Yale Concert Band: “Out of Darkness” for solo cello and winds (Dana Wilson), feat. Ole Akahoshi, cello, and more

The Yale Concert Band - Yale’s premier wind ensemble - Thomas C. Duffy, Music Director, will perform its Fall Concert on Friday, November 16, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. in Woolsey Hall (500 College Street, New Haven). Admission is free and no tickets or reservations are required.

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Program:

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● “Out of Darkness.” Amidst a world in political turmoil, where “horrors seemed unending and unsolvable, where there would be no victors, only victims,” composer Dana Wilson turned to the plaintive and intense sound of the cello for solace and to help him attempt to process these relentless human tragedies. This three-movement work (Lament, Hope, and Prayer) will feature soloist Ale Okahoshi, Yale School of Music Professor of Cello.

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● Duke Ellington composed “A Tone Parallel to Harlem” in 1950 as a “tone poem” of New York's Harlem, evoking the atmosphere of a Sunday stroll through the neighborhood. This version for wind band was arranged and will be guest conducted this evening by James Spinazzola , Director of Winds at Cornell University.

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● “Symphony No. 2 ” by David Maslanka is a major work for wind ensemble that deals with themes of loss, grief, and acceptance, framed by the metaphor of crossing a river. Composed in 1983 for the Big Ten Band Directors Association and premiered in 1987, the symphony's movements explore these deep personal themes, with the second movement incorporating the African-American spiritual “Deep River” to represent the journey of “crossing over” to a new state of being. 

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