Symphonic Wind Ensemble

Mallory Thompson, conductor; Jacob Nissly, guest percussion soloist 

A program of works evoking the natural and mechanical worlds. The wind arrangement of Adam Schoenberg’s percussion concerto Losing Earth, originally written for the San Francisco Symphony, was commissioned by Mallory Thompson and Northwestern’s Symphonic Wind Ensemble. This world premiere features Northwestern alumnus and San Francisco Symphony principal percussionist Jacob Nissly. Shuying Li’s The Last Hivemind and “Machine” from William Bolcom’s Symphony No. 5 reflect machines and humanity’s relationship to them. Warren Benson’s introspective The Leaves Are Falling was written as an expression of grief after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It is based on Rilke’s poem “Autumn,” which includes the words “And in the nights the heavy earth is falling from all the stars down into loneliness.”