MetWinds Fall Concert: There’s a First Time for Everything
Sunday, November 1, 3 pm, pre-concert lecture at 2:30 pm
Scottish Rite Museum, 33 Marrett Road, Lexington
Gabe Sanborn, Debuting Music Director
Tickets: $20 adults, $15 seniors, $5 students, free for children under age 5, available in mid-August at eventbrite.com
Free parking is available on site, the Scottish Rite Museum is barrier-free for easy access
MetWinds opens its 56th season of Greater Boston region concerts with a program built entirely around beginnings. “There’s a First Time for Everything” celebrates the debut works of some of the concert band repertoire’s most significant voices, including John Mackey, Frank Ticheli, and Dana Wilson, each represented by the very first piece they wrote or arranged for band. The program also resounds to Gustav Holst’s “First Suite in E-flat,” the piece widely credited with establishing symphonic bands as a serious concert ensemble, marking their place alongside orchestras. Fittingly, the afternoon also marks a first of its own — the inaugural performance led by MetWinds’ new music director, Gabe Southard.
“There’s a First Time for Everything” features repertoire including Adam Gorb’s “Awayday,” Holst’s “First Suite in E-flat for Military Band” (edited by Colin Matthews), John Mackey’s “Strange Humors,” Dana Wilson’s “Piece of Mind,” John Stevens’ “Benediction,” and Frank Ticheli’s “Postcard.”
Dr. Robert “Gabe” Southard joined the faculty of Gordon College in 2022 as Associate Teaching Professor of Music, where he conducts the Gordon Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Band. He previously served as Associate Professor of Music and Director of Bands at Hope College in Michigan, leading the Winds and Brass area and the Instrumental Music Education area, and earlier held posts as Wind Symphony conductor and flute instructor at the University of Michigan-Flint. Southard holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting from Michigan State University, along with master’s and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Ithaca College. An active orchestrator, his projects include a wind ensemble arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Symphony No. 2, “Antar.” As a flutist, Southard has performed as principal flute of the Holland Symphony Orchestra and with several other orchestras, and in 2020 was named a Pearl Flute Artist. Southard was selected as MetWinds’ new music director after leading the ensemble through a season of guest-conducted concerts and takes the podium full time this season.
MetWinds, formally known as the Metropolitan Wind Symphony, was founded in 1971 by Jerry Gardner, and was honored with the Sudler Silver Scroll Award for Community Concert Bands from the John Philip Sousa Foundation. The all-volunteer ensemble draws more than 60 auditioned woodwind, brass and percussion musicians from over 30 communities across Massachusetts and neighboring states, and has called the town of Lexington home for 20 years. MetWinds is a longtime contributor to the region’s wind band literature through its Commissioning Fund and has helped shape the local music education landscape through programs including the Boston Festival of Bands and the Continuum series.
MetWinds’ concerts are funded in whole or in part by local cultural councils, chapters of Massachusetts Cultural Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts. MetWinds also participates in the Card to Culture Program, which offers reduced admission to EBT, WIC and Health Connector cardholders.
For tickets and more information, visit metwinds.org, and follow MetWinds on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.