10/31/97
ATHENS, Ohio -- The Ohio University Concert Band and Wind Ensemble will perform a free public concert featuring a specially commissioned piece by internationally acclaimed composer Roberto Sierra at 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6, in Grover Center Auditorium.
"The purpose of having this commissioned was to have one of the brightest composers in our country today write a piece for band," said Ohio University Director of Bands John Climer. "He had not yet composed for band until this piece."
Composing for band is similar to composing for orchestra, Sierra said, but bands contain a multitude of wind instruments. "It's a fascinating sound. I found it very interesting and stimulating to compose for a wind ensemble," he said.
Titled "Diferencias," Sierra's piece was commissioned by Ohio, Yale, Duke and Cornell universities, two schools within the State University of New York system and the College Band Directors' National Association. The piece debuted recently at Cornell, and the Athens performance will mark only the second or third public performance of the music, Climer said. The evening's presentation will begin with the concert band, followed by the wind ensemble's performance, which includes Sierra's piece.
"It's very energetic," Climer said of the piece. "It has a lot of wonderful tonal colors." The five-section piece was especially challenging for music students, Climer said, because of the layering effect created by the interaction of brass, percussion and woodwind instruments. "They've had to work hard at being independent performers."
Sierra gained prominence in 1987 when his first major orchestral composition, "Jubilo," debuted at Carnegie Hall. His music has been performed by the New York Philharmonic, major metropolitan orchestras throughout the United States, the National Symphony Orchestra and England's BBC Symphony. His work also has premiered at prestigious festivals around the world.
Sierra is a Puerto Rico native who studied at the Conservatory of Music and the University of Puerto Rico as well as the Royal College of Music, the University of London and the Institute for Sonology in Utrecht, The Netherlands. He completed advanced work in composition at the Hochschule fur Musik in Hamburg, Germany, under renowned artist Gyorgy Ligeti. In 1989, Sierra became composer-in-residence of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, where he initiated programs to encourage new American compositions. He teaches composition at Cornell University.
Sierra will be on the Athens campus for three days as a visiting artist. He will have an opportunity to work with concert performers before the Nov. 6 event and also meet with the university's music composition students. A forum during which Sierra will discuss his work as a composer and issues relating to contemporary music is open to the public at 2 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6, in Room 476 of Ohio University's Music Building.
Sierra said he has heard wonderful reports on the quality of the concert band and wind ensemble. "I'm looking forward to what I know will be a terrific performance," he said.
Climer expressed gratitude to the Alpha Delta Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi and the Alpha Delta Chapter of Tau Beta Sigma, which helped finance the commissioned piece, as well as the School of Music for making the project possible.