Tarleton Wind Ensemble to Honor Former Director of Bands

STEPHENVILLE, Texas — The Tarleton State University Wind Ensemble opens its 2022-23 concert season at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 25, in the Clyde H. Wells Fine Arts Center in Stephenville. The performance will showcase the world premiere of the Clyde Wells Suite for Band, composed by retired Tarleton Director of Bands Jonathan Hooper.

The concert also will feature performances of Maurice Ravel’s Bolero, Gordon Jacob’s An Original Suite, Satoshi Yagisawa’s Machu Picchu and Percy Grainger’s Irish Tune from County Derry

Admission is free. A reception honoring Hooper will follow.

Hooper served as Director of Bands from 1986 to 2008. Prior to Tarleton, he directed bands in Azle, Wylie and Birdville schools in Texas. A native of Clearwater, Fla., he earned degrees at Abilene Christian University and East Texas State University, where he studied with Dr. Neill Humfeld.

Hooper has been a guest clinician, conductor and adjudicator throughout Texas and the United States, and he has toured in Europe on both trombone and bass. He remains active as a musical arranger and composer, with over 200 titles for concert band, marching band, jazz band, solos and ensembles. 

After retirement from Tarleton, he taught at Weatherford College, performed with local ensembles (including the Greg Ball Trio), maintained a low brass studio of 30-plus students, wrote feature articles for Lake Granbury Living Magazine, and reviewed manuscripts for the Texas A&M University Press.

A founding member of The Texas A&M System, Tarleton State is breaking records — in enrollment, research, scholarship, athletics, philanthropy and engagement — while transforming the lives of nearly 17,000 students in Stephenville, Fort Worth, Waco, Bryan and online. True to Tarleton’s values of excellence, integrity and respect, academic programs emphasize real world learning and address regional, state and national needs.
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