The UCLA Symphonic Band opens the concert with a selection of favorites from the wind band repertoire. The UCLA Wind Ensemble follows with a program of commemorations originally intended for spring 2020. Thus, the concert celebrates the 22nd anniversary of the film Dancer in the Dark, starring and featuring music by Björk; Beethoven’s 252nd birthday, via Timothy Mahr’s Fantasia in G, based on the “Ode to Joy;” the 27th anniversary of Los Angeles composer Frank Ticheli’s Blue Shades, and Music for Prague by Karel Husa, a powerful four-movement work that became a kind of instant classic, enjoying more than 7,000 performances to date.
This event is made possible by the David and Irmgard Dobrow Fund. Classical music was a passion of the Dobrows, who established a generous endowment at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music to make programs like this possible. We are proud to celebrate this program as part of the 2022 - 23 Dobrow Series.