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Contents

Festival Events
Program Notes
Orchestra & Staff

Festival Events

Friday, June 26 — 9:30-11 AM | Kids Instrument Zoo (Free). Hands-on fun for kids and curious adults. Instrumental demonstration followed by a time to try out the instruments from local musicians. Bohnet Music Academy sponsoring. Last year 90 kids came out to give it a whirl!

Friday, June 26 — 7 PM | Chamber Music Soirée. Great date night! Patriotic desserts by Carolyn Wilson + festive adult beverages by Carmen Horner. Featured music: Carpenter’s Quartet for Stringed Instruments, songs with soprano Emily Schmitz, and Copland’s famous Appalachian Spring. Buy tickets here. Registration Closed.

Saturday, June 27 — 7–9 PM | New-Music Forum at Vine Wine Bar (618 Main St). Open to anyone interested in informal composition discussion with living composer David Canfield of Bloomington, IN. Enjoy a few live performances of short works and buy a glass of wine to support our friends at Vine!

Sunday, June 28 — 3:30 PM | Finale Concert (Free). The community-wide choir and large orchestra join for our biggest concert of the festival! Hear patriotic works Carpenter’s Song of Faith and Dvořák’s The American Flag. Followed by a Red, White and Blue Dessert Reception on the patio.

Program Notes

An Outdoor Overture
Aaron Copland (1900–1990)

Aaron Copland composed An Outdoor Overture in response to a commission from Alexander Richter, director of the High School of Music and Art in New York City. Richter, seeking  “American music for American youth,” wanted a single-movement work that was optimistic in tone and would suit the technical and emotional capacities of talented high school musicians while helping build future audiences for new American music. 

Copland, who was already deeply committed to creating accessible, artistically substantial music for young performers (as seen in his “play-opera” The Second Hurricane of 1937), interrupted work on his ballet Billy the Kid to fulfill the request. He completed the piece rapidly in 1938. It premiered on December 16, 1938, in the school’s auditorium, performed by Richter and the High School of Music and Art Orchestra.

The title An Outdoor Overture evokes a sense of open air, spaciousness, and youthful vitality—qualities that define the music itself. Copland later arranged the work for concert band (1941), which was premiered by the Goldman Band in 1942 with the composer conducting. 

The overture opens with a bold fanfare (drawn in part from a brief Signature fanfare Copland had written earlier that year). A broad, singing trumpet solo follows, accompanied by pizzicato strings, establishing the work’s “prophetic” and expansive character. Elliott Carter praised this opening as “as lofty and beautiful as any passage that has been written by a contemporary composer,” noting Copland’s ability to express his voice with striking directness and simplicity. 

The music then moves into a snappy, march-like allegro section featuring repeated-note figures and energetic rhythms. A contrasting lyrical theme, first introduced by the flute, provides a moment of introspection amid the forward drive. These elements—fanfare, march, and lyricism—are developed and eventually recapitulated with vigor, creating a compact, cohesive arc that feels both fresh and inevitable. Copland’s hallmark clarity of texture, open harmonies, rhythmic vitality, and melodic directness are all on full display, giving the piece its unmistakable “American” sound: optimistic and full of possibility. 

Though written for students, An Outdoor Overture has become a favorite with professional orchestras and bands alike. Its exuberance, technical accessibility, and emotional sincerity continue to capture the spirit of American youth and the wide-open landscapes of the national imagination. It remains a sparkling concert opener or standalone work that embodies Copland’s belief in music’s power to speak clearly and inspiringly to all listeners.

Concerto After Elgar
David DeBoor Canfield (b. 1950)

Of the concerto, Canfield writes: I had a two-fold impetus to write this Concerto after Elgar. Many years ago, Kenneth Tse mentioned to me that his favorite piece of music was the Cello Concerto by Sir Edward Elgar, and so I promised him that someday I would write him a saxophone concerto in the style of the great English composer. The second impetus came by the fact that, like the saxophone, the viola was largely bypassed in the concerto medium by all the great composers of the Romantic era, and that I had long desired to help fill that void in the viola literature. 

I was eager to write a major work for my old violist friend, Csaba Erdélyi, formerly on the string faculty of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, I decided to kill the proverbial two-birds-with-one musical stone in the present concerto. This was possible because of the great similarity in the range of the two instruments. Only minimal adjustment in the solo part was needed to compensate for the slight range difference, but more changes were required in it due to the differences in the characteristics of the viola and saxophone. The saxophone version was personalized for Kenneth Tse through the use of the musical letters in his name comprising part of the theme of the opening movement, as well as key areas suggested by the letters in his family name, which yielded tonal regions of C Minor (uT), E-flat Major (eS), and E Minor (E). 

The short score of the Concerto was begun on April 28, 2017, but not completed until February 22, 2018. The considerably longer-than-usual gestation for the piece is explained by two factors. First, I had to interrupt work on this  concerto in order to fill a commission for a large work for the United States Navy Band that was to be premiered in January of 2018. Even the seven-month hiatus I took for that doesn’t explain the length of the writing of the present work, however, since I have sometimes composed entire concertos, including their orchestration, in a period of about two months. As it turned out, Concerto after Elgar caused me more “blood, sweat, and tears” than any other work I can recall in my compositional career. Elgar’s style, while very recognizable, proved to be quite challenging for me to capture convincingly. Additionally, duplicating Elgar’s complex harmonic language presented its own challenges. I found that I had to rewrite certain passages of this work as many as a dozen times before I was satisfied with the result, and even after completing it, I remain skeptical as to how closely a good bit of the work resembles Elgar’s compositional voice. I feel that some sections could have conceivably flowed from the pen of the British master stylistically, and I hope the work can at least stand as a valid musical statement in the Romantic style. 

Concerto after Elgar is cast in the traditional three movements, but there is actually little that is traditional in the structure of any of these movements. Each of them comprises a sequence of slower and faster sections, and each begins with an introduction and ends with a quick flurry of notes. The second movement is essentially two movements conflated into one, merging a noble slow movement with a quicksilver scherzo. Stylistically, I have sought to mimic Elgar through certain harmonic and melodic sequences, including the use of the descending minor seventh, and I also employ Elgar’s frequent change of tempo and tonality, the latter often to distant harmonic areas from those of the fundamental key of each movement. The listener will note my attempt in the last movement to create a new Pomp and Circumstance March in further honor of the great English master. I have also sought to reflect Elgar’s penchant for enigmas, and have incorporated ten short quotes (or “musical puns,” if you will) from this great composer’s body of works, hiding them at various points in the score. A few of these will be rather obvious, but finding some of them will prove a considerable challenge even to the most ardent Elgarian. One of Elgar’s most famous works is, of course, his Enigma Variations, the main theme of which was intended to accompany another melody that Elgar never revealed, leaving musicologists to pursue it ever since. I, however, do not intend to hide my Elgar quotes in perpetuity, and so their locations shall be among my papers for someone to discover after I am gone. Thus, those who try to find these “buried treasures” in this concerto, presuming they outlive me, will eventually know how successful they were in their pursuit.

Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”
Antonin Dvořák (1841–1904)

Antonín Dvořák stands among the most important composers of the late Romantic era and a central figure in Czech musical nationalism. Born on September 8, 1841, in a small village near Prague, he rose from humble beginnings as the son of a butcher and innkeeper to become one of the most celebrated composers of his time.

Dvořák’s music is renowned for its melodic richness, rhythmic vitality, and deep roots in Bohemian and Moravian folk traditions. He achieved international fame with works such as the Slavonic Dances, his Cello Concerto, and nine symphonies. His Symphony No. 9, “From the New World,” written during his stay in the United States (1892–1895), remains one of the most beloved symphonies in the orchestral repertoire.

While serving as director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York, Dvořák encouraged American composers to draw inspiration from their own folk traditions— particularly African-American spirituals and Native American music—helping to shape the future of American classical music.

Warm, optimistic, and profoundly lyrical, Dvořák’s music continues to enchant audiences worldwide. He died in Prague in 1904, leaving behind a body of work that celebrates both national identity and universal human emotion.

Few works in the symphonic repertoire capture a sense of wonder, nostalgia, and cultural crossroads as powerfully as Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 “From the New World.” Written during the composer’s stay in the United States, it is both a love letter to America and a deeply Czech declaration of identity. Its subtitle, “From the New World”, perfectly reflects the dual perspective of an immigrant experiencing a vast new continent while never forgetting his homeland.

In 1892, Dvořák accepted an invitation from Jeannette Thurber to become director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York. He arrived with his family the following year, hoping to help create a distinctly American school of classical music. Dvořák was fascinated by what he heard: African-American spirituals sung by his student Harry T. Burleigh, the rhythms and melodies of Native American music, and the energy of a young, rapidly expanding nation. He encouraged American composers to draw from these “native” sources rather than merely imitating European models. 

Yet the symphony he produced is no simple pastiche of American folk tunes. It is thoroughly Dvořákian—lyrical, structurally masterful, and suffused with the spirit of Bohemian folk music— while incorporating the pentatonic scales, syncopations, and open harmonies that evoked the American landscape for him. 

The work was premiered on December 16, 1893, by the New York Philharmonic under Anton Seidl to enormous acclaim. Within months it had traveled back to Europe, where audiences recognized it immediately as one of the great symphonies of the age. 

First Movement: Adagio–Allegro molto. The symphony opens with a solemn, dark-hued introduction in the low strings and brass, establishing a sense of vast space and anticipation. When the main Allegro bursts forth, it does so with driving energy and a striking main theme built on a falling pentatonic figure. A second, more lyrical theme (often described as having a “plantation song” character) appears in the relative major. The development section is stormy and dramatic, and the movement ends with a triumphant, almost defiant coda. 

Second Movement: Largo. This is the symphony’s emotional heart and one of the most famous slow movements ever written. A poignant, hymn-like melody is first heard on the English horn, accompanied by muted strings—an unforgettable sound that seems to float across a wide prairie or evoke the quiet sorrow of a spiritual. Dvořák later told friends the music suggested the homesickness of a homesick traveler (or, in some accounts, the lament of Hiawatha from Longfellow’s poem, which the composer greatly admired). In 1922, William Arms Fisher added words to this melody, creating the enduring spiritual “Goin’ Home.” The movement’s central section offers a brief contrast before the English horn returns, now even more touching in its simplicity. 

Third Movement: Scherzo (Molto vivace). A bustling, dance-like movement full of Czech furiant rhythms (A furiant is a Bohemian folk dance characterized by its rapid tempo and usage of irregular changing rhythms, hemiolas and syncopation) and playful woodwind writing. The main theme has a skipping, almost woodland quality, while the trio section brings a gentler, more songful contrast. Dvořák reportedly drew inspiration here from the dance of Native Americans he observed, filtered through his own Central European sensibility. 

Fourth Movement: Allegro con fuoco. The finale opens with a bold, march-like theme in the horns and trumpets. It then introduces a broad, singing second subject. Throughout the movement Dvořák cleverly recalls themes from the first and second movements, creating a cyclical structure that unifies the entire symphony. The closing pages are exhilarating, with the full orchestra driving toward a blazing E-major conclusion that feels like a triumphant arrival after a long journey. 

Dvořák’s “New World” Symphony stands as a landmark of late-Romantic music. It proved that a European composer could embrace American sounds without losing his own voice, and it inspired generations of American composers (Copland, Gershwin, and many others) to seek their own national idiom. At the same time, it remains quintessentially Czech in its warmth, melodic generosity, and emotional directness. More than 130 years after its premiere, the symphony still speaks with remarkable freshness. Whether evoking the bustle of 1890s New York, the open skies of the American Midwest, or the quiet longing for home that every traveler knows, Dvořák’s Ninth continues to feel like music that belongs both everywhere and nowhere—truly music “from the New World.”

David DeBoor Canfield, composer
The music of freelance composer David DeBoor Canfield has been heard in 40 countries on five continents, and has been performed by some of the world’s most accomplished soloists, including saxophonists Claude Delangle, Otis Murphy, Eric Nestler, Stephen Page, Timothy Roberts, Kenneth Tse, and the Zzyzx, Oasis, and Kenari Saxophone Quartets; violinists Andrés Cárdenas, Roger Frisch, and Rachel Patrick; cellists Anthony Elliott, Jerome Jellinek, Robert La Marchina, and Daniel Rothmuller, pianists, David Brunell, John O’Conor and Lin-Yo Wang; organists Diane Bish, Janette Fishell, Randall Mullen and David Schrader; trombonist Carl Lenthe; euphonium virtuoso Demondrae Thurman, clarinetists Ronald Caravan and Howard Klug; percussionists Joseph Gramley and John Tafoya; conductors Ian Hobson and Laszlo Varga, and ensembles such as the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, “The President’s Own” United States Marine and United States Navy Bands, Orchestre de la Garde Republicaine, Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, and many others.

Canfield’s music has won numerous accolades and reviews including first place in the Jill Sackler Composition Contest and the Dean’s Prize from Indiana University. His music formed the basis of the three-day Canfield Festival given by faculty and students of the University of Central Oklahoma in 2001, and has been featured at the World Saxophone Congresses of 2003, 2006, 2009, 2012 & 2018. In 1982, his vocal cycle Cats was analyzed in a master class given at Indiana University by Leonard Bernstein. Canfield’s Concerto after Khachaturian opened the 4th International Khachaturian Festival in Yerevan, Armenia on October 6, 2016, and in 2017, he was commissioned by the US Navy Band to write his Concerto after Dvořák for Saxophone Quartet and Symphonic Wind Ensemble. He has been invited to give master classes and composition lessons at various universities including University of Iowa, Indiana University, Mercer University, Berklee College of Music, University of Central Oklahoma, and most recently Brigham Young University, ID where he was in residence for a week. He is a published author with several books and a host of interviews and reviews for Fanfare Magazine. 

Canfield was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on September 23, 1950. Early musical studies were with his father, John Canfield, and graduate studies in composition were undertaken at Indiana University, where Canfield studied primarily with John Eaton, as well as with Frederick Fox and Bernhard Heiden. He received his Master of Music in 1977 and Doctor of Music in 1983. Half of the 200 works in his official catalog have been published to date by Jeanné, Inc., TRN, Evensong Music, Éditions Recherché, JP Publications, and Shanghai Conservatory of Music Press; the majority of them have also been recorded on 24 different record and CD labels from five countries. He is a member of ASCAP and the Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers. In 2023, he was named Composer-in-Residence with Sinfonia da Camera.

Ross Leavitt, saxophone

Ross Leavitt is known for enthusiastic performances of both original saxophone works and transcriptions. He completed a BM in classical saxophone performance at the University of Michigan with Donald Sinta, and has also studied with Timothy McAllister, James Bunte, and David Camwell. 

He won the University of Michigan and Interlochen concerto competitions, was named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts by the White House and a Yamaha Young Performing Artist by Yamaha, was featured in the Metroarts Young Artists Concerto Concert in Portland, Oregon, and was a finalist in the National MTNA Woodwind Competition.

He teaches saxophone and performs Bach, Mozart, contemporary classical, and classic rock as often as his day job allows. He lives in Moscow with his wife and 4 young sons.

David Tedford, guest conductor

Multidimensional conductor and educator, David Tedford is a multiple award-winning conductor, whose passion and vision bridges generations. Music Director of the Bloomsburg Community Orchestra at Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania – Bloomsburg, where he teaches conducting and serves as chair of the Music, Theatre & Dance Department, he is also the music director of the Williamsport Symphony Youth Orchestra, and formerly of the Commonwealth University – Mansfield Symphony Orchestra.

At home with both traditional repertoire and music of today, Dr. Tedford actively champions the music of living composers. Dedicated to serving arts communities beyond the podium, he is co-founder and contributor to The A.D.O.R.E. Project, which is a resource for promoting composers of underrepresented demographics.

As a violinist, David Tedford plays with the Williamsport Symphony Orchestra and performs regularly throughout the region for various choral-orchestral ensembles. He also maintains an active violin studio with students making it to various regional and all-state Festivals.

David Tedford holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Iowa, where he studied with William LaRue Jones. He previously earned master’s and bachelor’s degrees in conducting and music education from Ohio University and Grove City College, respectively. He has worked with conductors such as Steven Huang, Kenneth Kiesler, Stuart Malina, Dwight Oltman, Robert Page, and Markand Thakar. When not conducting, you can find David reading a novel of some genre (preferably science fiction) or spending time with his wife, his Siberian Husky, Rowan, and reading to his almost-two-year-old son.