The American Wind Symphony Orchestra (AWSO, also called the American Wind Symphony, or AWS) is an American musical ensemble incorporating many of the wind instruments found in a

symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

. It is dedicated to the performance of

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is Western art music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st-century classical music, 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 Modernism (music), post-tonal music after the death of ...

, and which is known for having commissioned over 400 new works. Based in

Mars, Pennsylvania Mars is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in southern Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,458 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Greater Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh metropolitan area. Histor ...

, the AWSO was founded 1957 and directed for 50 years by the American conductor (and former

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

er) Robert Austin Boudreau (b. 1927).

Description

The group, whose membership changes from year to year, typically is composed of young professional musicians. Many of the works it performs feature an unusually large instrumentation usually including at least 4

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

s (doubling on

piccolo The piccolo ( ; ) is a smaller version of the western concert flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" or piccolo flute, the modern piccolo has the same type of fingerings as the ...

alto flute The alto flute is an instrument in the Western concert flute family, pitched below the standard C flute and the uncommon flûte d'amour. It is the third most common member of its family after the standard C flute and the piccolo. It is chara ...

, and

bass flute The bass flute is a member of the flute family pitched one octave below the concert flute. The tubing length is twice as long at , which requires a J-shaped head joint to bring the embouchure hole within reach of the player. Despite its name ...

), 4

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

s (doubling on

English horn The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn (mainly North America), is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially ...

and

oboe d'amore The ; (), less commonly (), is a double reed woodwind musical instrument in the oboe family. Slightly larger than the oboe, it has a less assertive and a more tranquil and serene tone, and is considered the mezzo-soprano of the oboe family, betw ...

), 4

bassoon The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity ...

s (doubling on

contrabassoon The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower. Its technique is similar to its smaller cousin, with a few notable differences. Differences from the bassoon The Reed (mouthpie ...

and

heckelphone The heckelphone () is a musical instrument invented by Wilhelm Heckel and his sons. The idea to create the instrument was initiated by Richard Wagner, who suggested its concept at the occasion of a visit of Wilhelm Heckel in 1879. Introduced in ...

), 4

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

s (doubling on

E-flat clarinet The E-flat (E) clarinet is a member of the clarinet family, smaller than the more common B clarinet and pitched a perfect fourth higher. It is typically considered the sopranino or piccolo member of the clarinet family and is a transposing inst ...

basset horn The basset horn (sometimes hyphenated as basset-horn) is a member of the clarinet family of musical instruments. Construction and tone Like the clarinet, the instrument is a wind instrument with a single reed and a cylindrical bore (wind in ...

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common Soprano clarinet, soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays no ...

, and

contrabass clarinet The contrabass clarinet (also pedal clarinet, after the pedals of pipe organs) and contra-alto clarinet are the two largest members of the clarinet family that are in common usage. Modern contrabass clarinets are transposing instruments pitche ...

), 4-6

s, 4-7

horn Horn may refer to: Common uses * Horn (acoustic), a tapered sound guide ** Horn antenna ** Horn loudspeaker ** Vehicle horn ** Train horn *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various animals * Horn (instrument), a family ...

s, 4-6

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

s, a

bass trombone The bass trombone (, ) is the bass instrument in the trombone family of brass instruments. Modern instruments are pitched in the same B♭ as the tenor trombone but with a larger bore, bell and mouthpiece to facilitate low register playing, and u ...

, and 1-2

tuba The tuba (; ) is the largest and lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece (brass), mouthpiece. It first appeared in th ...

Percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, and

celeste Celeste may refer to: Geography * Mount Celeste, unofficial name of a mountain on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada * Celeste, Texas, a rural city in North Texas ** Celeste High School, public high school located in the city of Celes ...

are usually included as well, but, unlike most concert bands,

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

s and

euphonium The euphonium ( ; ; ) is a tenor- and baritone-voiced valved brass instrument. The euphonium is a member of the large family of valved bugles, along with the tuba and flugelhorn, characterised by a wide conical bore. Most instruments have thr ...

s are never used.

Concert venues

American Waterways Wind Orchestra barge in 2025

The group usually has performed annually during the summer months on a floating arts center designed by the American architect

Louis Kahn Louis Isadore Kahn (born Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky; – March 17, 1974) was an Estonian-born American architect based in Philadelphia. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935. Whil ...

. ''Point Counterpoint II'', constructed in 1976, is the second boat used by the orchestra. The original ''Point Counterpoint'' was a coal-transporting

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

converted by Kahn in 1961, and named after the

Point State Park Point State Park (locally known as The Point) is a Pennsylvania state park which is located on in Downtown Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, US, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, forming the Ohio River. B ...

in downtown Pittsburgh, near where it was constructed. The newer boat was designed to be able to navigate American canals and locks more easily than the original vessel. Kahn died suddenly in 1974, two years before the new boat debuted in celebration of the

American Bicentennial The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to historical events leading up to the creation of the United States as an independent republic. It was a central event in the memo ...

. The ''Point Counterpoint II'' measures long and wide, and features a large overhead canopy to shelter performers and diffuse the sound. The underside of the hinged canopy shows a series of square, circular domed, and pyramidal cavities, similar to the ceiling of the

Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is an art museum in New Haven, Connecticut. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University. Although it embraces all cultures and period ...

building, an iconic design by Kahn. The overhead structure can be lowered over the barge for protection and easier transport. As a flourish, Boudeau liked to start a performance with

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...

's ''

Fanfare for the Common Man ''Fanfare for the Common Man'' is a musical work by the American composer Aaron Copland. It was written in 1942 for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under conductor Eugene Goossens and was inspired in part by a speech made earlier that yea ...

'' while the hinged canopy gradually opened, revealing the performers. Aboard, there are also rooms for up to 13 crew members, staff, and the director to live, an art gallery below deck, and a small theater where special patrons' concerts take place. The other personnel of the large group must travel by land, and stay overnight in accommodations provided by hosts of the tours. In 2017 with the retirement of Robert Boudreau near the age of 90, the future of the orchestra and its home, the ''Point Counterpoint II'', appeared bleak. The 1600-ton barge looked like it was headed for the scrapyard, when renowned

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

Yo-Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma (born October 7, 1955) is a French-born American Cello, cellist. Born to Chinese people, Chinese parents in Paris, he was regarded as a child prodigy there and began to study the cello with his father at age four. At the age of seven, ...

wrote in the July ''New York Review of Books'' appealing for help. In response, bids to save the vessel came in from London, Paris, Estonia, Philadelphia, Charleston (South Carolina), Washington DC, Kingston (New York), and Buffalo (New York), among other places. , Boudreau is evaluating a number of bids, some reputedly between $3–4 million.

Performances and tours

The founder and longtime conductor of the AWSO was Robert Boudreau, a graduate of the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

and a former

Fulbright Scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the peopl ...

. He also held a captain's license, and piloted the ''Point Counterpoint II'' on numerous concert tours through canals and rivers in the US and Europe. Each summer, the group has performed on the barge's stage, anchored in one of Pittsburgh's rivers. The group also has performed on the barge along various waterways of the United States (including the

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

and

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

Rivers, as well as their

tributaries A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which the ...

), giving concerts along the way. The orchestra spent three years overseas, where they were present for the Bicentennial celebration of France, the 800th Anniversary in England, and were the first US vessel in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. Boudreau took a hiatus of several years after the 2004 residency, but after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita felt compelled to travel to

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

in 2006. The post-disaster tour was called the "Spirit of Louisiana", and the reception in the southernmost cities of Louisiana was so great the orchestra returned for a few weeks in 2007. Boudreau once again announced a retirement as music director following the final concert of the 2007 season at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. A 2008

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

tour was being developed for June and July, to begin at Highcroft, Boudreau's farm in Pine Township, Pennsylvania. The orchestra would have three residencies there, performing at the Caroline Steinman Nunan Amphitheater. The orchestra would then meet up with ''Point Counterpoint II'' in

Narragansett, Rhode Island Narragansett is a town in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 14,532 at the 2020 census. However, during the summer months the town's population more than doubles to near 34,000. The town of Narragansett occupie ...

, with performances in

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

to follow for several weeks. The orchestra would then proceed up the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

to the

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east–west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigability, navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, ...

and have closing concerts at the end of July back at Highcroft. In March 2013, the Sheriff's Office of

Okaloosa County, Florida Okaloosa County is a county located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the Alabama state line. As of the 2020 census, the population was 211,668. Its county seat is Crestview. Okaloo ...

issued a warrant for Boudreau's arrest, alleging grand theft of $25,000 in appearance fees for a June 2012 concert which the AWSO never performed. He was never arrested, but went to Florida as required by law, where the authorities took his picture and his fingerprints. Boudreau signed a note that promised he would appear if required before a judge, and returned to Pennsylvania. His lawyer represented him at a later hearing, and the judge dismissed all charges without prejudice. Boudreau cited a lack of housing for the orchestra members as reason for the failure to perform, and refused to return the funds, claiming that he thought they were "a donation to the orchestra". Boudreau's wife, Kathleen, has assisted with the organization of the AWSO. She was writing a book on the history of the AWSO from her perspective throughout the years. Together they planned all the group's tours, reared a large family, and farmed over in Pennsylvania. Boudreau's actions at times antagonized the larger professional music community of Pittsburgh, and caused him to be charged with unfair labor practices with regard to the treatment of his musicians. Robert Boudreau died on July 4, 2024, at the age of 97.

Composers commissioned by the AWSO

The AWSO has a long history of commissioning original works, many of which also feature extensive use of

percussion instrument A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

s: * Samuel Adler *

Samuel Akpabot Samuel Akpabot (3 October 1932 – 7 August 2000) was a Nigerian music composer, ethnomusicologist and author. Early life and education Samuel Ekpe Akpabot was born in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, to parents of Ibibio heritage. He was educa ...

David Amram David Werner Amram III (born November 17, 1930) is an American composer, arranger, and conductor of orchestral, chamber, and choral works, many with jazz flavorings.

* Thom Anderson *

Alexander Arutiunian Alexander Grigori Arutiunian (23 September 192028 March 2012), was a Soviet Union, Soviet and Armenian composer and pianist, widely known for his 1950 Trumpet Concerto (Arutiunian), Trumpet Concerto. A professor at Komitas State Conservatory of ...

Blas Atehortua Blas is mainly a Spanish given name and surname, related to Blaise. It may refer to Places *Piz Blas, mountain in Switzerland * San Blas (disambiguation) People * Ricardo Blas Jr. (born 1986) Judo athlete from Guam *Blas Antonio Sáenz (fl. 1845 ...

Georges Auric Georges Auric (; 15 February 1899 – 23 July 1983) was a French composer, born in Lodève, Hérault, France. He was considered one of ''Les Six'', a group of artists informally associated with Jean Cocteau and Erik Satie. Before he turned 20 h ...

Henk Badings Henk Badings (hĕngk bä'dĭngz) (17 January 190726 June 1987) was an Indonesian-Dutch composer. Early life Born in Bandung, Java, Dutch East Indies, as the son of Herman Louis Johan Badings, an officer in the Dutch East Indies army, Hendrik Her ...

Robert Russell Bennett Robert Russell Bennett (June 15, 1894 – August 18, 1981) was an American composer and arranger, best known for his orchestration of many well-known Broadway and Hollywood musicals by other composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershw ...

Warren Benson Warren Frank Benson (January 26, 1924 – October 6, 2005) was an American composer. His compositions consist mostly of music for wind instruments and percussion. His most notable piece is titled ''The Leaves Are Falling'' (1964). Biography Benso ...

Elmer Bernstein Elmer Bernstein ( '; April 4, 1922August 18, 2004) was an American composer and conductor. In a career that spanned over five decades, he composed "some of the most recognizable and memorable themes in Hollywood history", including over 150 orig ...

William Bolcom William Elden Bolcom (born May 26, 1938) is an American composer and pianist. He has received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts, a Grammy Award, the Detroit Music Award and was named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America. He ...

Eugène Bozza Eugène Joseph Bozza (4 April 1905 – 28 September 1991)Grove Music Online: "Bozza, Eugène"; accessed 20 September 2014, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/03791. was a French composer and violinist. He was one of t ...

* Lee Bracegirdle *

Henry Brant Henry Dreyfuss Brant (September 15, 1913 – April 26, 2008) was a Canadian-born American composer. An expert orchestrator with a flair for experimentation, many of Brant's works featured spatialization techniques. Biography Brant was born ...

Leo Brouwer Juan Leovigildo Brouwer Mezquida (born March 1, 1939) is a Cubans, Cuban composer, conducting, conductor, and classical guitarist. He is a Member of Honour of the International Music Council. Early years Brouwer was born in Havana, Cuba. When he ...

Jacques Castérède Jacques Castérède (10 April 1926 – 6 April 2014)"Jacques Castérè ...

Chou Wen-Chung Chou Wen-chung (; July 28, 1923 – October 25, 2019) was a Chinese American composer of contemporary classical music. He emigrated in 1946 to the United States and received his music training at the New England Conservatory and Columbia Univ ...

Paul Creston Paul Creston (born Giuseppe Guttoveggio; October 10, 1906 – August 24, 1985) was an American composer of classical music. He composed six symphonies and several concertante works for violin, piano, accordion, marimba and saxophone. Biography B ...

* Ton de Leeuw *

Daniel Dorff Daniel Dorff (born March 7, 1956) is an American classical musician and classical composer. Biography and career Dorff was born in New Rochelle, New York, and grew up in Flower Hill, New York, graduating from Roslyn High School.A Compact ...

Halim El-Dabh Halim Abdul Messieh El-Dabh (, ''Ḥalīm ʻAbd al-Masīḥ al-Ḍab''ʻ; 4 March 1921 – 2 September 2017) was an Egyptian-American composer, musician, ethnomusicologist, and educator, who had a career spanning six decades. He is particu ...

Akin Euba Olatunji Akin Euba (28 April 1935 – 14 April 2020) was a Nigerian composer, musicologist, and pianist. Career Born on 28 April 1935 in Lagos, Nigeria, Akin Euba studied composition with Arnold Cooke at the Trinity College of Music, London, obt ...

Robert Farnon Robert Joseph Farnon CM (24 July 191723 April 2005) was a Canadian-born composer, conductor, musical arranger and trumpet player. As well as being a composer of original works (often in the light music genre), he was commissioned by film and ...

Luboš Fišer Luboš Fišer (30 September 1935 – 22 June 1999) was a Czech composer, born in Prague. He was known both for his soundtracks and chamber music. From 1952 to 1956 he studied composition at the Prague Conservatory as a pupil of Emil Hlobil. Fr ...

Jean Françaix Jean René Désiré Françaix (pronunciation Fran-say or Fran-seks) was born on 23 May 1912, in Le Mans and died in 25 September 1997, in Paris). Françaix was a French neoclassical composer, pianist, and orchestrator known for his prolific outp ...

Bernd Franke Bernd Franke (born 12 February 1948) is a German former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Also an outfield player in his youth, young Bernd Franke made his steps towards the professional game following his impressiveness in t ...

* Mats Larsson Gothe * Carmago Guarnieri *

Alan Hovhaness Alan Hovhaness (; born Alan Vaness Chakmakjian; March 8, 1911 – June 21, 2000) was an American composer. He was one of the most prolific 20th-century composers, with his official catalog comprising 67 numbered symphonies (surviving manuscripts ...

* J. J. Johnson *

George Kleinsinger George Kleinsinger (February 13, 1914, San Bernardino, California – July 28, 1982, New York City, New York) was an American composer most known for children's compositions, Broadway scores, and film/television scores. He is best known for a strin ...

Norman Lloyd Norman Nathan Lloyd (''né'' Perlmutter; November 8, 1914 – May 11, 2021) was an American actor, producer, director, and centenarian with a career in entertainment spanning nearly a century. He worked in every major facet of the industry, inc ...

Nikolai Lopatnikoff Nikolai Lopatnikoff (Russian, Николай Львович Лопатников; born 16 March 1903 in Tallinn - 7 October 1976 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) was a Russian-American composer, music teacher and university lecturer. He composed some ...

* Ivana Loudová *

Toshiro Mayuzumi was a Japanese composer. He was known for his implementation of avant-garde instrumentation alongside traditional Japanese musical techniques. His works drew inspiration from a variety of sources ranging from jazz to Balinese music, and he wa ...

* Robert McBride *

Colin McPhee Colin Carhart McPhee (March 15, 1900 – January 7, 1964) was a Canadian-American composer and ethnomusicologist. He is best known for being the first Western composer to make a musicological study of Bali, and to develop American gamelan along ...

Akira Miyoshi Akira Miyoshi (三善　晃; January 10, 1933 – 4 October 2013) was a Japanese composer. Biography Miyoshi was born in Suginami, Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Jap ...

Oliver Nelson Oliver Edward Nelson (June 4, 1932 – October 28, 1975) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. His 1961 Impulse! album '' The Blues and the Abstract Truth'' (1961) is regarded as one of the most signi ...

Bo Nilsson Bo Nilsson (1 May 1937 – 25 June 2018) was a Swedish composer and lyricist. Career Bo Nilsson was born in Skellefteå, and first drew notice as a composer at the age of 18 when his ''Zwei Stücke'' (Two Pieces) for flute, bass clarinet, percu ...

Javier Gimenez Noble Javier may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Javier, in video game '' Advance Wars: Dual Strike'' * Javier Rios, a character in the Monsters, Inc. franchise. * ''Javier'' (album), a 2003 album by the American singer Javier Colon, known a ...

Arne Nordheim Arne Nordheim (20 June 1931 – 5 June 2010) was a Norwegian composer. Nordheim received numerous awards for his compositions, and from 1982 lived in the Norwegian government's honorary residence, Grotten, next to the Royal Palace in Oslo. ...

* Krzysztof Olczak *

Ben-Zion Orgad Ben-Zion Orgad ( Hebrew: בן ציון אורגד, originally ''Ben-Zion Büschel''; born Gelsenkirchen, Germany, 21 August 1926; died Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just ...

* Juan Orrego-Salas *

Krzysztof Penderecki Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best-known works include '' Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', '' Polish Requiem'', '' ...

Andrei Petrov Andrei Pavlovich Petrov (; 2 September 1930, Leningrad – 15 February 2006, Saint Petersburg) was a Soviet and Russian composer. He was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1980. Andrey Petrov is known for his music for numerous classic Soviet ...

* Zbigniew Pniewski * Carlos Rafael Rivera *

Joaquín Rodrigo Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre, 1st Marquess of the Gardens of Aranjuez (; 22 November 1901 – 6 July 1999), was a Spanish composer and a virtuoso pianist. He is best known for composing the '' Concierto de Aranjuez'', a cornerstone of the classical g ...

Bernard Rogers Bernard Rogers (4 February 1893 – 24 May 1968) was an American composer. His best known work is ''The Passion'', an oratorio written in 1942. Life and career Rogers was born in New York City. He studied with Arthur Farwell, Ernest Bloc ...

Ned Rorem Ned Miller Rorem (October 23, 1923 – November 18, 2022) was an American composer of contemporary classical music and a writer. Best known for his art songs, which number over 500, Rorem was considered the leading American of his time writing i ...

* Ramon Santos * Jerzy Sapieyevski *

Lalo Schifrin Boris Claudio "Lalo" Schifrin (born June 21, 1932) is an Argentine-American pianist, composer, arranger, and conductor. He is best known for his large body of film and TV scores since the 1950s, incorporating jazz and Music of Latin America, Lati ...

Hale Smith Hale Smith (June 29, 1925 – November 24, 2009) was an American composer, arranger, and pianist.De Lerma, Dominique-Rene"African Heritage Symphonic Series" Liner note essay. Cedille CDR061. Biography Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he learned pian ...

Harry Somers Harry Stewart Somers, CC (September 11, 1925 – March 9, 1999) was a contemporary Canadian composer. Somers earned the unofficial title of "Darling of Canadian Composition." He was a founding member of the Canadian League of Composers (CLC) a ...

* Gottfried Stoeltzel *

Carlos Surinach Carlos Lund (or Carles Suriñach)
i Wrokona (; March 6, 1915 – November 12, 1997) was a Spanish-born

Erkki-Sven Tüür Erkki-Sven Tüür (; born 16 October 1959) is an Estonian composer. Life and career Tüür was born in Kärdla on the Estonian island of Hiiumaa. He studied flute and percussion at the Tallinn Music School from 1976 to 1980 and composition wi ...

Ivan Tcherepnin Ivan Alexandrovich Tcherepnin (Russian: ''Иван Александрович Черепнин'') (February 5, 1943 in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France – April 11, 1998 in Boston, USA) was an experimental, then later modernist/postmodernist, composer ...

* Sergei Tcherepnin *

Roberto Valera Roberto Valera Chamizo (born 1938) is a Cuban composer and pedagogue who has a made a substantial contribution to the development of music in Cuba.The living composers project. Roberto Valera. http://www.composers21.com/compdocs/valerar.htm Lif ...

Heitor Villa-Lobos Heitor Villa-Lobos (March 5, 1887November 17, 1959) was a Brazilian composer, conductor, cellist, and classical guitarist described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has globally bec ...

Healey Willan James Healey Willan (12 October 1880 – 16 February 1968) was an English and Canadian organist and composer, and an influential teacher. He composed more than 800 works including operas, symphonies, chamber music, a concerto, and pieces for ...

* Patrick Zuk

References

*Renshaw, Jeffrey H. (1991). ''The American Wind Symphony Commissioning Project: A Descriptive Catalog of Published Editions 1957-1991''. Music Reference Collection. Greenwood Press. . .

External links

American Wind Symphony Orchestra HomePhotos

Audio

American Wind Symphony Orchestra audio samples

Video

Video documentary
{{authority control Musical groups established in 1957 Musical groups from Pittsburgh Wind bands Contemporary classical music ensembles Orchestras based in Pennsylvania 1957 establishments in Pennsylvania