CWU Wind Ensemble Concert

The Central Washington University community and the greater Ellensburg area are invited to an inspiring afternoon of music as the CWU Wind Ensemble presents a concert on Sunday, March 8, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. in Hertz Concert Hall of the McIntyre Music Building. Admission is free and open to the public. Under the direction of Dr. T. André Feagin, Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Music, the Wind Ensemble will perform a vibrant and stylistically diverse program featuring music by Paul Creston, Claude T. Smith, Michael Gandolfi, Yasuhide Ito, Percy Fletcher, and Margaret Bonds. Together, these works reflect the expressive breadth of the wind ensemble medium, from bold rhythmic energy and lush lyricism to profound spiritual reflection. A special highlight of the program will be the ensemble’s collaboration with Dr. Aaron Burr, lecturer of music and saxophonist, who will appear as soloist in Claude T. Smith’s Fantasia for Alto Saxophone. Composed in 1983 for virtuoso Dale Underwood, the work has become one of the most significant saxophone compositions of the twentieth century and remains a cornerstone of the instrument’s solo repertoire. The centerpiece of the concert is Margaret Bonds’s Spiritual Suite, a powerful work rooted in the rich tradition of the Negro Spiritual. Long known primarily through its final movement, Troubled Water, the complete suite was rediscovered decades later and published in full in 2020. Bonds’s music reflects the spiritual’s deep cultural importance, its message of struggle, survival, faith, and hope, transforming these timeless songs into a moving artistic statement. As Bonds herself wrote, the spiritual was an essential presence in her life, inspiring her to bring its voice into the concert hall. Join us for a compelling evening that honors tradition, celebrates artistic excellence, and affirms the enduring power of music to connect, uplift, and inspire.