This concert program is inspired by French culture, folklore, and tradition. Suite Française by French Composer Darius Milhaud is the perfect example. In 1944, Milhaud wrote this cornerstone work for Wind Ensemble inspired by folk songs from five different regions of France. 45 years later, his contemporary colleague Jan Van der Roost used the same composing process in his four-movement piece entitled Suite Provençale. Henri Tomasi needs no introduction. In his Ballade pour Saxophone, inspired by poet Suzanne Malard, the composer divides his piece into three sections connected without a clear break: andante, jitter, blues. “Entre la joie et la douleur, qu’un saxophone Hésitant !” This year, musicians around the world were saddened to hear of the passing of Robert W. Smith, prolific band composer and music educator. In a Gentle Rain (from the Willson Suite) composed by Mr. Smith is a tribute to his memory and all that he brought to the lives of wind players over the last 40 years. Sean O’Loughlin’s Spirals of Light highlights the way that light and sound are full of many colours. This celebration of light will leave the audience smiling with its splashes from the woodwinds, fanfares from the brass, and crashes from the percussion section.