Funds Allow UNL Bands to Commission “Common Threads”

Dr. Kimberly Archer
Dr. Kimberly Archer

UNL Bands was excited to have composer Dr. Kimberly Archer in residence the week of February 8-12. Along with sessions with the conducting and composition studios, she worked with the Wind Ensemble on her piece Common Threads, commissioned with help from the Donald A. Lentz Fund and Jack R. Snider Band Alumni Association Fund, in preparation for its World Premiere at the 2016 CBDNA/NBA North Central Division Conference, February 25-27 on the campus of Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.

If you would like to hear the world premiere of this piece, along with several others, you can attend the Glenn Korff School of Music Wind Ensemble performance on Sunday, February 28, at 3:00 pm in Kimball Recital Hall. If you are unable to attend in person, you can still watch and listen via webcast at http://arts.unl.edu/music/webcasts.

Thank you to all our alumni who have donated to our funds to make this possible. If you would like to contribute to the Donald A. Lentz Fund, you can donate online through the NU Foundation by clicking the link above or on our website. The Lentz Fund is used to commission new works for the UNL concert bands and to fund the appearance of guest artists with the UNL concert bands.

About Dr. Archer

Kimberly K. Archer (b. 1973 in Mendota, IL) is currently serving as Associate Professor of Composition at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, Illinois. She teaches composition, music theory, analysis, counterpoint, 20th century music, and general education courses in music.

A specialist in music for winds and percussion, Dr. Archer’s compositions have been performed throughout the United States, including national conventions of the National Flute Association, regional conventions of CBDNA, and state conventions of the Nebraska State Bandmasters Association, Oklahoma Music Educators Association, and the National Band Association-Wisconsin.

For a full bio of Dr. Archer visit her website at http://kimberlyarcher.squarespace.com.

We need your photos

There are three special acknowledgements this year for the UNL Band Alumni. First, it is the 40th anniversary of the Flagline. Second, the first appearance of the Alumni Band on the field came at the BAA’s second reunion, held September 19-20, 1975, with 120 in attendance. Finally, Jack Snider passed away this year. (Here’s a little secret: the half-time music will pay tribute to Jack.) We would like to pay tribute to all of these at our Friday night reunion kick-off party.

To pay tribute to all three of these events, we need your photos. To share your photos, email them as attachments to the appropriate address below. Do NOT write anything in the body of the message as it will be lost. ONLY attachments will upload, so please name photos with the year included. Please have your photos emailed by August 21, 2015, to give us enough time to put them together in slide show. We’ll post the show after the reunion for those unable to make it to the reunion.

FLAGLINE:  Email to upload.UNL_Fla.hk3jcsmlfg@u.box.com. We’d love to see uniforms, rank or line photos, candid shots, etc.

ALUMNI BAND: Email to upload.UNL_BAA.4y7j7bbr9m@u.box.com. Looking for pictures of the alumni band on the field or playing on the sideline. If you have rank alumni shots, SPAM Band or other “ensembles” that works, too.

JACK SNIDER:  Email to upload.UNL_Jac.t2lwhiufsd@u.box.com. Photos of people with Jack, Jack in action, Jack’s boys, etc.