Salem Symphonic Winds presents Casanova and the Three Graces – Salem, OR

Join Salem Symphonic Winds as we begin our 50th Anniversary Season with a screening of the Cine-Symphony Film Casanova and the Three Graces, which will be shown with a live performance featuring cello soloist Joseph Harchanko performing Angelo del Cielo by Giacomo Puccini and Casanova, a cello concerto by Johan de Meij.

The concert will also feature A Lincoln Portrait and Quiet City by Aaron Copland. Brett Randolph will be featured as Trumpet soloist with Shawna Purcell, English Horn soloist on Quiet City. Prayers for a Troubled Nation by Jack Stamp and Canticle of the Sun by Martin Behnke will complete the program.

All seats are general admission.

Wallace Long – Narrator of Copland’s Lincoln Portrait

Growing up in Tucson, Arizona, I thought I wanted to be a stockbroker. To that end, I entered the University of Arizona as a business/economics major. Boy, did I have a wrong number!

Since I had been involved in music for as long as I could remember (I led singing in church when I was eight years old), I enrolled in Chamber Choir at the U of A. I looked at music as my avocation, never as a career possibility. Then, I had the privilege of singing under the direction of John Bloom, and my world changed forever. I continued my studies there with David Wilson, Jean Berger, and Maurice Skones, and soon Wall Street was forgotten as I became aware of the beauty, drama, emotion, and sensitivity of great choral music performance. I wanted to perform, and even more, I wanted to conduct. The attraction for taking great literature, interpreting and understanding it, bringing performers into the magic of it with me, and then giving it as a gift to an audience, has never wanted for me. When I discovered the satisfaction of awakening students to the joys of choral music, my life’s work was determined.

I have been Director of Choral Activities at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, since 1983 and Music Department Chair from 1994- 2001. It has been a great 27 years. In my highly prejudiced opinion, there isn’t another profession with the variety of ways to practice your craft and the remarkable and frequent opportunities to feed your soul. I am so fortunate to look back at recording CDs in France and performing in Carnegie Hall as a member of the Festival Singers of the great Robert Shaw, conducting the Willamette Singers in the Imperial Hotel Ballroom in Tokyo, and singing with Male Ensemble Northwest for my colleagues at the American Choral Director’s National Conference in Washington, D.C. I have conducted the all-state choir in Kansas and Wyoming and have had my classical choral and vocal jazz groups invited to perform at national conferences in Boston, New Orleans, Chicago, and Indianapolis. My greatest personal satisfaction, however, still comes from seeing my student’s faces, at that exact moment when they understand the meaning of the text and the beauty of the music, and it all comes together for them. There is nothing else quite like it and I wouldn’t trade those moments for anything in the world.

Brett Randolph – Trumpet Soloist on Copland’s Quiet City

Brett Randolph has been a freelance trumpet player in the Northwest for the last 26 years. He studied with Joan Paddock and Jay Chen in his early years. Brett received many honors and accomplishments in high school, which led to him placing 1st Place in the OSAA State Solo Competition in his senior year. He got a full-ride scholarship to OSU, receiving his B.S. in Music Performance/Education in 2002 and his M.A.T. in Music Education in 2004. Brett has been a middle school band teacher for the Salem-Keizer School District for the last 21 years, eight years at Crossler MS and 13 years at Waldo MS. This coming year, Brett will be joining the Sprague High School teaching staff as the new Assistant Director of Bands. Brett is an active performer with the Willamette Master Chorus, Festival Chorale Oregon, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Big Horn Brass, Principal Trumpet of the Portland Choir & Orchestra, and Principal Trumpet of the Salem Orchestra.

Brett has been privileged to be a guest soloist in many different groups. In 2013, he was the guest soloist with the Salem Chamber Orchestra, performing the Brandenburg Concerto No. 2. In 2014, he was the guest soloist with the 234th Army Band under the direction of Ashley Alexander, performing Soaring by Sean O’Loughlin. In 2015, he was the guest soloist with the Salem Concert Band (now Salem Symphonic Winds) Trumpet Section recital performing Tico Tico by Zequinha de Abreau, arranged by David Marlatt. In 2016, he was the guest soloist for the Salem Youth Symphony 60th Anniversary Concert, where he performed Summon the Heroes by John Williams. In 2019, he was the Salem Orchestra guest soloist, performing the Hummel Trumpet Concerto. In 2023, he was the guest soloist with the Salem Symphonic Winds performing Stardust by Hoagy Carmichael.

Brett has maintained a private trumpet studio since high school. His love of music guided him to meet his wife at OSU. His wife, Pippa Randolph, is a professional flute player who is also a sought-after performer. The two of them have five beautiful children who are all very talented musicians themselves.

Shauna Purcell – English Horn soloist on Copland’s Quiet City

Shauna Purcell graduated from Willamette University in 2000 with a Bachelor of Music degree in Oboe Performance and has been playing with local performing groups ever since. While at Willamette, she studied with adjunct professor of oboe Mary A. Lott and was principal oboe and soloist with the Chamber Winds, played second oboe in the Salem Chamber Orchestra, and was a featured soloist with the Waller String Quartet and Willamette Chamber Choir. In recent years, she has performed orchestral and solo works with the Salem Symphony, Festival Chorale Oregon, Western Oregon University Choirs, Western Oregon University Symphony, and Salem First United Methodist Church, among others. She has enjoyed playing oboe with the Salem Symphonic Winds since 2003. In addition to working as a paralegal and musician, Shauna has a busy private teaching studio in Salem, where she lives with her husband, David, and their three daughters.