The 20th anniversary of the New Horizons Band of Western New York will be celebrated at a November concert.
The event, slated for Wednesday, Nov. 6, at 6:30 p.m. in Harry A. King Concert Hall at the State University of New York at Fredonia, is free and open to the public.
A piece composed for the occasion by Stephen Shewan, an accomplished composer and arranger, will be showcased during the concert. The work, “Evening Lights,” celebrates the 1825 illumination of gas street lights in Fredonia, NY.
Dr. Shewan found the lighting of Fredonia’s first gas-fueled street lamps to be a significant and evocative event in the community’s history.
“I like to study these places to see what is of interest in the community,” Shewan said. And, the composer added, he sees a parallel between the illumination of those streetlights and the musicians in New Horizons. “I thought of how these lights were metaphorical for older people shining their lights for the first time,” he added.
The piece opens with pointillistic rhythmic patterns depicting illumination of individual lights. The prevailing color of mallets, piano and upper winds portray light through sound, Shewan explained.
“Like the street lights, musicians in the New Horizons Band of Western New York continue to shine. Based in Fredonia, their performances bring joy to their families, friends, community members and themselves,” the composer added.
The concert will also feature a variety of music, ranging from Broadway –- “Les Misérables” – to video game culture – “Baba Yetu.”
Under the direction of Fredonia School of Music Professor Emeritus Katherine McKay, the band was launched in collaboration with the SUNY Fredonia School of Music 20 years ago and has as its founding principle that it is never too late to play and enjoy music. New Horizons Band members who are at least 50 years old learn to play a band instrument, return to playing a band instrument after a long absence or continue to improve playing an instrument they have long enjoyed.
Dr. McKay has led the band since its founding. The group has an enrollment of more than 60 musicians, ranging in age from the early 50s to early 80s. The band welcomes new members and can provide lessons to beginners.
“Music making is just too much fun to leave only to younger folks,” McKay said. “Almost anyone can enjoy learning to play a musical instrument when good instruction, a friendly environment and lots of helping hands are available.”
More information about New Horizons music efforts and the New Horizons Band of Western New York is available here.
Shewan has composed music for numerous media, including orchestra, string quartet, chamber ensembles, symphonic band, solo voice, choir and piano. His music has been performed by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, U.S. Army Strings, Eastman Wind Ensemble, Moores School Symphony Orchestra, Master Chorale of Tampa Bay, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Choir and numerous choirs, bands, chamber ensembles and soloists across the United States and Europe. He has won numerous awards for his music.
Shewan taught and directed the bands at Williamsville East High School near Buffalo, NY, from 1993 to 2020, and taught instrumental music at Odessa-Montour High School from 1983 to 1992. He is a graduate of Roberts Wesleyan College and Ithaca College and received his D.M.A. from the Eastman School of Music.
Now retired from full-time teaching, Shewan devotes his time to composing and accompanying, and teaches a course on advanced aural skills at Roberts Wesleyan College.
