2012 - The BLACK Symphony

With this year’s production, the Buccaneers will take audiences on a journey through colors to black, exploring a variety of moods and textures associated with color as we celebrate the color black for what it is: powerful, elegant, formal, classic, bold and regal. Just as all colors in the spectrum when combined together form the color black, all sections of the Buccaneers when combined together produce something much larger and more entertaining than the sum of the corps’ individual parts.

This year’s production represents a slight change in program style for the corps, with the introduction of contemporary pop music into the repertoire and a vigorous fusion of both the visual and musical elements into a single concept. But the program will bear all of the hallmarks of a Reading Buccaneers production – excitement, entertainment, excellence in every caption and every section, power, and grace, all with a classical and symphonic twist and a few surprises sure to entertain fans.

The journey will take place in four parts:

Warm Colors – fire, passion, energy, happiness, enthusiasm The program opens with burst of speed, color and life as we perform an original composition by brass arranger Mark Lortz.

Cool Colors – calmness, relaxation, groove, texture, hip The journey continues as the Buccaneers set the mood with the driving, accented rhythms of The Four Sections for Orchestra, Mvt. IV by contemporary American composer Steve Reich (b. 1936). We will explore the minimalist quality of the music while adding layers of melody.

Shadows – color vs. darkness, an area where direct light cannot reach due to an obstruction, a silhouette The Buccaneers will bring this mood to life with the unique and haunting “New World” from Dancer in the Dark, by Björk Guömundsdóttir (b. 1965). The lush and beautiful vocal melody, set against pulsing industrial rhythms, will serve as the perfect transition to the arrival point of our journey.

BLACK – loud, fast, powerful, bold, classical, regal, elegant The journey comes to a rousing and triumphant conclusion as we return to the music of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), with his epic and iconic 1812 Overture. Premiered in 1882 to commemorate Russia’s victory over Napoleon, this grand piece is full of unforgettable melodies and moments and will be the perfect vehicle to celebrate the color black.

We look forward to sharing this ambitious and exciting program with fans this year!

The Buccaneers will host Winter Camp #1 on Saturday December 3, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, December 4, from 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., for brass and percussion players. Both rehearsal camps will be held at Twin Valley High School, Elverson, PA. All brass and percussion players interested in membership in the 2012 Reading Buccaneers are invited to attend. For more information or for questions about membership in the Buccaneers, visit www.readingbuccaneers.org and click on “Join Us” or email Membership Manager Karen Wildonger at membership.manager@readingbuccaneers.org.