The UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music’s Hodgson Wind Ensemble will perform its first concert of the season Sept. 13 at 8 p.m. in Hodgson Concert Hall.
The ensemble will perform three works, all of which stand as some of the most notable works of composers Julius Fucik, Karel Husa and David Maslanka. To broaden the reach of the concert and bring the music to more people, the ensemble is experimenting in several extra-musical ways for this performance.
There will be no admission charge. Instead, attendees are encouraged to bring a canned food item for the UGA Food Bank. Also, any attendees in balcony seats to the left or right of the stage are encouraged to bring their phones and join a conversation on social media about the concert in real time.
Using the hashtag #HWElive, those in “tweet seats” can share video, talk about what they’ve heard, and even ask questions that participating faculty and graduate students will answer.
The program begins with Maslanka’s “A Child’s Garden of Dreams.” Composed in 1981, the work, often considered Maslanka’s first symphony, is an original interpretation of Carl Jung’s writings about a young girl who dreams her own death.
Husa’s “Music for Prague” has been performed over 7,000 times since its creation in 1969. A kind of musical memoir, it recalls Husa’s flight from Czechoslovakia in 1968 as Soviet forces invaded and destroyed his home city.
While the first two works explore external and internal horrors, they are peppered with what Cynthia Johnston Turner, director of bands, calls “moments of pure light,” and the final work of the concert embraces that lightness. Fucik’s “The Florentiner March” is one of his most widely known works, written by the Czech composer in 1907.
The UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music sponsors more than 350 performances each year. To view the performance calendar, subscribe to the weekly email concert listing or learn more about the School of Music, go to music.uga.edu.
