By Coral Gables Gazette staff
The University of Miami’s acclaimed Frost Wind Ensemble returns to Gusman Concert Hall on October 5 for Excursions, a program that crosses borders of culture, memory, and mysticism. Led by conductor Michael Hancock, with graduate conductors Andrew Keiser and David Ramos, the ensemble performs a globally inspired repertoire that redefines the boundaries of the wind ensemble tradition.
New music from Southeast Asia
The program opens with Khaen, a striking 2025 work by Thai composer Viskamol Chaiwanichsiri that evokes the sound world of the traditional Southeast Asian mouth organ for which it is named. Blending extended techniques and modal textures, Khaen layers the sounds and spirit of Thai and Laotian musical traditions into Western instrumentation, offering a meditative and at times ecstatic listening experience. The composer, born in 1995, is currently in residence at the Frost School as a guest artist for this performance.
Nicaraguan heritage and resilience in Lyons’ “Cenizas”
From Southeast Asia, the program moves to Central America. Gilda Lyons’ Cenizas (2022), conducted by David Ramos, explores the composer’s Nicaraguan heritage through five evocative movements: “Volcán,” “The Baptism of Momotombo,” “Stolen Things,” “Promesas,” and “Coronach en Río Gran.” Each section draws on both personal and cultural memory, presenting images of natural violence, resilience, loss, and ancestral continuity. Lyons, a prominent voice in contemporary American music, uses the full expressive power of the wind ensemble to communicate what she describes as “a sonic archaeology of identity.”
A quiet interlude from Percy Grainger
Before intermission, graduate conductor Andrew Keiser leads the ensemble in a fresh edition of Percy Grainger’s Colonial Song, a lyrical and contemplative work that stands in quiet contrast to the rest of the program. Originally written in 1911 and revised several times over the 20th century, the piece remains one of Grainger’s most intimate expressions of national character, evoking folk nostalgia without sentimentality.
Winds of Nagual at 40: A spiritual soundscape
The second half is dedicated entirely to Michael Colgrass’s Winds of Nagual (1985), a now-canonical tone poem based on the writings of Carlos Castaneda. With its seven sections—ranging from the mysterious “Don Juan emerges from the mountains” to the climactic “Carlos leaps into the unknown and explodes into a thousand views of the world”—the work is a spiritual and sonic odyssey. Colgrass, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1978 and died in 2019, remains one of the most distinctive American voices in modern composition.
More than just an homage to Castaneda’s controversial vision of Yaqui mysticism, Winds of Nagual reflects a deeper cultural moment: the late 20th century’s fascination with indigenous wisdom, alternate consciousness, and the limits of rational thought. Colgrass’s use of cinematic pacing, unusual instrumental pairings, and layered textures makes Winds not just a story, but an experience.
Milestone for Hancock and the Frost School
The performance marks the 40th anniversary of the work’s premiere and also serves as a major milestone for conductor Michael Hancock, who presents the concert in partial fulfillment of his Doctor of Musical Arts in Wind Conducting. Hancock’s leadership throughout the evening will be supported by a full ensemble of standout Frost School musicians, spanning woodwinds, brass, percussion, piano, harp, and string bass. Among the featured performers are doctoral, master’s, and undergraduate students in applied music performance, many of whom already hold regional or national accolades.
With Excursions, the Frost Wind Ensemble demonstrates its commitment to presenting a wind ensemble repertoire that is culturally expansive, intellectually rich, and emotionally resonant. From the mystic deserts of Nagual to the volcanic landscapes of Cenizas and the bamboo sonorities of Khaen, the concert offers listeners not just music, but perspective—a rare glimpse at how global traditions can converge in sound.
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