'From Bernstein to Copland'

My eyebrows popped when I saw the ambitious program to be presented by The Philharmonic Winds. Titled 'From Bernstein to Copland', it highlighted loads of uhh popular pieces from the two American composers. It’s essentially a friendly repertoire, and fairly representative of ‘youthful and vibrant’ image that the wind orchestra wants to portray.

The program began and ended with Leonard Bernstein's (1918-1990) 'Slava!' and 'West Side Story'. In the middle were the three pieces from Aaron Copland's (1900-1990) 'Lincoln's Portrait' that had President Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 'The Gettysburg Address' recited by actor Benjamin Chow, the ballet 'Rodeo' and its all four movements (the ballet was choreographed by Agnes de Mille; premiered in 1942 in New York City), and the two-movement ‘Clarinet Concerto’ (1947-1949) first commissioned by jazz musician Benny Goodman, and premiered in 1950.

This is my first time hearing the wind orchestra. It’s definitely a serious time commitment for the members, majority of whom hold a day job. The Philharmonic Winds were led by guest conductor Tsung Yeh (or rather Yeh Tsung), the Music Director of the Singapore Chinese Orchestra. The guest conductor turned around to ask if the audience were "having fun", and spoke about his first collaboration with the wind orchestra tonight, which was in fact his first time ever conducting a wind orchestra in any city. He kept the mood of the two-hour concert light and, as promised, 'fun'. It was an enjoyable evening.