. Each section of the piece is a vignette of my cherished memories and an invitation for musicians and audiences to reflect on their own relationships with nature. We all have a role to play in the health and longevity of the planet we call home, and we are much more likely to protect that which we know and love. I believe that music is one of the ways in which we can inspire and empower others to connect, care, and take action.

    *I respectfully acknowledge that the lands upon which I developed these early relationships with nature are located on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe and Huron-Wendat peoples. The land on which I live and work today is that of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Neutral peoples. I recognize that these lands have been cared for by indigenous peoples for time immemorial, and I exist in these spaces with immense gratitude.

    - Program Note by composer

  • While the heart and soul of Salt March For Wind Ensemble is a tribute to Mohandas K. Gandhi's historical protest and the music of that moment, fragments of the marching music prevalent during my childhood are woven into this composition. When I was eleven years old and still living in Dallas, Texas, I joined a Civil War-era fife and drum band. Around the same time that I was playing the Battle Hymn of the Republic on fife, I also began playing clarinet in my school's wind band. This marked the beginning of a decade-long experience playing marches by Sousa, Grainger, and Berlioz. Cemented by four years of competitive high school marching band, marching in local parades, and playing marches at the town's veterans club, the march became ingrained in my musical DNA. The march became part of my life again during the 2020 pandemic. Black Lives Matter and the Women's March spotlit the power of the march as an effective type of non-violent protest that is still in use today. As the pandemic raged on, the idea of expressing our current climate of activism by writing a piece about Gandhi's Salt March came to mind again and again. I wanted the piece to be an opportunity to study an important point in history and remind students that they already have the power to make positive change In the world. My intent for Salt March was to remind us of where we have been and relate that history to the activism taking place right now. Salt March For Wind Ensemble is a contemporary imagining of the 1930 protest rather than a historically accurate rendering. However, I wanted to arrange a song that was sung during the original march to nestle a seed of that history in this piece. As many others have, I assumed that Gandhi and his followers sang during the historic journey. Photographs taken of the event clearly included musicians holding instruments. However, I struggled to find written references to any of the songs or music of that moment. It was at this point in my research that my cousin Gourav Venkateswar pointed me toward the devotional song Ragupati Raghava Raja Ram. Now the floodgates had been opened! I found reference upon reference corroborating that, indeed, Gandhi and his collaborators sang this song during the Salt March.

    As I read about Gandhi's work, I discovered he was quite a proponent of music. Politically, he believed that "in true music there is no place for communal differences and hostility." This was further highlighted in a letter Gandhi wrote to the music teacher in the Satyagraha Ashram, Sabarmati, stating that "I have gradually come to look upon music as a means of spiritual development ... Music is a constructive activity, which uplifts the soul." Gandhi's regard for music as a vehicle for spiritual development and political activism resonates with me and informed the writing of Salt March. The piece is as much an expression of the inner journey one must undertake to transform oppressive systems as it is about the power of communal protest. It is also about the idea that joy, celebration, and healing are revolutionary forces in and of themselves. Therefore, this piece Is quite simply a catchy melody over some grooving drum beats. I hope you enjoy the music.

    - Program Note by composer

  • From the Ashes is about restoration. On a very personal level, it embodies my return to composing. After two years of creative drought – partially due to some vocational choices – this commission gave me a new opportunity to paint with one of my favorite sound palettes: the concert band. However, it is my hope that others will also relate to the theme of restoration. It could mean finding something you thought was lost, getting a second chance, going from death to life, healing from a physical or emotional wound, or reconciliation with someone you love.

    Musically, only the very beginning looks back at what used to be ashes. Everyday perseverance is conveyed next, as rebuilding begins. After the six-minute mark, an especially dramatic section begins; this is where current perseverance unites with hope of things to come, resulting in a renewed passion for life. Beauty swells, and the listener knows the fire will continue to burn long into the future.

    The piece is dedicated to my wife, Meg, and to my mentor, Andy Boysen. In different ways, both have encouraged me tirelessly and pushed me at times I was ready to quit. Meg insisted I take time to pursue composing vocationally (again), part of what allowed this piece to happen. I also want to offer a special thank you to Andy for leading this consortium, and to the sponsoring band directors, friends all, many of whom I studied with at the University of New Hampshire. I cannot sufficiently express my gratitude to all of you for this opportunity.

    It would be impossible for me to talk about second chances without mentioning my faith. All my hope for restoration is ultimately in Jesus Christ, and I owe all I have to him. He is the source of any raw composing talent that I possess, and also my chief inspiration for using it. He is my strength when I am weak, my guide through the darkness when I cannot see. He is the way in the wilderness and the river of life in the desert. He takes a faintly burning wick like me and does not quench it, but rekindles it from the ashes to everlasting light.

    A bruised reed He [Jesus] will not break
    and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish    …

    Thus says the LORD…
    “Do not call to mind the former things;
    pay no attention to the things of old.
    Behold, I am about to do something new;
    even now it is coming. Do you not see it?
    Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness
    and streams in the desert.”
    From Isaiah 42 & 43 (public domain translation)

    From the Ashes was premiered by the Wooster Scot Symphonic Band (Joel Graham conducting) on March 1st, 2020, and by the UNH Concert Band (Casey Goodwin conducting) on March 5th.

    -Program note from composer

  • A mirage is a naturally occurring optical phenomenon that is caused by heated air refracting light from the sky. The longer you stare at a mirage, the more you become lost in it, and so the idea I ran with for this piece was that over time, you get swallowed up by the illusion, trapped in the waves indefinitely. I wanted to craft a piece that was dissonant, mystical, and with lots of “FX”.

    To organize my material I mainly used two dissonant pitch collections. The first is heard in the melodies and during certain interjections: [0, 1, 6 ,7]. The other is a completely chromatic collection that creates a hazy, and disorienting vibe: [0, 1, 2].

    The “FX” I mentioned include piano string/timpani glissandi, delay, reverb, creepy percussion noises, and brass mute shenanigans...

  • On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis resident George Floyd was murdered by police officers, one of which had a knee on his neck, cutting off all oxygen to his brain. Floyd's last words, the same words used by Eric Garner in 2014, echo across the United States and through the word [sic].

    "I. can't. breathe."

    Seeing the footage of his murder on television, my heart sank and I felt incredibly sick to my stomach. I couldn't believe what I had witnessed, and it took me weeks to process what had transpired. Someone who looks like me was just murdered in cold blood by law enforcement. I can recall the many people that also look like me that were murdered in similar fashion, both by law enforcement and by civilians with racist intent. Their names became social media hashtags, and ring in the hearts of every black man, woman, and child in the United States.

    Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Philando Castile, Treyvon Martin, Ahmaud Arbery, Atatiana Jefferson, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd…

    A growing list of names. The unarmed black victims of racial injustice.

    Too many names to count.

    Requiem for the Unarmed is my musical response to the death of George Floyd and to black lives lost due to racial injustice in the United States. This piece is meant to be a memorial to those lives lost and is my plea and prayer.

    May this happen no more.

    - Program Note by composer

  • In the Anatolian Plateau, there is a barren land called Cappadocia. At the beginning of the 1900s, huge underground cities, initially thought of as natural caves, were found there. Later, a Turkish archeologist revealed that they were artificial. According to the research, the biggest cave has eight layers, and it is estimated that about 20,000 people lived in this cave city. They built facilities necessary for living, such as communal kitchens, sewage treatment facilities, ventilations, wine storages, and even places for educational purposes. The most amazing discovery was not only in its depth and size but also that connecting passages were found between Kaymakil Underground City and Derinkuyu Underground City that stretched more than 9 kilometers. The estimated total number of residents in all these cave towns amounted to nearly 90,000. The figure is derived from the quantity of cave towns which archeologists believed have found, and they believe there might be more. According to archeological theories, many people lived underground because of the oppression of the Roman Empire to Christians in the 2nd century AD.

    Composer Satoshi Yagisawa pictures the mindscape of the Christians who suffered persecution from the Roman Empire as well as the landscape with strangely shaped rocks where elves dwell.

    - Program Note from Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music

About the Composers

  • Georgia native, Katahj Copley (he/him/his) premiered his first work, Spectra, in 2017 and hasn’t stopped composing since. As of now, Katahj has written over 100 works, including pieces for chamber ensembles, wind ensembles, and orchestra. His compositions have been performed and commissioned by universities, organizations, and professional ensembles, including the Cavaliers Brass, California Band Director Association, Admiral Launch Duo, and “The President’s Own” Marine Band. Katahj has also received critical acclaim internationally with pieces being performed in Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, China, and Australia. 

    Katahj received two Bachelor of Music degrees from the University of West Georgia in Music Education and Composition in 2021. In 2023, he received his Masters in Music Composition from the University of Texas at Austin - studying with Omar Thomas and Yevgeniy Sharlat. He is currently studying music composition at Michigan State University. 

    Aside from composing, Katahj is an excited educator who teaches young musicians the joy of discovering music and why music is a phenomenal language.

    “Music for me has always been this impactful thing in my life. It can soothe, it can enrage, it can quiet, and it can evoke emotions that are beyond me and this world we live in. I believe that music is the ultimate source of freedom and imagination. The most freedom I have had as a musician was through composing. Composition is like me opening my heart and showing the world my drive, my passion, and my soul.”

  • Cait Nishimura (she/her) is a Japanese Canadian composer based in Waterloo, Ontario. Known for writing nature-inspired, programmatic music, Cait has established herself as a prominent voice in the concert band community. Cait’s music has been presented at The Midwest Clinic, MusicFest Canada, and numerous other international conferences and festivals. Her work has become increasingly popular among educational music programs and within the professional new music scene, with new works being regularly commissioned and performed by ensembles and individuals around the world. 

    Cait is committed to creating contemporary music that is approachable, relevant, and enjoyable for all; before transitioning to a full-time career as a composer, she taught instrumental music and continues to prioritize and advocate for the value of music education. She actively seeks opportunities to connect personally with the communities for whom she writes, and she is passionate about empowering others through art. She strives to set a positive example for future generations of musicians– especially those from historically underrepresented groups– through her creative work and her dedication to mental health awareness. As a lifelong environmentalist, she not only draws inspiration from the natural world but also uses her platform to advocate for conservation awareness and action.  

    Cait was the winner of the Canadian Band Association’s composition prize in 2017 and is an Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre. She holds degrees in music and education from the University of Toronto, but is an advocate of people pursuing their passions regardless of their field of study. All works are self-published under Cait Nishimura Music. 

  • Hailed as “A fiery alto saxophonist and prolific composer” by the Star Tribune (Minneapolis), Aakash Mittal is emerging as an expressive artistic voice. His self-released album, Videsh, has been regarded as, "point[ing] toward new possibilities in improvised music." (The Denver Post) As a composer and improviser, Mittal employs colorful dissonances, meditative silences, and angular rhythms to express environments and spaces ranging from the American west to the dense streets of Kolkata.

    Mittal has performed nationally at such venues as The Dakota (Minneapolis), The Cultural Center of Chicago, The Blue Room, (Kansas City) and Dazzle Jazz Club (Denver). Internationally, Aakash Mittal has led a quartet at the Congo Square Jazz Festival in Kolkata, India. As a sideman, Mittal as performed in Kolkata with world- renowned percussionist Pandit Tanmoy Bose’s Taal Tantra, and with the creative music ensemble Kendraka. In 2012 Mittal toured Mexico with Ravish Momin’s Trio Tarana. Other collaborations include PI Recordings artist Amir Elsaffar, avant- garde poet Bhanu Kapil, Yells at Eels with Dennis Gonzalez, and Joining Hands with bharatnatyam dancer Anjal Chande.

    As a composer, Aakash Mittal has written extensively for jazz quartet composing over fifty new works. Other commissions include, Urban Raga (2011), Transitions (2011), and Questions of Identity (2012) for the Playground Ensemble; Octet on Raga Yaman (2009) for the Ethos West Chamber Orchestra. In 2012 Mittal wrote Meditation for Pictures on Silence saxophone and harp duo. As a leader, Mittal has self-released four recordings, Possible Beginnings, Videsh, Thumbs Up EP, and Ocean to rave reviews.

    Aakash Mittal’s awards and honors include the Chamber Music America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music (2012) and the Herb Albert/ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award (2013). Aakash Mittal is a 2013 American Institute of Indian Studies Creative and Performing Arts Fellow.

  • Paul Cravens (b. 1989) is a composer and church musician from Minnesota. He received his undergraduate degree in composition from Concordia College (Moorhead, MN), where he studied with Daniel Breedon and Steven Makela. Paul went on to earn his M.A. from the University of New Hampshire with Andrew Boysen, Jr. Following his studies, he briefly served as the music director at Faith Lutheran Church in his hometown of Hutchinson, Minnesota. He now resides in the Twin Cities as a freelance composer and musician, and is a member of ASCAP.

    At the core of Paul’s portfolio are his works for concert band, including his two symphonies. In 2017, Symphony No. 1 was selected for the National Band Association’s Young Composer & Conductor Mentor Project, where its third movement received a performance by the United States Air Force Band. In 2020, Paul completed Symphony No. 2, entitled Chromosphere, for a consortium of eight college and high school bands across the country. More recently, Paul has been expanding his catalog to include young band, orchestral, and choral pieces.

    Paul’s latest premieres include: The Snicklefritz Swing (concert band), Caritas Christi Urget Nos (choir), One Brave Knight (concert band), Prayer for Healing (concert band), A Cord of Three Strands (brass trio), And the Word (choir & orchestra), O Little Town of Bethlehem (arr. for choir & orchestra), and Bounce! (concert band).

    A number of higher learning institutions have collaborated with Paul, including: the College of Wooster, Concordia College, the Ohio State University, Southern New Hampshire University, St. Olaf College, the University of New Hampshire, and the University of North Texas. Paul has also worked with Agape Christi Academy, Bridgewater-Raritan High School, Brunswick High School, Charlotte Catholic High School, Epping High School, Fergus Falls Secondary School, Hutchinson High School, Manchester Central High School, Manchester Memorial High School, New Prague High School, Noble High School, NRHEG High School, Pierz Healy High School, Pinkerton Academy, Spaulding High School, Staples-Motley High School, and Valley City High School, as well as multiple churches.

    Throughout his life, Paul has been inspired and influenced by a wide variety of music and composers; beginning with John Williams and Rich Mullins, this now includes everything from Brahms to Bruckner, Sibelius to Snarky Puppy, Tchaikovsky to Toto, and Maslanka to Mannheim Steamroller. Paul’s music often features strong, inevitable melodies supported by rich harmonies and lush orchestration. He strives to make a profound statement with every musical phrase, resulting in an intensely emotional experience.

  • Wes Coffin is a rising young composer from Brunswick, Maine. He primarily writes contemporary music for a wide variety of ensembles and chamber groups. Wes was influenced by rock and metal music growing up, and those early influences crossed paths with modern classical music and jazz during his high school years. These different styles of music alchemized into a lush, strong, and energetic musical palette from which he draws upon to create his music.

    His works have been recognized in statewide, national, and international competitions, including the New Mexico State Young Composer’s Initiative, the Rachel Moore Choral Composition Contest, the Symphony New Hampshire 100th Anniversary Student Composition Contest, the MACH 1: Breaking the Sound Barrier Commission Competition hosted by the USAF Heritage of America Band, and the 2024-25 Dallas Winds Call for Fanfares. His music has been performed internationally, most recently with the premiere of his string trio “Amped Up”, which was performed in South Korea.

    He currently holds a BM in Music Composition from the University of New Hampshire, and will be pursuing a master’s degree at the University of Texas in 2025.

  • Dr. Kevin Day (b. 1996) is an award-winning, multi-disciplinary composer, jazz pianist and conductor based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Internationally acclaimed as one of the world’s leading musical voices, Dr. Day’s work is known as a vibrant exploration of diverse musical traditions from contemporary classical, jazz, R&B, Soul and more. A unique voice in the world of classical music, Dr. Day takes inspiration from a broad range of sources, including romanticism, late 20th century music, jazz fusion and gospel. Across all areas, his work explores the complex interplay of rhythm, texture and melody across genres. 

    Dr. Day burst onto the musical scene in 2018 with his Concerto for Euphonium, which has since gone on to become a Classic FM sensation and has been recently performed by the United States Marine Band. Since then, some of the world’s top instrumental soloists, wind bands, chamber ensembles and symphony orchestras have commissioned and performed his works, including the Cincinnati Opera, Houston Symphony Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Winds, Nu Deco Ensemble, Boston Brass, Capitol Quartet, Puerto Rican Trombone Ensemble, Syrinx Quintet, Sheffield Chamber Players and many others throughout the United States, Canada, Austria, Taiwan, South Africa, Australia and Japan. Dr. Day is the recipient of numerous awards, including a Copland House Residency Award, the MacDowell Fellowship for Music Composition, the BMI Composer Award, the TCU Alumni Outstanding Young Professional Award, a three-time ASCAP Morton Gould Finalist, a finalist for the ABA Sousa-Oswald Award, a finalist twice for the NBA Revelli Award, and many more. He was also selected as the 3rd Prize Winner of the 2020 New Classics International Competition for Young Composers at the Moscow Conservatory.

    Dr. Day’s original opera, Lalovavi: An Afrofuturist Opera in Three Acts, will premiere at the Cincinnati Opera as the lead work in its ground-breaking new Black Opera Project. The work is the first of three commissioned by the Cincinnati Opera as part of its initiative to engage Black creators in developing new works celebrating Black stories. As part of the project, Dr. Day is collaborating with renowned director Kimille Howard and librettist Tifara Brown, who’s recognized as one of the country’s leading performance poets. Other recent works include his acclaimed Concerto for Wind Ensemble and Birds in the Cathedral, as well as Ignition, commissioned by the Boston Symphony Low Brass and Unquiet Waters, commissioned by Jordan VanHemert.

    In addition to his work as a composer, Dr. Day also enjoys an active career as a jazz pianist. Passionate about collaborations that reimagine and advance the future of jazz as an art form, he brings his extensive musical background to the stage and studio as improviser and collaborator. He’s currently working on a debut solo album. His music has been featured on numerous high profile releases, including albums by Thomas Mesa and Michelle Cann, The Alias Chamber Ensemble, Jeremy Wilson, Jarrett McCourt, and Nicki Roman.

    He holds degrees from Texas Christian University (TCU), the University of Georgia, and the University of Miami. He has studied composition with Dorothy Hindman, Charles Norman Mason, Peter Van Zandt Lane, Emily Koh, Gabriela Lena Frank, and Neil Anderson-Himmelspach.

  • Satoshi YAGISAWA was born in 1975 in Japan and graduated from the prestigious Musashino Academia Musicae with a degree in composition. He later continued his studies there graduating with master’s degree in composition two years later.His works for wind orchestra are popular in Japan and in many countries and are published by Hal Leonard Europe (de Haske) and Japanese publishers. They have been performed widely at the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles Conferences (WASBE) and the Midwest Band & Orchestra Clinic in Chicago.In Japan, he was commissioned by the National Sports Festival to compose the opening ceremonial music. Yagisawa is in high demand not only in Japan but throughout the world as adjudicator, guest conductor, clinician and writer for music magazines. Currently, he is teaching at KOBE COLLEGE in Japan.He is one of the most prolific composers in Japan today and was awarded the 21st Japan Academic Society of Winds, Percussion and Brass Award (2011) and the Japanese Band Directors Association Shitaya Encouragement Award (2011).His major works include A Poem for Wind Orchestra – Hymn to the Infinite Sky; Perseus – A Hero’s Quest in the Heavens; Machu Picchu: City in the Sky – The mystery of the hidden Sun Temple; To Be Vivid Stars; and Let’s have Hope for a Better Tomorrow (a symbolic song for the reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake).