Stars & Stripes Forever Program Notes
Stars & Stripes Forever
Conducted by Maestro Lowell Graham
January 31, 2026 | 7:00 PM | UNC Campus Commons
Program Notes by Bailey Dorsey
Liberty Fanfare (5’)
Though best known for his film music, John Williams’ skill set extends far beyond the film industry. “Liberty Fanfare” premiered on July 4, 1986 in celebration of the Centennial of the Statue of Liberty. It was first performed by the Boston Pops. The composition balances exciting brass fanfare with sentimental string melodies.
Three Dance Episodes (On the Town) (11’)
Leonard Bernstein was known for combining symphonic sounds and jazz. Bernstein began writing music for Broadway musicals in 1944 with On the Town, which follows the adventures of sailors on liberty in New York City. Three Dance Episodes from On the Town highlights selections from the musical. The first episode, “The Great Lover,” follows the shy sailor Gabey, who falls in love with a subway poster girl and falls asleep searching for her. While asleep, he dreams of winning her over. In the second episode, “Lonely Town,” Gabey watches another sailor flirt with a young girl and then abandon her. The last selection, “Times Square: 1944,” portrays the sailors partaking in NYC nightlife.
A New World a-Comin’ (16’)
Jazz legend Duke Ellington was a versatile composer, bandleader, and pianist. “New World a-Comin’” premiered at Carnegie Hall in 1943 and features piano. The piece was named after New World A-Coming: Inside Black America by the black journalist Roi Ottley. The book documents the lives of African Americans in Harlem during the 1920s and 1930s. In Ellington’s memoir, Music is My Mistriss, he describes his vision for a new world as being one with “...no war, no greed, no categorization, no nonbelievers, where love was unconditional, and no pronoun was good enough for God.”
Since forming his first jazz group at age 16, Spencer Zweifel has become a regular member of the Colorado music scene. An accomplished jazz pianist, Zweifel has performed professionally in a wide variety of genres across Colorado as well as in tours around the US. In 2021, Spencer was selected as a national finalist for both the Jacksonville Jazz Festival jazz piano competition, where he placed third. Spencer graduated in 2019 with a degree in jazz studies from the University of Northern Colorado and won ‘Best pop/rock soloist’ in the 2018 Downbeat Magazine student awards. In 2021, Spencer completed a Master’s in jazz studies at William Paterson University, where he studied with Bill Charlap, Aaron Diehl, and Geoffrey Keezer. In 2023 Zweifel joined the faculty of the world-class UNC jazz program where he works as an instructor of jazz piano and leader of the Funk Lab. In 2024 Zweifel formed his genre-bending large ensemble the Life or Death Situation, which released their eponymous debut in the fall of the same year.
Views Panoramic (9’)
Views Panoramic is a musical celebration of some of our planet’s most awe-inspiring natural wonders. The piece unfolds in three distinct sections, each offering a unique perspective on the grandeur of the natural world.
I. Massive Trees – From the Trunk to the Top
This opening movement invites listeners to experience the forest from the perspective of a tiny ant. Beginning at the base of a towering tree, the music traces the ant’s slow, determined ascent. As it climbs higher, the textures grow in complexity and scale, culminating in a sweeping, expansive theme titled Jurassic View—a sonic panorama that captures the breathtaking vista revealed at the treetop.
II. Caverns & Caves
This section begins intimately, with delicate solos for violin, cello, clarinet, bassoon, oboe, flute, and trumpet. These voices echo like distant drips of water in a subterranean world, gradually guiding us deeper into the mysterious chambers of the earth. The music explores the interplay of shadow and resonance, evoking the hidden beauty and quiet majesty of underground spaces.
III. Glaciers and Mountains
The final movement surges forward with energy and momentum, mirroring the relentless rise of mountain peaks and the slow, powerful movement of glaciers. The music climbs ever upward, growing in intensity and volume, until it reaches a sudden, hushed moment titled Piercing the Clouds. Here, the orchestration thins, offering a moment of stillness above the world. The piece concludes with a triumphant return to full ensemble, echoing the exhilaration of standing amidst the grandeur of ice and stone—an ending nearly as breathtaking as the view itself. "Commemorating the 250th Anniversary of American Independence"
Program notes by the composer, Julie Giroux
Appalachian Spring (25’)
Aaron Copland came to be known as the “Dean of American Music.” Though famous for his aural images of the countryside, Copland grew up in Brooklyn. The ballet Appalachian Spring (1944) was a collaboration with choreographer Martha Graham. The music was inspired by Copland’s friendship with Graham. Copland described her as “unquestionably very American: there’s something prim and restrained, simple yet strong about her which one tends to think of as American.” Appalachian Spring tells the story of a young couple starting a new life together in rural Pennsylvania and explores themes of hope. This piece is most famous for its arrangement of the Quaker hymn, “Simple Gifts.”
The Stars and Stripes Forever (4’)
John Philip Sousa was an impactful American musician, conductor, and composer. From 1880-1892, he served as the director of the United States Marine Corps Band, America’s oldest professional music ensemble. Sousa helped elevate the band to a renowned touring ensemble. “The Stars and Stripes Forever” was written in 1896 and was inspired by the homesickness he felt as he traveled back to the United States from Europe. This piece eventually became a signature piece of Sousa’s ensemble and was performed at every concert.