09/14/2026
📣 OCTOBER 1ST: MACHINE DREAMS
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Machines roar, race, remember, and dream in this program exploring the boundary between human imagination and mechanical power.
The SJSU Wind Ensemble, conducted by Dr. Vickerman, presents William Bolcom’s Machine, which launches the concert with relentless momentum, while Saunder Choi’s Locomotion transforms the pulse of a train into a vivid portrait of Philippine commuter life. Mason Bates’s Observer in the Magellanic Cloud sends a robotic satellite across deep time to glimpse an ancient Earth, and Shuying Li’s The Last Hive Mind pits artificial intelligence against a fragile human lullaby. The concert will feature David Cortez, winner of the 2026 SJSU Concerto Competition, in a consortium premiere of Alan Theisen’s “Archaic Machines”, a genre-blurring baritone saxophone concerto in which jazz, funk, mystery, and science fiction collide.
Conducted by Dr. Grant Knox, the SJSU Symphonic Band presents Jennifer Jolley’s Lichtweg/Lightway, which transforms the neon lights of the Munich airport walkway into rhythmic motion, while Nathan Hervey’s Sonic Pathways combines jazz and symphonic elements to create an exciting work. Alex Shapiro’s Tight Squeeze brings twelve-tone writing into a collision with techno, Latin rhythms, jazz, and electronic sound. Steven Bryant’s Synthetic Sunlight closes the program, using electronic sound to create 1980s nostalgia. The program will also feature SJSU saxophone professor Dr. Michael Hernandez, in a world premiere perfomance of Nicole Piunno’s “Escapade”, for Alto Saxophone and Concert Band.
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This event will take place on Thursday, October 1st at 7:30pm in the SJSU Concert Hall.
Tickets:
https://hammertheatre.vbotickets.com/event/sjsu_music_presents_sjsu_wind_ensemble__symphonic_band_machine_dreams/207638
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