The UMM Symphonic Winds Commissioning Initiative has commissioned Minnesota composer Benjamin Karlen to write a grade 4-5 work for winds and percussion. The three-movement work, titled "Hurricane", will be premiered by the UMM Symphonic Winds on November 10th, 2007, during the 29th Annual UMM Festival of the Winds, and you are invited to join us for the premiere performance. Interested ensembles and their conductors can join this commissioning project at no cost. They will receive PDF files of the score and parts, and their only obligation is to perform the work during the 2007/2008 or 2008/2009 school year. Consortium members will receive free admission to the premiere concert. In addition, we offer that the composer and myself come out to visit each participating ensemble during their rehearsal process in order to work with them. Below, please find the composer's program notes as well as biographic information:

Benjamin Karlen, born on December 16th, 1983 in Owatonna, Minnesota, writes and arranges music for large and small ensembles in nearly every type of instrumentation and currently works out of his home in Owatonna, Minnesota. He holds a bachelor's degree in music with an emphasis in composition from the University of Minnesota, Morris where he studied theory and composition with Richard Richards, Ken Hodgson, Elaine Ross, and James Carlson. One of the highlights in his career was a recording project of his composition "O Magnum Mysterium" by the National Opera Choir of Kiev, Ukraine. Mr. Karlen has won the 2007 Collegiate Composition awards for large vocal ensemble and for solo instrumental compositions, and he is also a 2006 recipient of the Masterworks Prize for composition.

Benjamin Karlen writes the following program note:

"Hurricane is a musical interpretation of one of the most dangerous storms on the planet. The piece was written for the University of Minnesota, Morris Symphonic Winds for the 29th Annual UMM Festival of the Winds. An interesting characteristic of this piece is how the storm is represented. Rather than having an unrelenting first and third movement, as a hurricane would suggest, each characteristic of the storm is represented with a different musical idiom. A light minimalistic fanfare stated, for the most part, by the woodwinds represents the rain. The lightning is represented by a tango to show how lightning dances across the sky. These ideas reappear in the third movement in addition to the floods, thunder, and wind. The second movement is a strongly contrasting scene in which the atmosphere is calm, yet there is an eerie feeling in the air. It also incorporates another weather phenomenon, the rainbow. As the atmosphere is depicted as eerie and unsettling, there are small sections of music that refer to aspects of the melody from "Somewhere over the Rainbow". Also, the famous bridge from "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" used in a minimalistic pattern toward the climax of the movement. The third movement is, in several ways, strongly related to the first movement in that they have a similar instrumentation style and a strong driving force toward the end"

If you are interested in joining this exciting project in its inaugural year, please contact Dr. Seggelke, providing your contact information. Please feel free to inquire at your convenience about any questions you might have regarding the UMM Symphonic Winds Commissioning Initiative, or if he can be of any assistance to you and your program.