Mason Bands Concert: Hold Fast To Dreams (2027)

Dreams are fragile things. They are born in imagination, sustained through perseverance, and carried forward by communities willing to believe in possibilities not yet realized. HOLD FAST TO DREAMS celebrates the power of vision - those aspirations that shape our lives, inspire our art, and call us toward a more hopeful future. This concert features both the Mason Symphonic Band and Wind Symphony together in a dynamic concert that takes its title from Langston Hughes's enduring poem, this program invites us to consider dreams not as fleeting wishes, but as lifelines that sustain the human spirit. Across generations and traditions, the works on this evening's program explore identity, faith, resilience, and the courage to imagine a world transformed. The Mason Wind Symphony is excited to collaborate with internationally acclaimed tenor, scholar, and higher education leader Dr. Albert Lee, Associate Dean for Student Life and Community Engagement at the Yale School of Music, in Erik Santos's The Seer. Lauded for his "vocally sumptuous" artistry and recognized as one of today's foremost interpreters of American vocal music, Dr. Lee has appeared with leading orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States and abroad. His distinguished career as a performer, educator, and advocate has been marked by a deep commitment to the music and literature of Langston Hughes, making this collaboration especially meaningful. A "seer" is one who perceives truths hidden from ordinary sight, and Santos's work invites listeners into that mysterious realm where dreams and reality, memory and imagination, the conscious and subconscious converge. Drawing inspiration from an astonishing array of sources—including Langston Hughes, Rainer Maria Rilke, Nina Simone, mythology, film, and popular music—The Seer unfolds as a musical mandala, weaving together disparate strands into a sound world that is at once deeply personal and profoundly universal. "Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams…