PROGRAM NOTES: The sequel to composer’s successful Azure, this work for wind ensemble incorporates the rhythmic grooves of its predecessor while exploring themes of progress, technological advancement, and flight. Aero refers both to air and to Windows Aero blue, paying homage to Azure‘s imagery of the blue sky while introducing new themes of innovation and technology. Two primary motifs are presented: the first, a stately, fanfare-esque “progress theme” incorporating fourths and fifths, and the second, an agile, soaring “flight theme” laid against a driving bass line; both of these are presented and interwoven against a groovy, propelling ostinato.
Matthew Tirona, composer 