Gustavus Wind Orchestra on Tour

The Gustavus Wind Orchestra, under the direction of Douglas Nimmo, departs on an 8-day Midwest concert tour which includes concerts in Brainerd and Duluth, Minnesota, before traveling to Wisconsin for performances in Wausau, Appleton, Hartford and Middleton. The wind orchestra’s final performance is scheduled in Owatonna, Minnesota, on February 5. The entire schedule can be found at:  http://gustavus.edu/music/winds/gwo/touringschedule.php

The Gustavus Wind Orchestra presented its first concert in 1878 and is believed to be the oldest music ensemble west of the Mississippi River. Conductor Douglas Nimmo is now in his 24th season as Music Director of the Gustavus Wind Orchestra. Under his guidance the ensemble has toured throughout the United States and Europe, including tours through Scandinavia, Central and Eastern Europe. In January 2010, the Gustavus Wind Orchestra returned to central and eastern Europe with performances in the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Austria.

For the 2011 tour, Nimmo has programmed works written or arranged for wind orchestra which highlight the tremendous variety of literature available for the ensemble. The concert opens with Jack Stamp’s Fanfare for a New Era, the three-movement New England Tryptich by William Schuman and The Solitary Dancer, written in 1969 by Warren Benson. It continues with Sousa’s King Cotton march, Percy Grainger’s Handel in the Strand and Lux Arumque by Eric Whitacre. The performance concludes with the 6 movements of Roger Cichy’s Bugs (Prelude – Dragonfly – Praying Mantis – Black Widow Spider – Tiger Swallowtail – Army Ants), Vic Firth’s Encore in Jazz, which features the percussion section, and the finale, Prelude and Dance by Paul Creston.

Following its return to Gustavus. the Gustavus Wind Orchestra will present its annual Home Concert in Christ Chapel on Saturday, February 12 at 2:00 p.m. This performance, like the concerts on the tour, is free and open to the public.