WAY DOWN for Concert Band by Jeffrey L. Traster, Gr. 3.5

· FBA Concert Band Music List

· Listen!

· Performance time: 5:00

· Keys: Bb-major, F-major

· Meters: 4/4, 3/4, 2/4, 5/8

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WAY DOWN was commissioned in 2019 by The Florida Bandmasters Association (FBA). The premiere was prevented by the COVID-19 Pandemic in the summers of both 2020 and 2021 and finally premiered with the composer conducting by the H.B. Plant High School Wind Ensemble, Brian Dell, Director, at the combined Conference of the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) Southern Division and American Bandmasters Association (ABA) on February 24, 2022. The Florida Premiere was performed at the 2022 FBA Summer Conference by the Nine Star Honor Band, Ms. Kelly Dorsey, conductor.

Drawn from Stephen Foster’s “Old Folks at Home” and the spiritual “Swing Low,” WAY DOWN seeks to evoke a nostalgic melancholy in the first section subtitled “On the River,” and in the second capture the down-home character of Florida’s early cowboys called “Crackers” in a lively hoedown.