Godzilla! The Phantom! Invasion of Inchon ! And the mighty Superman!
Maestro Duane Carroll and guest Hungarian conductor
Jozsef Csikota had a gripping encounter with
Monsters and Heroes
A thrilling concert featuring the appetizing "Godzilla Eats Las Vegas," Eric Whitacre's
humerous work enhanced by visual effects and music symbolic of the Las Vegas scene.
Also on the menu was:
* Music from Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Phantom of the Opera" and the movie
"Superman" plus Robert W. Smith's "Inchon" (with a "flyover" of musical helicopters through the assistance of the Las Lomas High School Wind Ensemble percussionists
Kevin Blachly, Kirby Cool, Matthew Fisherkeller, Chris Haman, Lucas James and
Marky Thenell).
* Salute to a musical hero, Frigyes Hidas, whose "Concerto for Symphonic Band"
which was conducted by Maestro Jozsef Csikota from Hungary.
* Alexander Arutiunian's "Trumpet Concerto" performed by Gergo Csikota.
Performed Sunday, November 16, 2008, 2 p.m.
Lesher Center For The Arts
1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek
The Phantom of the Opera ........... Andrew Lloyd Webber / Arr. Johan De Meij
Concerto for Symphonic Band ..................................................... Frigyes Hidas
Jozsef Csikota, Guest Conductor, University of Szeged, Hungary
1. Allegretto animato
2. Allegro giocoso
3. Comodo
4. Allegro
Concerto for Trumpet ..................................................... Alexander Arutiunian
Gergo Csikota, Trumpet
Jozsef Csikota, Conductor
Godzilla Eats Las Vegas .............................................................. Eric Whitacre
Part I
Part II
Superman ....................................................... John Williams / Arr. Bob Lowden
Jozsef Csikota is devoted to the musical and educational life of his native Hungary and is an emissary of Hungarian music abroad. He conducts the Concert Wind Band of Szeged University and is the director of the Mako Music and Art school, where he
conducts the Youth Concert Wind Band. Professor Csikota’s band traveled to the Mid-Europe Conference in Schladming, Austria, where it performed and gave a clinic demonstration, and has taken concert tours to 10 European countries. Other notable events have been a performance of the Frigyes Hidas Requiem in the Dom church of Szeged and the recording in Uster, Switzerland, of five world premiers. His university Concert Wind Band annually records music for radio broadcast over Hungarian National Radio. He has appeared as guest conductor in Buffalo, Chicago, throughout Europe, and in Israel and is an adjudicator of wind music festivals and competitions.
Colleagues acknowledge Jozsef Csikota as a leader in the Hungarian Wind Association and the Hungarian Music and Arts School Association and as chairman of the Hungarian and East-Central European Association of Band and Ensembles. He has developed a highly successful conference in Szeged for wind conductors from East-Central Europe. {Back to Program}
Gergő Csikota is a student in the brass department at the University of Szeged Music Conservatory. 
He began playing the trumpet at the age of eight. Upon graduation from the conservatory, Gergő plans to attend the Liszt Ferenc Academy in Budapest.
Among his many accomplishments he has twice won 1st prize in competitions and was also awarded a special Country of Hungary Award.
He regularly plays in symphonic bands and chamber orchestras. {Back to Program}