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| Aroostook Republican Photo/Lisa Wilcox Maine composer Terry White introduced his musical pieces performed by the Caribou Middle School Concert Band and Caribou High School Symphonic Band during a concert held at CPAC on April 10 |
By Lisa Wilcox
Staff Writer
CARIBOU — Terry White has been a music educator, composer, arranger and band leader in the Portland area for over 34 years. As a composer, White has written pieces for the Portland Symphony Orchestra and his music has been performed at the Midwest Clinic, a prestigious international band and orchestra conference held in Chicago for many years. A trumpet player, White has performed with several entertainers, including Tom Jones and Bob Hope.
Because of his long and prestigious career, White is often commissioned by Maine schools to write pieces of music for the schools’ bands to perform. Having known White for several years, Conductor Vaughn McLaughlin requested such a piece be written for Caribou Middle School.
White composed a piece for CMS entitled “Escape.” He took his inspiration for constructing the piece from old spy movies.
“I envisioned a good-hearted chase,” White said, “where the good guys and the bad guys were all in suits and fedoras and all the characters were likeable and fun.”
The CMS Concert Band and Caribou High School Symphonic Band, both conducted by McLaughlin, put on a concert of White’s work on April 10 at the Caribou Performing Arts Center. During the concert, the CMS band performed “Escape” for the first time in public.
The band was not unfamiliar with the piece, however. White had sent an electronic version of the music to the middle school and allowed the students to have a great deal of input into the final product.
“What a great educational experience for the kids,” McLaughlin commented. “To have a composer come and gather input from the kids was incredible.”
According to White, the CMS students were more involved in this work than any other he has been commissioned to write.
“They had really great suggestions in a short amount of time,” White said.
White, who has roots in the Masardis area and is familiar with Aroostook County, traveled to Caribou to work with the CMS band on “Escape.” While here, he conducted workshops with the middle and high school Gifted and Talented students over the course of two days.
“He’s very talented, very down to earth, very approachable,” McLaughlin commented on White’s work with the students.
White was equally impressed with the CMS band.
“I was pleasantly surprised with what I heard this morning,” White commented just before the public debut of “Escape.”
The piece will be published by Alfred Publishing and will be released nationwide in about a year for other bands to perform. The music sheets will credit the CMS band for commissioning the piece.
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| Aroostook Republican Photo/Lisa Wilcox The Caribou Middle School Concert Band debuted “Escape,” a piece of music the band commissioned from renowned Maine composer Terry White, at a concert held at CPAC on April 10. |
