Program Note:

Bandanna is a grand opera scored for wind orchestra, with an onstage mariachi band, that was commissioned by over a hundred university bands around the United States. It was premiered at the February 1999 College Band Directors National Association Convention in Austin Texas. A recasting of the Shakespeare tale of the Moor, it was reset along the Texas-Mexican border in 1968. Othello became Morales, a Latin sheriff, and Desdemona became Mona, his caucasian wife.

The character of Iago is split into two villains — Jake (Iago) and Kane, a corrupt, sadistic caucasian labor organizer from Chicago. Jake’s intentions are good; the results are disastrous. Kane’s intentions are evil; his attempted seduction of a waitress in the local cantina manifests “everything that is wrong” with Bandanna’s world. It is strongly suggested that a trigger warning be included in the program for performances of this emotionally brutal scena.