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The wind orchestra explores an ever-expanding concert repertoire, ranging from chamber to symphonic works.
"The shared experience of making music with this ensemble is the most exhilarating and refreshing thing I've been able to do at Dartmouth." Kevin Gillespie '15
The Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble (DCWE) is a non-credited ensemble primarily composed of non-music majors. With a membership of 40-50 Dartmouth College students, supplemented by community members from the Upper Valley of New Hampshire and Vermont, the DCWE performs exciting, innovative and culturally relevant music with the highest level of artistic integrity and a commitment to social justice.
Join the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble
DCWE rehearsals are on Mondays and Thursdays, 5:30-7:30 pm in Sanborn Hall, Church of Christ at Dartmouth College. Questions about joining? Email the director, Brian Messier.
Email the Director Audition Information
Musico Mexico Symposium
Since the spring of 2022, the DCWE has participated in the Music Mexico Symposium, performed with guest artists including Venezuelan trumpet virtuoso Pacho Flores and the Latin Grammy-winning cuatrista Héctor Molina, and hosted guest conductors and composers from Mexico and beyond. Since 2022, the DCWE performed the American and World premieres of over 12 works by underrepresented composers and many more works were prepared for their Mexican Tour in March 2023 and through the Mexican Repertoire Initiative.
The Mexican Repertoire Initiative, founded by director Brian Messier, is an ongoing commitment to bringing Mexican repertoire to the international stage, providing opportunities for Mexican composers, and combating institutionalized racism in educational and professional performing ensembles. The initiative will increase exposure and representation of Mexican composers by commissioning and facilitating the creation of new works (Mexican Composer Incubation Project), providing a platform for the sharing and distribution of authentic Mexican repertoire (Mexican Repertoire Collection), and advocating for the performance of authentic Mexican repertoire by ensembles of all abilities and ages.
Upcoming Wind Ensemble Events
DCWE Happenings
MusicMexico at Cornell University
Feb 2024
The Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble has been selected to perform MusicMexico at Cornell University as part of the 2024 College Band Directors National Association conference.
Pacho Flores & DCWE
Venezuelan trumpet legend Pacho Flores shared the stage with the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble for a breathtaking performance. Guest artists also included: Eric Berlin, Héctor Molina and Luis Manuel Sánchez.
Little Mexican Suite for Winds
World Premiere
1. Ahuehuete (Montezuma Cypress)
2. Mezquite (Mesquite); Nathaniel Chen ’25, oboe
3. Ayacahuite (Mexican White Pine)
4. Sahuaro (Cactus)
5. Cacalosúchil (Plumeria Rubra); Jacob Wesley Dell ’22, tenor saxophone
6. Ceiba (Sacred tree of the Maya)
Life In the Hyphen
My Experience as a Mexican-American Music Student by Eric Jimenez and Cory Meals.
International Composition Competition
The Wind Ensemble launched a competition to choose up to three compositions to be premiered in New Hampshire by the ensemble in the 2020-21 academic year and performed in Mexico during a 2021 tour of that nation!
What do I need to do to prepare for an audition?
One solo selection or study etude of your choice that best displays your current playing ability—at least four minutes of music
All major scales and a chromatic scale through the complete range of your instrument
Sight-reading will also be included on all auditions
Percussionists: please prepare samples of your playing on at least two instruments highlighting your strongest skills in the percussion section. No scales will be required, but sight-reading on a variety of instruments will be requested.
Mexico Tour Prep Trip
The prep for the Dartmouth Wind Ensemble's Mexico Tour next spring begins! DCWE Director Brian Messier and Hop Associate Producer Karina Sainz visited Mexico City to set things in motion. Messier guest conducted the Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) wind ensemble as part of a conductor exchange program with conductor Luis Manuel Sanchez. Messier conducted the Mexican premiere of s Nubia Jaime Donjuan's Little Mexican Suite as well as Fandangos by Roberto Sierra.
Mariachitlán
Mariachitlán (Mariachiland) is an orchestral homage to my birthplace, the Mexican state of Jalisco, where mariachi music originated. The work recounts my experience visiting the Plaza de los Mariachis in Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco, a place where mariachis play their songs in every corner and interrupt each other to win over the crowd. Spring 2022
Cumbia Moderna
Cumbia Moderna was born during lockdown, one calm, sunny afternoon of 2020. The ideas for the piece arose from having been listening to a weekly stream of a local DJ in Mexico, Sonido Confirmación, who would play cumbias on Instagram live, and my interest in orchestral music that can pull you in and make you lose track of time.
Virtual Culley Concerto Competition
The Virtual Culley Concerto Competition is open to all currently enrolled Dartmouth College students who play a string, woodwind, brass or percussion instrument. Students do not need to be on campus or on term to participate.
Grand Prize: $500
First Prize: $300
Second Prize: $100
DCWE to Record Commissioned Work
On Sunday, November 3rd, DCWE recorded the commissioned work Symphony for Winds "Dartmouth" by Oliver Caplan '04. Watch the event on Youtube.
