A note about this piece from the Conductor; I joined band late. I moved from Carstairs to Didsbury in 1990 half way through Grade 5, which was the grade level at which band was introduced at Westglen School. I was immediately placed in the percussion section despite not being able to see over the music stands let alone over the tuba. One of the first pieces I learned was *Westwind Overture*. At the time, I had no idea that women in concert band music was unusual. It wasn't until I became a music teacher myself that I realized how few pieces of music were written by women. I now realize that my music teacher at Westglen school was celebrating a pioneer in music education when he had us play music by [[Anne McGinty]]. This piece had only been composed in 1987, and to this day it remains a very good piece for teaching the B-Flat scale in the lower registers of instruments. Today women composers are more common, yet still far outnumbered by their male counterparts. Not only is Anne McGinty a pioneer, but she remains to this day the most prolific woman composer of concert band literature. I chose this piece also to recognize our home. Chinooks are one of the many blessings of living in our area, especially when there is 3 feet of snow outside. Chinooks tend to breath new life into the area around us, and we hope this performance does so for you as well. Joel Windsor