The very first instrument in human history was the voice, thus all instrumental music is essentially born from the sounds first made by man himself. Nowhere in the modern instrumental world is this more evident than in a wind ensemble, where the majority of sound is created by the very same breath that activates the voice. This program explores the connection between the human voice and instruments; each work highlights the inspiration found in singing, and in some cases features the voice itself intermingled with the many instrumental sounds of the wind ensemble. Included on this performance are Gustav Holst’s classic Second Suite in F for Military Band and Edward Elgar’s arrangement of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 537, transcribed for band by Captain Ryan J. Nowlin. The performance culminates with the Washington, D.C., première of James Stephenson’s Symphony No. 2, Voices, which was composed specifically for “The President’s Own.”

Program