SU Symphony Band, Wind Ensemble Feb. 27 concert to feature Godfrey world premiere

The world premiere of a piece by renowned composer and Syracuse University faculty member Daniel S. Godfrey will be on the program of a joint concert by the SU Wind Ensemble and Symphony Band on Sunday, Feb. 27, at 2 p.m. in the Rose and Jules R. Setnor Auditorium, Crouse College. The concert is free and open to the public. Parking is available in the Irving Garage and Hillside lot.

The symphony band performs under the direction of Justin J. Mertz, assistant director of bands at SU and a faculty member in the Rose, Jules R. and Stanford S. Setnor School of Music in SU’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA), and Brent Paris, graduate conducting associate. The program will feature Ron Nelson’s “Morning Alleluias,” Percy Grainger’s “Country Gardens,” Jack Stamp’s “Pastime” and Eric Whitacre’s “October.”

The wind ensemble performs under the direction of John M. Laverty, director of bands at SU and a faculty member in the Setnor School. The program will include John Adams’ “Lallapalooza,” Ottorino Respighi’s “The Pines of Rome” and the world premiere of Godfrey’s “Kopanítsa.” Mertz and James O. Welsch, a faculty member in the Setnor School, will appear as guest conductors. Gabriel V. DiMartino, also a faculty member in the Setnor School, will appear as trumpet soloist.

Godfrey, left, a professor of composition in the Setnor School, has earned awards and commissions from the J. S. Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University, the Rockefeller Foundation (Bellagio Center), the Bogliasco Foundation (Liguria Study Center), the Koussevitzky Music Foundation at the Library of Congress, the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition, the Indiana State University/Louisville Orchestra Competition, the National Repertory Orchestra/U.S. West Foundation Competition (first prize), the Maine Arts Commission, the New York Foundation for the Arts (Met Life Fellowship) and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, among others. He is founder and co-director of the Seal Bay Festival of American Chamber Music and is co-author of “Music Since 1945” (with Elliott Schwartz, Schirmer Books, 1993).

Godfrey’s works are recorded on Albany, CRI, GM, Innova, Klavier, Koch, UK Light and Mark CDs. His music has been performed across the United States and in Canada, Europe, Japan, Latin America and Taiwan. His works have also been performed on more than 70 college and university campuses in the United States and abroad.

For more information, contact the University Band Office at (315) 443-2194 or fmmoore@syr.edu.