THE UNLV WIND ORCHESTRA has received international acclaim for its fresh and creative approach to music making. Performing contemporary repertoire in addition to classical masterworks, the Wind Orchestra at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas has been responsible for commissioning and premiering numerous significant new works by America’s finest young contemporary composers including Eric Whitacre, Wendell Yuponce, Jonathon Newman, Steven Bryant, Jim Bonney, Corey Hirsch, Paul Seitz, Nathan Tanouye, Jennifer Bellor, Julian Tanaka, Kenneth Froelich and Wataru Hokoyama. In addition, the Wind Orchestra has recently commissioned and premiered new compositions by landmark American contemporary composers Bruce Broughton, Roger Nixon and James Barnes. Special highlights to past UNLV Wind Orchestra performances showcase many of the world’s finest musicians. Such notables include Joseph Alessi, Brian Bowman, Eric Marienthal, Stefan Karlsson, Steve Houghton, Hideo Sano, Gregg Field, Ted Atkatz, Tom Warrington, Elliot Zigman, Ed Soph, Shoichiro Hokazono, Col. John Bourgeois, Col. Arnald Gabriel, Col. Michael Bankhead and Dr. Harry Begian. The ensemble is comprised of music majors, non-majors and includes select graduate students enrolled in the masters and doctoral performance degree programs at UNLV.
Under the baton of Professor Thomas G. Leslie, the Wind Orchestra has received acclaim for outstanding performances at the American Bandmasters Association National Conference, the Music Educators National Conference Biennial Convention, the Hokkaiddo Band Association Wind Band Conference in Sapporo, Japan, the La Croix Valmer International Music Festival in St. Tropez, France, the College Band Directors National Association West/Northwest Regional Conference and numerous state and local conventions. The UNLV Wind Orchestra has received outstanding reviews for twenty professional recordings of international repute on Mark Custom Recordings and the Troy Classical Recordings labels. Included in the new UNLV Wind Orchestra Series on Klavier Records are: 3 Steps Forward, featuring Grammy Award winners Eric Marienthal and members of the Yellowjackets, Russell Ferrante, Jimmy Haslip, and Will Kennedy; Spiritual Planet; 4 Flew Over the Hornet’s Nest, featuring Grammy Award winners Eric Marienthal, Russell Ferrante, Ric Fierabracci and Joel Taylor; The Quest; Vegas Maximus; Concerto for Marienthal featuring Grammy Award winner Eric Marienthal; Marquee Mojo; Lost Vegas, featuring Grammy Award winners Eric Marienthal, Bernie Dresel and Christin Tamburr; Ventanas; The Return, featuring Grammy Award winner Eric Marienthal, Mitchel Foreman, Kevin Axt and Bernie Dresel; 24K Gould; and our newest release in the Klavier UNLV Wind Orchestra Series, Quaternity, featuring Joseph Alessi, Principal Trombonist of the New York Philharmonic and Chris Castellanos of the Boston Brass.
