Code of Conduct

Description CODE of CONDUCT Concerto for alto/soprano saxophone and wind ensemble Duration: 17′ Commissioned by and dedicated to Mike Fansler, Charlie Chadwell, and WIU Wind Ensemble Additional consortium members listed below. instrumentation: solo alto/soprano saxophone (1 player) b piccolo – 2 flutes – oboe – 2 bassoons – 2 B clarinets – bass clarinet section saxophones: soprano/alto sax, alto sax, tenor sax, baritone sax. (note: all four join the soloist for concerto grosso solo roles) 2 B trumpets – 2 french horns – 2 trombones – 2 euphoniums – tuba piano – harp timpani 5 percussion percussion instrumentation: mallets 1: crotales, xylophone, glockenspiel mallets 2: vibraphone, marimba percussion 1: wood block (hi), sus. cym., snare drum, bongo (hi), chimes, tambourine percussion 2: triangle, hi-hat, tambourine, snare drum, sus. cym., tam-tam percussion 3: bass drum, sus. cym., triangle, tenor drum Program Notes: Once again I am honored to have my music supported by Mike Fansler, Director of bands at Western Illinois University. Mike and Charlie Chadwell (WIU saxophone professor) joined me for a discussion to see what sort of new saxophone concerto we might create. Out of that discussion came the unique plan to include the teacher’s (Charlie’s) students as a part of the concerto, in essence joining their mentor front and center for part of a concerto, and in celebrating the saxophone. In doing that, I hoped to create a section of this work that is all out fun, groovy, and a chance for teacher and students to bond and basically “jam” together on the stage. The rest of the concerto is both lyrical and quasi-pointillistic, giving the saxophonist a chance to express many different personalities and qualities of the saxophone. Overall, the concerto is completely American; for no other reason than because that is what I am! One last unique aspect of the concerto is the focus on the number “59128”. This was Mike’s serial number on his first saxophone, and I had a little fun instilling this “code” into the concerto in many different ways; hence the code of the conductor, or, “CODE of CONDUCT” as in the title of the work. ~ Jim Stephenson; December 16, 2022 ComposerJim.com Additional support provided by the following consortium members: Auburn University, Rick Good Commonwealth University of PA-Mansfield, Adam F. Brennan Dordt University, Onsby Rose Drake University, Robert Meunier Illinois State University, Anthony Marinello Indiana State University, Stephen Gage Iowa State University, Michael Golemo Kansas State University, Frank Tracz Purdue University, Jay Gephart Rutgers University, Todd Nichols Texas A&M University, Timothy Rhea Texas Christian University, Bobby R. Francis University of Wisconsin La Crosse, Justin Davis West Chester University, Andrew Yozviak