Parade of the Toys

EUGENE MIGLIARO CORPORON, conductor
BERKNER HIGH SCHOOL SYMPHONIC I BAND, guest ensemble
FRANK TROYKA, BHS director of bands

Program

Symphonic Highlights from “Frozen,” Christophe Beck/Bulla
March of the Toys, Victor Herbert/Rogers
A Christmas Festival, Leroy Anderson
Sleigh Ride, Leroy Anderson
All is Calm, Traditional/Smith
Christmas and Sousa Forever, Julie Giroux
Jingle Them Bells, Julie Giroux
Christmas with Mozart, Julie Giroux
A Sing-Along and More!

Concert Description

Toys are wrapped and snowmen are sculpted as the Lone Star Wind Orchestra and Music Director Eugene Migliaro Corporon celebrates the holiday season with a concert titled “Parade of the Toys” on Sunday, December 14th, 2:30 PM, at Dallas City Performance Hall. Joined by the Berkner High School Symphonic I Band under the direction of Frank Troyka, the concert will feature joyous music to lift up your hearts, including standards “A Christmas Festival” and “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson to music from the hit animated film “Frozen.”

Music Samples

http://youtu.be/0hexTzFixd0

Guest Artist Bios

The Richardson Berkner Ram Band Program is rich in a tradition of excellence and quality in musical performance. The success of the band program centers on pride, commitment to task, and the willingness to work hard to achieve a common goal.

The Symphonic Bands have also received numerous recognitions including 42 consectutive 1st Division ratings in the UIL Concert & Sight Reading Competition. They have twice been named Honor Band for the state of Texas, performed twice at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic and have twice received the Sudler Flag of Honor by the John Philip Sousa Foundation in recognition of its high standards of excellence in its concert activities over several years. The Berkner Band has also had numerous individual musicians earn recognition and participation at the District, Area and State level bands.

Frank Troyka is Director of Bands at Berkner High School in Richardson, TX. He is active as a lecturer and clinician throughout Texas and the United States. He is a perennial faculty member of the Bands of America Weekend Leadership Experience summer workshop and served as one of the concert band conductors at the 2003 BOA Summer Symposium held at Illinois State University. In addition, he occupies a seat on the Bands of America Advisory Board.

Mr. Troyka also presents annual student leadership training workshops throughout Texas and various schools and colleges throughout the country. He is the author “Practical Leadership for Bands,” a self-published workbook and reference tool used to prepare students to step into their roles as leaders in their high school bands.

A member of the Texas Music Educators Association and the Texas Bandmasters Association, Frank has presented numerous clinics for directors and students at both of these conventions since 1982. He also has presented workshops for directors and students in Georgia, New Jersey, Nebraska, New Mexico, Utah, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Michigan, Illinois, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Wyoming.

A native of Tupelo, Mississippi, Frank graduated from Sturgis High School (Michigan) in 1977 and began his college career at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. It was there that he learned about the quality of the public school band programs in the state of Texas, so at the age of 19 he moved to Dallas to finish his degree at the University of Texas at Arlington. A resident of Texas since 1979, Frank considers himself a “Naturalized Texan.”

Program Notes

Written and compiled by Dominic Talanca
Additional program notes by Frank Troyka

A Christmas Festival (1950/1952)
Leroy Anderson

A Christmas Festival was written in 1950 and is still one of Anderson’s most popular works. Old favorites include “Joy to the World”, “Deck the Halls”, “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”, “Good King Wenceslas”, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”, “Silent Night”, “Jingle Bells”, and “Adeste Fidelis.”

Jingle Them Bells (2011)
Julie Giroux

The composer writes, “A wild ride to be sure, this rendition of Jingle Bells goes through many stylistic transitions. The original melodies are quite simplistic and repetitive, but in many ways that’s what made them great to work with. They lent themselves very well to all kinds of twisting and turning in a variety of tempi and styles. Jump in the sleigh and hang on tight!

Composed by James Lord Pierpont, what we know as Jingle Bells today was actually published in 1857 under the title One Horse Open Sleigh. The bells in the title refer to the bells worn by horses. It is beloved worldwide as a Christmas song and nearly always finds a spot in the top ten recorded songs of all time.”

March of the Toys (1903/1999)
Victor Herbert
Ed. Mark Rogers

The most commercially successful of Herbert’s works was the operetta Babes in Toyland. Written in an attempt to outdo the musical production of The Wizard of Oz playing on Broadway at the time, Babes in Toyland premiered in the Grand Opera of Chicago in 1903. It wove together various characters from Mother Goose nursery rhymes into a Christmas-themed musical extravaganza. The show was immediately embraced as a classic of children’s music and has continued to be performed in various forms for several generations. The best known scene is “The March of the Toys,” during which the evil Toymaker displays his toys for human children who have strayed into Toyland. We hear trumpet fanfares at the start, a military style in the opening march theme, and the full band in the closing march.

Christmas with Mozart (2007)
Julie Giroux

Julie Giroux’s Christmas with Mozart arrangement is in a Mozart-ish style using a number of Christmas carols in combination with a few of Mozart’s, Bach’s, and a few other composers’ works. Fast, fun, and full of tunes – see if you can find them all!

Symphonic Highlights from “Frozen” (2013)
Christophe Beck
Arr. Stephen Bulla

Symphonic Highlights from “Frozen” uses segments from the soundtrack in addition to the familiar hit songs. Stephen Bulla has created a dramatic and exciting medley showcasing the best musical moments from this hit movie. Familiar songs included in this arrangement are: “Frozen Heart,” “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?,” “For the First Time in Forever,” “Epilogue,” and, of course, “Let It Go.”

All is Calm (2002)
Traditional
Arr. Robert W. Smith

No matter what our cultural background, the holiday season is the time of the year when we all reflect upon the joys in our lives. During those very quiet and reflective moments, we experience inner peace – peace that allows us to recognize all that is good and beautiful in our world. Featuring a soloist with band, Robert W. Smith’s All is Calm celebrates the beauty and joys of the holiday season.

Christmas and Sousa Forever (2010)
Julie Giroux

Stars and Stripes Forever is the official march of the United States and was written by John Philip Sousa while aboard the ship Teutonic. The march was completed on Christmas Day, 1896.

Christmas and Sousa Forever came about as a request to somehow get a march into a Christmas program for a USAF band concert. This arrangement is the result. The first arrangement I made of this particular setting was done in the late 1980s with the orchestral transcription of the march.

Sleigh Ride (1948)
Leroy Anderson

Sleigh Ride is a popular light orchestral piece composed by Leroy Anderson. The composer had the original idea for the piece during a heat wave in July 1946 and finished the work in February 1948. Lyrics, about a person who would like to ride in a sleigh on a winter’s day with another person, were written by Mitchell Parish in 1950. This popular piece is often performed on holiday programs, even though the lyrics never mention any holiday-related activities. Still, since the Boston Pops, conducted by Arthur Fielder first recorded the piece in 1949, it has become a holiday concert staple.