Introducing…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waverider

An Exciting New Composition by Dr. Greg Danner

Commissioned by the Tullahoma High School Band

 

World Premiere on Tuesday, March 8, 2005

Now Published by C. Alan Publications

 

The Waverider Project: In early 2004, THS Band Directors Stephen & Marion Coleman began groundwork on a project that would be a first for the Tullahoma City Schools Band program – the commissioning of a new work for band. The goals of this project were:

 

· to add music of the highest quality to the body of literature for concert band

· to engage the instrumental music students of the Tullahoma Band program in the creative process

· to remind the citizens of Tullahoma of the importance of the arts in our daily lives

 

Funding for the project was secured through a grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission. This grant, called Arts Builds Communities, is designed to enrich communities by encouraging development of the arts. In addition to having a work commissioned, the Colemans wanted their students to have direct contact with a composer, and to take part in classes on composition and creativity in the arts. Dr. Greg Danner was chosen for the project due to his outstanding achievements as a composer, and his background in music education.

 

Last fall while searching for a theme for his composition, a breaking news story caught Dr. Danner’ attention. The X-43, an experimental aircraft designed and tested in Tullahoma, broke all records by achieving the speed of Mach 10 (over 7,000 mph). The flight of this craft, and its relationship to Tullahoma’s aerospace industry, became Danner’s inspiration for his work.

 

The Music: In his introduction to Waverider, Dr. Danner offers these notes: “For millennia man has been fascinated with speed. The fastest runner, ship, train, automobile, or airplane has been a signal of human achievement. On November 16, 2004 NASA’s experimental X-43 ushered in a new era in flight by reaching Mach 10 – ten times the speed of sound! The X-43 and other new designs are called ‘waveriders’ since they use their own shock wave to reach these incredible velocities.

 

“When asked to write a composition for the Tullahoma High School Band, my thoughts immediately went to the impact that this community has had on aerospace development, including this next generation of aircraft. The Arnold Engineering Development Center at Tullahoma is the home of our nation’s largest complex of flight simulation test facilities. Virtually every flight system in use today, including all NASA spacecraft and the new X-43, has been tested in these facilities. In addition, Tullahoma is home to the University of Tennessee Space Institute and many businesses and companies that support the aerospace community, including ATK Gasl, the manufacturer of NASA’s X-43 waverider. The composition “Waverider” is an energetic tribute to the spirit of innovation and accomplishment that characterizes these efforts.”

 

The Composer: Greg Danner is Professor and Coordinator of Academic Studies in music at Tennessee Technological University. Born in St. Louis, Missouri (1958) he received the B.A. from Southeast Missouri State University, the M.M. from the Eastman School of Music, and the Ph.D. from Washington University. His awards include the College Band Directors National Association Music for Young Band prize, vocal category and grand prize in the Delius Society composition contest, first prize in the Taghkanic Chorale Composers competition, and the Louisiana Music Teachers Association Composer Commission Award. Dr. Danner has received annual ASCAP awards for composition since 1989. He has participated as a resident composer at the Charles Ives Center for American Music and has been an associate in the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts "Performing Arts Centers and Schools" program.

 

An active performer on French horn, he has held positions with the Baton Rouge and Acadiana orchestras in Louisiana and has performed with the Huntsville (AL) Symphony, the Lake Charles and Rapides orchestras in Louisiana and the Saint Louis, Saint Louis Municipal Opera, and Webster Groves orchestras in Missouri. He is a former member of the Louisiana Brass Quintet and Evangeline Wind Quintet. Dr. Danner is currently hornist with the Cumberland Wind Quintet, the Brass Arts Quintet, the Bryan Symphony Orchestra, Bowling Green Chamber Orchestra, and Tennessee Philharmonic. He is a free-lance and studio musician in the Nashville area.