On Sunday, October 21, 2013, Omaha Symphonic Winds and violist Brett Deubner gave the American Premiere of Houston Dunleavy’s concerto for viola and wind ensemble “A Kiss Before the World’s End.” The concert was performed at St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church in Omaha, Nebraska to an appreciative audience that included collegiate viola students and their instructors as well as the general public.
Brett Deubner’s solo performance was masterful in portraying the “angst and tension” as described by one audience member. Dunleavy’s concerto is dedicated to his former music student, Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reported who was captured and killed in Pakistan in 2002. Pearl’s birthday was in the month of October, and his family created the Daniel Pearl World Music Days that encourages concerts dedicated to promoting diversity and understanding throughout the world.
The American Premiere was a registered event of
the 11th annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days.
Other works on the program were well received by the audience including Percy Grainger’s Children’s March, Keith Michael Davis’ A Western Plains Overture, Eric Richards’ Of Mythic Battles: Past and Future, and Howard Hanson’s Laude” Chorale, Variations, and Metamorphoses. Encores for the performance were given by Brett Deubner (Spectre) and OSW (Hands Across the Sea-Sousa).
The Premiere venue (St. Andrew’s) was a wonderful location. The sanctuary is very aesthetic visually while acoustically enhancing the music. Both the OSW musicians and the audience members expressed the desire for the ensemble to return to St. Andrew’s for future performances.
Omaha Symphonic Winds next concert is Sunday, March 11, 2013, at 3:00 in the Elkhorn High School auditorium (1400 Veterans Drive, Elkhorn, NE). The program features works by Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein.
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