Mallory Thompson’s Final Bow
/sites/default/files/2024-11/mallory_feature.jpgMallory Thompson's nearly three-decade tenure concluded this year with a celebratory series of performances, culminating in late May as hundreds of alumni returned to campus to attend her final Northwestern concert.
A final bow for Mallory Thompson
/sites/default/files/2024-04/20240416_mallory.jpegAfter nearly three decades of dedication and service to the Bienen School of Music, Mallory Thompson is preparing to take her final bows in the first of two final concerts at Northwestern.
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2024/04/a-final-bow-for-mallory-thompson/Bienen Ensembles Bands /sites/default/files/styles/event_featured_image/public/2024-02/Apr19_SWE_web.jpg?itok=VXv1BrIy
Mallory Thompson, conductor
The ensemble’s first concert of the spring quarter focuses on inspiration and dedication. A cherished cornerstone of the wind repertoire, the Robert Reynolds transcription of Morten Lauridsen’s choral setting of O magnum mysterium is a centerpiece of the performance, which also features music of Egil Hovland and Joan Tower. The concert concludes with a work by Northwestern alumnus and member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra trumpet section Michael Martin. His Lontano: Symphony for Wind Ensemble was premiered by the Symphonic Wind Ensemble in 2016, and is dedicated to Mallory Thompson and the ensemble.
Egil Hovland, Fanfare and Choral
Morten Lauridsen (trans. H. Robert Reynolds), O magnum mysterium
Joan Tower, Fascinating Ribbons
Michael Martin, Lontano: Symphony for Wind Ensemble
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This performance is SOLD OUT.
Mallory Thompson, conductor
The ensemble’s final concert of the academic year celebrates the career and musical leadership of conductor Mallory Thompson, retiring from her Director of Bands position after 28 years at Northwestern University. The program, featuring a variety of wind ensemble favorites, opens with Dr. Thompson’s arrangement of the Prelude to Act III, Dance, and Finale from Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, which she dedicated to her teacher and mentor Donald Hunsberger. Concluding the evening is David Maslanka’s monumental Symphony No. 4.
A celebratory reception will take place in the Pick-Staiger Concert Hall lobby following the performance.
Richard Wagner (tr. Mallory Thompson), Prelude to Act III, Dance of the Apprentices, and Finale from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Ben Horne, Deep River
J. S. Bach (tr. Donald Hunsberger), Toccata and Fugue in D Minor
David Maslanka, Symphony No. 4
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Mallory Thompson, conductor; James Giles, piano
The ensemble’s first winter performance is centered around the inspiration composers have found in music from the past. Neo-classical composer Igor Stravinsky’s Circus Polka was commissioned by the Barnum and Bailey circus and written for a performance featuring 50 trained elephants and 50 dancers. Stravinsky’s Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments, featuring Bienen faculty pianist James Giles, takes its inspiration from the 18th century three-movement form. Giovanni Gabrieli’s timeless Canzon primi toni, showcasing resplendent brass choirs, is followed by Kathryn Salfelder’s Cathedrals, directly influenced by Gabrieli and 16th-century counterpoint. Closing the program is Paul Dooley’s Masks and Machines, which takes inspiration from Stravinsky’s ballet Pulcinella as well as Renaissance-inspired dance performances by Oskar Schlemmer.
Igor Stravinsky (orch. David Raksin), Circus Polka
Igor Stravinsky, Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments
Giovanni Gabrieli (ed. Robert King), Canzon primi toni from Sacrae symphoniae
Kathryn Salfelder, Cathedrals
Paul Dooley, Masks and Machines
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Mallory Thompson, conductor
The ensemble’s second winter concert opens with two works by the late Romantic composer Richard Strauss. His Festmusik der Stadt Wien is a thrilling tribute to the City Council of Vienna, who had given Strauss a Beethoven Prize the year prior. Inspired by the music of Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven, Strauss composed his Serenade, Op. 7 at the age of 17. Anna Clyne’s Masquerade, a vibrant tribute to the 18th-century promenades held in London’s Pleasure Gardens, closes the first half of the concert. Karel Husa’s Concerto for Wind Ensemble concludes the performance with a showcase of the technical and virtuosic abilities of each instrument in the ensemble.
Richard Strauss, Festmusik der Stadt Wien (Festival Music for the City of Vienna)
Richard Strauss, Serenade in E-flat Major, Op. 7
Anna Clyne (trans. Dennis Llinás), Masquerade
Karel Husa, Concerto for Wind Ensemble
Northwestern’s first woman director of bands to retire
/sites/default/files/2023-10/20231006_mallory.jpgMallory Thompson, director of bands and John W. Beattie Chair of Music at the Bienen School of Music, will retire at the end of the 2023-24 academic year following a 28-year teaching and conducting career at Northwestern.
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2023/10/northwesterns-first-woman-directo…‘Spring Fanfare’ honors the breadth of all that is Northwestern
/sites/default/files/2023-05/20230524_spring-fanfare.jpgThe Northwestern presidential inauguration will feature members of the Symphonic Wind Ensemble performing “Spring Fanfare,” commissioned by the University and composed by Bienen professor Alex Mincek.
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2023/05/university-commissions-ceremonial…Bienen concert premieres commissioned wind arrangement of ‘Losing Earth’
/sites/default/files/2022-10/20221020_nissly_swe.jpgThe Symphonic Wind Ensemble, joined by special guest and alumnus Jacob Nissly ’05, principal percussionist at the San Francisco Symphony, will present the world premiere of “Losing Earth” by Adam Schoenberg.
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2022/10/bienen-concert-premieres-commissi…Bienen ensembles perform works by Nemmers Prize winner William Bolcom
/sites/default/files/2022-04/20220405_bolcom_events.jpgThis April, the Bienen School of Music will feature three performances of works by William Bolcom, the 2021 Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Music Composition winner.
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2022/04/bienen-ensembles-perform-works-by…Mallory Thompson to receive Medal of Honor at Midwest Clinic
/sites/default/files/2019-12/20191212_thompson_midwest.jpgBienen School faculty member Mallory Thompson will be awarded the prestigious Medal of Honor at the International Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic on December 18, 2019.
The Symphonic Wind Ensemble Celebrates 50 Years
/sites/default/files/2019-12/20191001_swe50.jpgThe Bienen School’s Symphonic Wind Ensemble (SWE) commemorated its 50th anniversary June 8-9 with a celebration of music and fellowship in Evanston.
Mallory Thompson featured on Northwestern Intersections podcast
/sites/default/files/2019-06/20190606_mallory_podcast.jpgIn the latest Northwestern Intersections podcast, Mallory Thompson (79, G80) discusses her “family” at Northwestern, including an extensive alumni network that she has cultivated for the past 23 years as director of bands. Thompson also discusses the Symphonic Wind Ensemble 50th Anniversary Celebration.
Symphonic Wind Ensemble celebrates 50th anniversary June 8 and 9
/sites/default/files/2019-05/20190410_swe_reunion.jpgThe Symphonic Wind Ensemble will commemorate the 50th anniversary of its founding with a two-day celebration June 8 and 9, culminating in a performance featuring more than 150 Bienen School alumni.
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2019/05/symphonic-wind-ensemble-50th-anni…Mallory Thompson is director of bands, professor of music, coordinator of the conducting program, and holds the John W. Beattie Chair of Music at Northwestern University.
Learn MoreSymphonic Wind Ensemble to perform at CBDNA conference
/sites/default/files/2019-04/20170317_swe.jpgThe Northwestern University Symphonic Wind Ensemble will perform at the 39th national conference of the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) on Saturday, March 18, 2017.
Northwestern University Music in November
/sites/default/files/2018-01/20161026_november_concerts.jpgA performance by classical guitarist Marcin Dylla and a vocal master class led by mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard will open two year-long concert series as part of a busy November events calendar from the Bienen School of Music.
Trailblazers: Two Bienen students featured as senior standouts
/sites/default/files/2018-01/20160616_trailblazers_0.jpgFirst-generation college students often encounter an unknown world when they arrive on campus. Bienen School seniors Thaddeus Tukes and Alexandria Hoffman are among a group of eight “senior standouts” featured in a recent article from Northwestern Magazine highlighting the perseverance and resilience of first-generation students.
Opening Year Celebration Events
/sites/default/files/2018-01/20160613_opening_year.jpgThroughout the 2015–16 academic year, special events celebrated the Bienen School of Music’s new Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Center for the Musical Arts, commemorating the transformative time in the school’s history.
Bienen School Continues New Year With New Music
/sites/default/files/2018-01/20160205_new_music.jpgThe new music season at Northwestern University continues this winter with performances of new works, including the world premieres of pieces by composers Joel Puckett and Benjamin Hjertmann.
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2016/02/bienen-new-musicAll in the “Family”
/sites/default/files/2018-03/20151201_all_family.jpgMallory Thompson and 20 to 30 of her current and former students convene at the Midwest Clinic international band and orchestra conference every December to reconnect, reminisce, and meet new peers.
Professors Thompson and Nally named John W. Beattie Chair of Music
/sites/default/files/2018-03/20151020_beattie_chairs.jpgTwo distinguished Bienen School professors will serve as concurrent chairs
Northwestern Spring Choral Season Combines Ensembles
/sites/default/files/2018-08/20150416_choral.jpgThe Midwest premiere of “Lost Objects” by three Bang on a Can new music composers -- and the world premiere of “Canticle” by composer Imant Raminsh during a concert commemorating the 150th anniversary of the end of the American Civil War -- are among the choral and collaborative performances taking place at Northwestern University this spring.
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2015/04/northwestern-spring-choral-season…Bach to Bernstein on Bienen School Annual Millennium Park Program
/sites/default/files/2018-08/05062014_millenium.jpgHolst’s arrangement of Bach’s “Fugue a la Gigue” and Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from “West Side Story” -- performed by Northwestern University’s Symphonic Wind Ensemble -- will provide the audience with free outdoor entertainment Memorial Day weekend.
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2014/05/bach-to-bernstein-on-bienen-schoo…Pulitzer Prize Winner Joseph Schwantner to Appear at Four Events
/sites/default/files/2018-08/01272014_schwantner.jpgPulitzer Prize-winning composer and alumnus Joseph Schwantner will return to Northwestern University’s Evanston campus in early February for a residency that will include four special public events with seven Northwestern ensembles and the world premiere of his “Chapel Music.”
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2014/01/pulitzer-prize-winner-joseph-schw…Institute for New Music Pays Tribute to Ned Rorem
/sites/default/files/2022-11/20130924_ned_rorem.jpgThe Institute for New Music at the Bienen School of Music will present a two-day celebration of composer Ned Rorem’s 90th birthday October 10-11.