The Wind Ensemble’s second concert of the season opens with a brand-new work by Alexandra Gardner, Perseids. Named for the meteor shower visible in the Northern hemisphere in July and August, the work is a metaphorical navigational tool in a program inspired by travel. We will then set out with Pulitzer Prize winning composer Jennifer Higdon’s Road Stories, an optimistic and variegated work that combines nostalgia and irrepressible energy. The second half of the program is dedicated to John Mackey’s epic Wine Dark Sea. This 30-minute symphony for band that explores three central themes from Homer’s Odyssey, perhaps the greatest road story of all time.

The Wind Ensemble, directed by Carolyn Barber, is the university’s premiere concert band. Its select mission is to provide instrumentalists of advanced technical proficiency a pre-professional ensemble experience.