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The Indiana Wind Symphony’s new music director isn’t planning a solemn future for the Carmel-based ensemble made up of 80 musicians who play brass, woodwind and percussion instruments.
Jay Gephart, who’s served as director of bands at Purdue University since 2006, said he values a light touch as his tenure with the Indiana Wind Symphony begins.
“I want to not only perform, but I want to entertain,” Gephart said. “We can’t lose sight of that. I don’t want the concert band repertoire we play to be so incredibly serious that an audience can’t sit back and enjoy a John Williams or a ‘Silverado’ or something like that. That’s important to me.”
Material planned for Sunday’s season-opening concert at Carmel’s Palladium includes pop-culture fare such as Williams’ end-credits theme for 1992 Tom Cruise-Nicole Kidman film “Far and Away” and the opening theme for 1985 Western “Silverado.” Composer Bruce Broughton earned an Academy Award nomination for the score to “Silverado,” which starred Kevin Kline and Kevin Costner.
The guest soloist for the concert, billed as “Fanfare for a New Era,” is celebrated tuba player Patrick Sheridan. With Sheridan planning a performance of “The Flight of the Bumblebee,” there’s little chance for a humorless afternoon.
Meanwhile, Gephart said he wants the symphony to continue to showcase new works, a tradition established by IWS founder Charles Conrad—who retired this spring after 27 years of leading the organization.
Sunday’s audience will hear “Bamboo Shoots and City Streets,” a 10-minute piece by twentysomething composer Benjamin Barker.
One more Gephart goal: “I want the Indiana Wind Symphony to have an incredible outreach in the public and private school band programs in central Indiana.”
Gephart has worked with students throughout his career, beginning with 12 years as a public school band director before joining Purdue’s faculty in 1995.
(As a student, Gephart earned a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University in 1983 and a master’s degree in tuba performance from IU in 1988.)
While the Crawfordsville native will continue to serve as the Al G. Wright chair of Purdue bands and orchestras, Gephart plans to step down from his role as director of the Purdue “All-American” Marching Band at the end of this football season.
The wind symphony role will allow Gephart to focus on concerts and a chance to work with adults.
“As much as I love the marching band side of my life, my passion is concert band and conducting,” Gephart said. “This affords me the opportunity to conduct adults as opposed to students, which I’ve conducted all my life. This is a different adventure for me, and I’m really enjoying it so far.”
Made up of volunteers who aren’t compensated financially, the Indiana Wind Symphony’s personnel includes professional musicians, music educators and talented amateurs, Gephart said.
Gephart credited Conrad for building the symphony from a startup to its current status as a resident ensemble at the Palladium.
Regarding the Purdue marching band, Gephart said he gave nearly 30 Memorial Day weekends to the group that’s a highlight of the annual 500 Festival Parade and Indy 500 race day festivities at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“I have a picture in my office of the last time I conducted Jim Nabors singing ‘(Back Home Again in) Indiana,’” said Gephart, adding that he also enjoyed working with frequent “America the Beautiful” singer Florence Henderson. “They were delightful people.”
Nabors, who sang at the track from 1972 to 2014, died in 2017. Henderson died in 2016.
‘Fanfare for a New Era’
- Featuring: Indiana Wind Symphony with guest soloist Patrick Sheridan
- When: 4 p.m. Oct. 6
- Where: The Palladium at the Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts, 1 Carter Green, Carmel
- Tickets: $22 to $37.
- Info: Visit thecenterpresents.org.
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