Wind Ensemble’s “Journeys” concert to premiere noted composer’s work

The Wind Ensemble concert titled “Journeys,” will take place on Sat., May 21 and will feature music from Dmitri Shostakovich, Darius Milhaud, Eric Whitacre, and also the composer of “Star Wars” and “Schindler’s List” film scores, John Williams. The ensemble will also give a world premiere performance of “Earthrise” by award-winning composer Karim Elmahmoudi who will be in attendance. Violinist Tori Belliard, senior majoring in music performance, will serve as featured artist. Giovanni Santos, director of wind and percussion studies, will conduct the performance, and Michael Patterson will serve as assistant conductor.

Elmahmoudi is a composer of music for the concert hall, film, and video games. His works have been performed worldwide including at such iconic venues as London’s Abbey Road, New York’s Carnegie Hall and Los Angeles’s Walt Disney Concert Hall. He is one of nine composers selected by the American Prize in Composition in November 2015 to be awarded a Special Citation Celebrating Variety and Vitality of American Composers. He has worked as orchestrator and arranger for the films “Spiderman 3,” “Sleepwalking,” “Untraceable,” and other projects.

He has also worked with Academy Award winner Michael Giacchino on the hit television series, “Lost.” His 14-minute space-themed work “Orbit: A Symphonic Fantasy,” is heard each hour at the California Science Center, permanent home of the Space Shuttle Endeavour, as part of their space themed IMAX presentations.

Elmahmoudi studied at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Composition extension program and privately with Alexis Alrich for five years. Afterward, he attended the University of Southern California, Thornton Graduate School of Music where his professors included Christopher Young, James Newton Howard, and renowned composer and orchestrator Conrad Pope. He won the BMI Outstanding Achievement Award in 2007 and the Nova Award in 2014.

The La Sierra University Wind Ensemble is a group of students devoted to the development of musicianship, artistic expression, and the cultivating of new audiences. Each member auditioned to take part in the group and represents various majors and programs on the La Sierra campus. The ensemble includes staff and community members. The group has performed for church services, campus events, schools, and civic programs.

Santos, a La Sierra University alum, received his master’s degree from USC in 2007 where he was also a scholarship trumpet student. In addition to his directorial duties, he serves as assistant professor at La Sierra. For seven years, Santos led the band department at Loma Linda Academy and conducted the LLA Wind Symphony in performances across the United States and Europe. He has directed performances in venues such as the Notre Dame Cathedral of Chartres, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the San Giovanni Valdarno Classical Music Festival in Italy, and at the Teatro Titano, Republic of San Marino. Santos was also recently awarded recognition for excellence in music education by the La Sierra University music department. He enjoys frequent engagements as a guest conductor/clinician for festivals across the United States. 

The Wind Ensemble concert will be held at Hole Memorial Auditorium at 8:15 p.m. Admission is free. For further information call 951-785-2036 or email music@lasierra.edu. La Sierra University is located at 4500 Riverwalk Parkway, Riverside. A campus map is available at https://lasierra.edu/campus-map/.