Coty

Program Notes: Coty was written to celebrate the enjoyment of a day. The first movement evokes the breaking of the sun through the clouds at an early sunrise. The second movement depicts a beautiful sunset. The last movement evokes images of celebration, night life, and enjoyment. About the Composer: Quincy C. Hilliard's compositions for wind band are published by several major music publishers, and are performed throughout the world where there are wind bands of the British-American instrumentation. His stature as an outstanding composer is apparent as conductors frequently commission him for new compositions and as he has been an eleven-time recipient of the distinguished American Society for Composer, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) award, recognizing the numerous performances of his works. He was also chosen as one of a select group of composers to write a piece for the 1996 Olympics. Dr. Hilliard's stature as an outstanding conductor and educator is apparent as he is invited to all parts of the world to conduct, adjudicate festivals, and demonstrate effective teaching techniques. He has also written the music score for a film documentary entitled The Texas Rangers for public television. The Governor of the State of Louisiana recently appointed him to the Louisiana Arts Council. Because Hilliard, the composer, conductor, and educator, is also a scholar of Aaron Copland's music and life, Copland estate administrators authorized Hilliard to publish the educational performance edition, Copland for Solo Instruments (Boosey & Hawkes, 1999). To train school band students, he wrote Superior Bands in Sixteen Weeks (FJH Music Company, 2003), Chorales and Rhythmic Etudes for Superior Bands (FJH Music, 2004), Scales and Tuning Exercises for Superior Bands, Theory Concepts (FJH Music, 2009), Books One and Two and is the co-author of the Skill Builders, Books One and Two (Sounds Spectacular Series, Carl Fischer, 1996). He is also the co-author of Percussion Time (C.L. Barnhouse Company), which is a collection of music written specifically for the beginning percussion ensemble. Dr. Hilliard is also the president of Hilliard Music Enterprises, Inc. a personal consulting firm that has a corporate board of distinguished music educators. He is currently the Heymann Endowed Professor of Music Theory/Composition and is the Composer-in-Residence at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.