Whitman’s music program always receives praise for expertly performing impressive pieces created for the most famous ensembles in history. This year, however, their talent caught the eye of a professional composer, who created music specifically for them.

At this year’s winter concert, the wind ensemble premiered “Encounters KLW,” an all-new piece specially created for them by composer Robert Levy.

The group found out they would be performing original music in September, and they received the finished product in November.

“It’s pretty cool to know that we’re gonna be the first group to perform this piece that was made specifically for us, for our bands and what our strengths are,” senior Jonathan Harris said.

Levy, an accomplished composer who taught wind ensemble teacher Terry Alvey, created the music with the wind ensemble in mind. He also engineered the music to include guest trombonist Kirsten Warfield, a member of the U.S. Army band Pershing’s Own. The KLW in the song’s name is a reference to Warfield’s initials.

Because of their history, Levy has followed Alvey’s work at Whitman, and he was inspired to create the piece by the wind ensemble’s specific strengths, along with Warfield’s exceptional talent.

“As a composer, I’ve always been fascinated by color, textures and sound worlds and saw wonderful opportunities to utilize and explore them,” Levy said. “The soloist, Kirsten Warfield, plays with a fabulous sound, and it was a joyous process creating a musical vehicle for both her glorious trombone sound and the wind ensemble.”

Levy visited Whitman for several weeks, working with wind ensemble to help them master the piece.

“It’s not something we get very often,” senior Chase Fox said “As many pieces as we do play a year, it’s very rare we even get one composer to visit over four years. Especially as a composer myself, it’s interesting to learn from the perspective of a composer who has been working in the field since the late 80s.”

Levy said he was pleased with the performance, and Harris explained how meaningful it was to perform original music during his final year at Whitman.

“This is pretty special for me and the band, to know that we have this opportunity at Whitman, that we have a great music department and a composer and teacher that are looking out for us that want us to have opportunities like this,” Harris said. “To know that this is my last year, and to do something as special as this, that to my knowledge no other Whitman band has done, is pretty special.”