Description
Carillonneur
Wesley Arai, Los Angeles, California
Program
| TITLE | COMPOSER | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | To a Red Rose (from “Three Roses”) | Florence Price (1887-1953), arr. Wesley Arai |
| 2 | Edelweiss (from “The Sound of Music”) | Richard Rodgers (1902-1979), arr. Koen van Assche |
| 3 | Sunflower Slow Drag, a Ragtime Two-Step | Scott Joplin (1868-1917), arr. Wesley Arai |
| 4 | The Sacredness of Trees | Ellen Lindquist (b.1970) |
| 5 | Three Etudes for Carillon I. Paced, almost hurried II. Slowly, almost lost III. With drive |
Stephen Rush (b. 1958) |
| 6 | Here Comes the Sun | George Harrison (1943-2001), arr. Carson Landry |
| 7 | Another Day of Sun (from “La La Land”) | Justin Hurwitz (b. 1985), Benj Pasek (b. 1985) and Justin Paul (b. 1985), arr. Joey Brink |
| 8 | Clair de Lune (from “Suite Bergamesque”) | Claude Debussy (1862-1918), arr. Bernard Winsemius |
| 9 | Moon River | Henry Mancini (1924-1994), arr. Richard Giszczak |
| 10 | Bethena, a Concert Waltz | Scott Joplin (1868-1917), arr. Wesley Arai |
| 11 | Bell Canto | Geert D’hollander (b. 1965) |
About the carillonneur:
Wesley Arai serves as university carillonneur at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he performs regularly on the 61-bell Storke Tower carillon and maintains an active carillon studio. He studied carillon with Jeff Davis at the University of California, Berkeley, where he received bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and statistics with a minor in music. While earning a master’s degree in mathematics at the University of California, Los Angeles, Wesley continued to play the carillon and subsequently passed the advancement examination of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America.
An active recitalist, Wesley has performed extensively across the United States and abroad, most recently performing in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Other recent performances include recitals in Australia, the dedicatory recital for the carillon at the University of Washington, and performances at the Berkeley Carillon Festival, the Congress of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America, the Springfield International Carillon Festival, the Perpignan International Carillon Festival and the Barcelona International Carillon Festival. Wesley is also an annual recitalist at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Spokane, Wash., and is a frequent recitalist at Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove, Calif.
In addition to the carillon, Wesley has studied piano, trombone and voice, and has performed in a number of different concert bands, marching bands, jazz bands, orchestras and choral groups. He enjoys arranging music and occasionally performs some of his own arrangements on the carillon. Wesley’s day job is as an actuary.
