Mason Bands Concert: West Side Story (2026)*
About
Some stories never stop demanding to be told. Tonight, two ensembles take up that challenge from opposite ends of the wind band tradition — one rooted in folk memory and lyric line, the other tracing a path from Bach's architecture to Bernstein's streets — and meet in the middle at something electric. The Mason Symphonic Band opens with music that listens closely to where it comes from. Calvin Custer's Variations on Scarborough Fair takes a centuries-old ballad and turns it over in the light, finding new color in every facet. Frank Erickson's Air for Band slows the room down, trading momentum for breath and space. Then Frank Ticheli's Cajun Folksongs pulls the evening south, into the syncopated heat and dance-floor pulse of Louisiana — folk music reimagined with the same restless curiosity that defines this set. The Mason Wind Symphony answers with a program built on contrast and connection. Two faces of Bach open the set: the quiet devotion of Fervent is My Longing beside the architec
