- [Announcer] And now it is my distinct
privilege to introduce
the 2019 Wisconsin High School State Honors Band
and their distinguished conductor, Dr. John Oelrich.

(audience applauding)

(somber instrumental)

(drums rolling)
("The Star-Spangled Banner")

(audience applauding)

- Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
And so wonderful to be back in my home state of Wisconsin

with a bunch of cheese heads. I love it.
I love it.
Hooray!
I'm just gonna talk a little bit
about each piece ahead of time.
I know you have a program now,
but we have a lot of moving of things around here.

And there are people of instruments
and percussion, et cetera.
So I wanna kind of cover some of that.

The first piece is based on two things,

trains, but especially the blues.

So if you're a jazz or blues aficionados,
listen for that blues scale that you probably have heard
whether it be a guitar solo in Free Bird
or you know, maybe in Miles Davis.

But Steve Danyew who's actually a good friend of mine,

uses the blues scale in this piece,
not just for melody, but also for harmony.
So if you listen vertically,
I know there's a lot of music teachers out here, right?
So if you listen vertically as well as horizontally,
you're gonna hear some of those blue notes coming through.
We hope you enjoy "Magnolia Star".

("Magnolia Star" Steve Danyew)

(audience applauding)

So the next piece in the program is called "Danceries".
It's a fore movement work that is just really lush
and lovely and delightful, but also really playful.

It's based on some dances

from the Renaissance medieval period,

but also some newly composed material
just set in a fashion or in the style of that time period.

It's a very complex work.

There's a lot of layers like onions and ogres, right.

So it's been a delight to work with these students.
I joked with them a little bit yesterday.
It's like the difference between my first vehicle,
which was a '73 Chevy C10 pickup with a wooden box
or a high performance sports car.

So these guys are amazing.

And we hope you enjoy Hesketh's "Danceries."

("Danceries" Kenneth Hesketh)

(audience applauding)

Well, if that doesn't at least
earn them an ice cream cone after this,
I'm not sure what will.

If you had to pay 'em by the notes, sorry about that.

It's a wonderful piece, though.
I'm in love with it, love it.

He's such a colorful composer.
And speaking of another friend of mine, Aaron Perrine,

wrote the next piece called "Only Light".
You can read the program notes in what it's about

but I think the beautiful thing about music

is that it doesn't have to just

be about what it says it's about.

It can also be about something that maybe
you relate to that or you feel connects with that.

Maybe instead of a disease,

maybe it's just something tragic that's happened.
That's unfortunate that you can't control that.
You ask yourself why.

And I think music is...
Obviously, you all are here so I'm preaching to the choir
but music is one of those things that can help us cope
and help us process and help us to understand how to feel.
And I think we need more of that in our world today.

It's a beautiful work.
We're gonna take a new tuning pitch
and then we'll carry on with Aaron Perrine's "Only Light".

("Only Light" Aaron Perrine)

(audience applauding)

I would be remiss if I didn't thank a few folks.
First of all, the board of WSMA for inviting me
to come and work with these incredible

young musicians and people.

To all the sectional coaches who make all of this work.

It takes a village and you all are amazing
and I'm so thankful to have worked with you
but and now to be able to count you
as colleagues and friends, so thank you.

I would like to give a shout out to the students

for enduring maybe some bad jokes here and there

but for working really hard and going after a lot of detail

and playing so musically.
Thank you for that.

I will take that with me for always forever, so thank you.
It's a really beautiful thing
that you have brought together today
and I'm really thankful that we could all do this together.

I also want to thank a very special group of people,

all the music educators,
because this doesn't happen by accident.

So I know you've already been recognized
but I just want to say thank you.
I'm one of you, I understand, I get it.
And so thank you for all of the hours that you spend
doing the things that make these people who they are.

Parents, families, same to you.

Thank you for all of the work and all the support
and listening to the squeaks and squawks and grunts
and groans and maybe punch into the wall

when the metronome speeds up on you
or slows down whatever it might be.

So thank you.
I also want to give a really special shout out to people
who really helped me to make my life in this world

in this way and that is my high school band
and choir director, Randy and Diane Veal,

are you guys somewhere?

Could you stand up, please?
(audience applauding)

There they are, way up there.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much.

We never know as teachers what seeds we're planting
and we don't know what they don't know
or what their passions are and so clearly
you instilled something in me that is still bearing
some fruit today and I will hopefully plant some seeds

of its own in musicians that I encounter.

So thank you both from the bottom of my heart.

Do I really have to answer that question?
(audience laughing)
1991.

So before, with no further ado,

the last piece "Entry March of the Boyars" Mrs. Boisterous

and conjures all sorts of imagery
of Romanian aristocrats in hats

and we kind of likened it to the fourth Harry Potter movie
when Igor Karkaroff and his gang come in

and then the Beauxbatons come in.

So we hope you enjoy "Entry March of the Boyars".
Thank you again.

("Entry March of the Boyars" Johan Halvorsen)

(audience applauding)

(whistling) (cheering)