- And now, it is my distinct privilege to introduce the 2025 WSMA High School State Honors Band and their distinguished conductor, Shanti Simon.

[applause] [ Four Scottish Dances by Malcolm Arnold] [rousing band music] [ Four Scottish Dances by Malcolm Arnold] [ Four Scottish Dances by Malcolm Arnold] [audience cheers and applauds] [bright bassoon music] [bright band music] [stately bassoon solo] [bright band music] [audience applauds] [gentle flute music] [gentle oboe solo] [gentle band music] [ Four Scottish Dances by Malcolm Arnold] [gentle oboe solo] [gentle English horn solo] [audience applauds] [rousing band music] [ Four Scottish Dances by Malcolm Arnold] [audience applauds and cheers] - Shanti Simon: Well, I'm out of breath after that.

[chuckles] Good evening, everyone.

It is an honor to be here with you tonight, sharing the stage with these wonderful, remarkable young musicians of Wisconsin.

Can we give them a hand?

[audience applauds and cheers] The next piece on our program is a newer piece of Frank Ticheli's, and I would argue, possibly his best piece.

It was written in memory of two clarinet players who tragically were killed in a car accident in 2015.

And in this piece, Ticheli chose to focus on the light, that, a light, the light of an individual that shines beyond their life.

He portrays in this piece two kinds of light: one, the introspective and reflective, like Jack, and the other is more gregarious and spontaneous, like Laura.

And at the end of the piece, Ticheli imagined Laura and Jack's parents rocking them as babies.

You will hear this sonic rocking, as well as a gradual ascent to the heavens.

Here is Frank Ticheli's Lux Perpetua.

[ Lux Perpetua by Frank Ticheli] [gentle clarinet music] [gentle band music] [ Lux Perpetua by Frank Ticheli] [ Lux Perpetua by Frank Ticheli] [gentle clarinet solo] [ Lux Perpetua by Frank Ticheli] [ Lux Perpetua by Frank Ticheli] [rousing band music] [ Lux Perpetua by Frank Ticheli] [ Lux Perpetua by Frank Ticheli] [cymbal crash] [snare drum roll] [gong crash] [ Lux Perpetua by Frank Ticheli] [ Lux Perpetua by Frank Ticheli] [audience applauds and cheers] Yeah, really a beautiful place, and they played this so beautifully, so well, sorry.

You know, at this time, I need to thank a few people who made this event possible, this experience for these students possible.

And you met some of them at the top of this concert, but I do wanna give a special thank-you to our honors project coordinator, Tim Ekenburg, our honors chair, Carrie Loney, our operations director, Eric Dasher, our band coordinator, Dan Joosten, and then all of our section coaches as well, Kathy Ripley, Allison Umhoefer, Colleen Cantlon-Marler, Sean Hanson, and Alex Knoepker.

Can we give this whole team a hand?

[applause] This experience is different in Wisconsin than it is in a lot of states in this country.

And you have something very, very special here.

I also want to say thank you to the band directors at Verona High School who hosted us, Eric Anderson and Elliott Rittenberry.

They spent a lot of time with us the last couple of days, making everything happen.

And finally, I would really like to thank these students on stage.

These young people are our future.

They truly are.

And yes, yes, they are our future.

[audience applauds] We all got back together just about 24 hours ago to start this process, and to be able to make art at this high level is truly incredible.

And, you know, regardless of the next steps that each of these students takes in their lives, they will always have this gift of music.

And music, as we know, has the power to build connections, to connect people, and this is a world that really needs connection right now.

And so, my hope for all of you on stage is that you take your gift of music and you use it in whatever you end up doing in this world to build connection with people, because that's what will save our world, that's what will make our world great.

And I'm just, I know we're in good hands when I'm with you.

So, thank you, thank you, thank you so much.

How about another round of applause for the students?

[audience applauds] So, we have one more piece to share with you.

It's a lot of fun, so we hope you enjoy the Danzón No.

2 of Arturo Marquez.

[ Danzón No.

2 by Arturo Marquez] [gentle tango-style band music] [gentle oboe solo] [bright tango-style band music] [ Danzón No.

2 by Arturo Marquez] [bright piccolo solo] [ Danzón No.

2 by Arturo Marquez] [gentle clarinet music] [ Danzón No.

2 by Arturo Marquez] [gentle clarinet and flute music] [rousing band music] [rousing trumpet music] [ Danzón No.

2 by Arturo Marquez] [bright piccolo music] [bright ending note] [audience applauds and cheers]