The UCLA Wind Ensemble opens its 2018–19 season by continuing its yearlong centenary celebration of American musician Leonard Bernstein, performing transcriptions of music from his two most famous Broadway shows, CANDIDE (1956) and WEST SIDE STORY (1957).
The concert begins with the whimsical Overture to CANDIDE and ends with “Make Our Garden Grow,” the finale from the same show. The popular Symphonic Dances from WEST SIDE STORY includes some of the best-loved songs from the groundbreaking musical, including the Prologue, “Somewhere,” “Mambo,” and “Cool.”
Shorter works by two American composers and friends of the UCLA Wind Ensemble complete the program: John Mackey’s lush and lyrical Sheltering Sky and the joyful Early Light, performed in honor of its composer, Carolyn Bremer, a longtime faculty member at Cal State Long Beach who passed away suddenly in September 2018.