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Student musicians are set to blow listeners away on the KU Wind Ensemble\u2019s new album, \u201cMidnight Sun,\u201d a triumphant entry in the group\u2019s repertoire.<\/p>\n
Paul Popiel said he started his career as a band kid. Now, as the dean of KU\u2019s School of Music and one of the conductors of the KU Wind Ensemble, he gets to guide his creative kin through their own careers. <\/p>\n
He said recording an album is a singular opportunity for budding performers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really puts us in the highest echelon of university bands,\u201d Popiel said. \u201cThere aren\u2019t many that do this, especially on a commercial label.\u201d<\/p>\n
Click here<\/span><\/a> to learn more about our newsletters first<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The ensemble is entirely composed of university students. \u201cMidnight Sun,\u201d released earlier this month, is the group\u2019s ninth album available for streaming.<\/p>\n Rather than provide elaborate reasons for how pieces meld together and his programming machinations, Popiel\u2019s reasoning for the project is straightforward.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just music that I love, and it was a little bit selfish,\u201d he said. \u201cI just wanted to do music that I love to do, and it was fun to play and fun to make music with students.\u201d<\/p>\n He added, \u201cI\u2019m drawn to band music and that instrumentation and those sounds, and so are the students. And so I just look for music that I enjoy, that is meaningful to me and I think will be enjoyable and meaningful and impactful to an audience.\u201d<\/p>\n The Jayhawk spirit is imbued throughout the CD, bookended with alumni compositions.<\/p>\n The first track, \u201cMajestic,\u201d is a fanfare-filled welcome to the melodies of \u201cMidnight Sun.\u201d The song was composed by James Barnes, who graduated from KU and is now a professor emeritus in composition and university bands after four decades of instruction.<\/p>\n The album then reaches a triumphant crescendo with the three movements of \u201cConcerto for Euphonium\u201d by Tom Davoren.<\/p>\n Davoren is a recent graduate of KU\u2019s conducting Ph.D. program and now teaches at Benedictine College in Atchison. The wind ensemble recorded the concerto featuring soloist Hiram Diaz, a distinguished member of \u201cThe President\u2019s Own\u201d United States Marine Band, a few years ago for \u201cMidnight Sun.\u201d<\/p>\n Just recently, Davoren was recognized with the prestigious American Bandmasters Association Ostwald Composition Prize for the piece.<\/p>\n It takes some grit, sore embouchures and split reeds to make a commercial band recording happen.<\/p>\n Popiel says the stage was decorated with microphones, and students were glued to their music stands for hours, often going over the same passage again and again.<\/p>\n \u201cMy job in the recording session is to keep them loose and relaxed and not let the pressure of the moment slow them down, but they know the pressure\u2019s there,\u201d Popiel said. \u201cThey know the clock is ticking, and \u2026 we did this whole project in a weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n The result is a euphonic ear candy for listeners and a melodic scrapbook for Popiel. As \u201cMidnight Sun\u201d was recorded in spring 2024, he said it reminds him of his past students who contributed to the project.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an honor and joy to make music with these great student musicians,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are the highlight of every day that I\u2019m with them, and putting together this project is just all joy. It\u2019s hard work, it\u2019s intense, it\u2019s pressure-filled, but I have such fond memories when I listen to the CD now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMidnight Sun\u201d is available on most major streaming platforms<\/a>. Audiophiles who would like a physical CD can contact the KU band office at kuband@ku.edu.<\/p>\n If local news matters to you, please help us keep doing this work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n