UTNMF: Wind Ensemble: Intrinsic Light

PROGRAM NOTES

Bright Shadow Fanfare

As a composer, Nicole Piunno is interested in exploring the complexities and contrasts of life using thematic and musical juxtapositions in her works. Bright Shadow Fanfare is full of these: extreme ranges, biting punctuations and warm lyricism, activity and (brief) stasis. But the overall theme, as given by the title, is the contrast between brightness and shadow, which Piunno paints using light and dark harmonies, tone colours, and textures. This “intense contrast”, she writes, “refers to two possible meanings. It could mean bringing our darkness into the light in order to integrate it with our true self. It could also mean revealing our positive traits and gifts that we may not allow ourselves to show or give to others.”

Arcadia

The original version of this piece, Arcadia Trombonica for solo trombone and video game console, was born of composer Kenley Kristofferson and trombonist Nora Wilson’s shared love of classic video games and their soundtracks. Kristofferson and Wilson brought on programmer Adrian Cheater to create a playable video game as part of the work’s commission. The game, also called Arcadia Trombonica, features Nora as the trombone-wielding protagonist, searching for a lost relic called the Trombone of Ages in order to defeat the resurgent Dark Emperor. Kristofferson’s soundtrack for the game was inspired by the style and the technical limitations of the eight-bit music from classic gaming consoles such as Atari, Commodore 64, and the original Nintendo system. This version for wind ensemble was commissioned by the Arizona State University Wind Ensemble and Jason Caslor, who premiered it in February 2025.

Festival Eve

Festival Eve is built around the shared excitement that arises before a celebration even begins—the momentum growing in communities, the glow of imagination filling the night, and the surge of energy when anticipation finally becomes reality. Across its three movements, the work traces this emotional landscape not through a literal story, but through shifting atmospheres that mirror how people experience the hours before a festival: restless, dreamy, and ultimately exuberant. At the centre of the piece are two solo percussionists, whose instruments shape its expressive world. Their dialogue propels the music forward with both rhythmic drive and shimmering resonance. Surrounding them, the wind ensemble adds a vivid spectrum of colour. Together, the ensemble and soloists create a language of contrasts: pulses against stillness, brightness against shadow, fantasy against force. These elements draw listeners into the shared anticipation that makes a festival meaningful long before it officially begins. Festival Eve celebrates that journey—its thrill, its wonder, and its collective spirit.

–program note by composer Fish Yu

Intrinsic Light

The Ontario Provincial Honour Band is an annual program run by the Ontario Band Association, during which an auditioned group of high school students meet for two intense days of rehearsals followed by a tour and a culminating performance at the Ontario Music Educators Association conference. Composer and UofT alumna Cait Nishimura was a participant in the program as a high school student, and so when the OBA commissioned her to write a piece for the OPHB to celebrate the OMEA’s 100^th anniversary in 2019, it was a project that carried personal significance for her. In the resulting composition, Nishimura draws a connection between Eigenlicht, sometimes translated as “intrinsic light”, the background colour many humans “see” in the absence of light, and the inner light or goodness in all of us which connects us to each other. She observes that making music together is one of the ways in which we express this intrinsic light, and celebrates the positive impact of music educators across the province.

The Greatness of the New-Found Night

Gary Kulesha is a prominent figure in Canadian music, having served as composer-in-residence for the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, the Canadian Opera Company, and the Banff Centre, and as the long-time composer-advisor for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He has been on faculty at the University of Toronto as professor of composition since 2000. The Greatness of the New-Found Night was commissioned and composed in 2007 and revised in 2025, and is (in all but name) a symphony for band in three movements. The title is taken from a poem by Wallace Stevens, though as Kulesha notes, the piece was inspired more by the poem’s mood and beauty than anything concrete in its text. Tending toward colours and textures on the darker side of the spectrum, the music evokes a range of ideas and emotions, from nervous excitement, to fearsome power, to brutal obstinacy, to resilient victory.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

Pratik Gandhi (he/him) is an award-winning freelance conductor and researcher based in Toronto. He is a sessional lecturer at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music, where he directs wind bands and teaches conducting. He is also music director of the Rouge River Winds and the Milton Philharmonic Orchestra, and was the founding music director of Soup Can Theatre. In addition to regularly guest conducting and adjudicating bands and orchestras, Pratik is active in several organizations that support music educators, most notably the Ontario Band Association. Since 2017, he has also served as Vice-Chair of the Concert Band Division of MusicFest Canada. Pratik is currently a doctoral student at York University, where his research, supported in part by an Ontario Graduate Scholarship, investigates issues of equity and representation among wind band composers in Canada. Pratik received a B.Mus. in music education and an M.Mus. in conducting from the University of Western Ontario, where he studied conducting with Colleen Richardson, Jerome Summers, and James McKay, and percussion with Jill Ball.

Fish Yu is a Toronto-based composer, music technologist, and media artist originally from Hong Kong. He merges technology and multimedia to create immersive storytelling in composition. His works explore cultural identity, weaving Hong Kong’s sounds and narratives into contemporary music creation. Yu’s compositions have been recognized, presented and awarded internationally, winning third prize at the Isidora Žebeljan International Festival in Serbia, the Ann H. Atkinson Prize and the Karen Kieser Prize in Canada, and winning the Best Young Composer in Serious Music in Hong Kong. His works have been performed at major festivals and conferences, including the International Computer Music Conference, selected and broadcast in the International Rostrum of Composers. Yu is a Doctoral student at the University of Toronto, and he is interested in working in audio-visual design, live electronics, and audio-visual production. He closely collaborates with musicians in Toronto, pushing the boundaries of multimedia storytelling in contemporary music.

Originally from Hong Kong, KöNG Duo (Bevis Ng and Hoi Tong Keung) is a Toronto-based percussion duo specializing in contemporary classical music. Dedicated to expanding audiences’ perceptions of percussion music, they spotlight hidden gems in the repertoire and commission new works to push the boundaries of the genre. The Duo reflects upon contemporary life through their curations, including “good morning, hong kong” with original videos, and “Experience Life through Percussion,” which pairs lesser-known works with compositions by Toronto-based composers. An advocate for new music, KöNG Duo commissioned Frolic (2023), a four-movement multimedia work by Toronto-based, Hong Kong–raised composer Fish Yu that celebrates Hong Kong culture. They have presented Frolic at the New Music Gathering (Portland, OR), PASIC (Indianapolis, IN), and venues across Canada. KöNG Duo won the Southern California Marimba 2023 International Artist Competition and served as 2023–2024 Young Artistic Associates for Confluence Concerts. They proudly endorse Marimba One instruments.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

CONCERT OFFICE
Eric Chow, supervisor; Cory Bertrand, front of house coordinator; Tam Nguyen, marketing & communications officer

MUSIC TECHNOLOGY
Ricci Ebron, recording & classroom specialist; Brandon Wells, digital & music production assistant

PERFORMANCE COLLECTION
Karen Wiseman, librarian; Sara Ainsley Ko, student library assistant

PERFORMANCE OFFICE
Michelle Kitsis, administrator; Amanda Eyer Haberman, performance assistant; Ilinca Stafie, performance staff

YORK UNIVERSITY PERFORMANCE FACILITIES
Ian Albright, manager; Kimberly Guidolin, events administrator; Victor Wolters, coordinator, technical services; Angela Kegel, technical services assistant

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