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Pacific Crest Wind Symphony:
Our Historical Journey Along the Pathway to "Music for Life”

Since its inception, Pacific Crest Wind Symphony has been both an artistic challenge and a labor of love. The ensemble and each of its diverse members continue to set a high standard of musical excellence and continued artistic growth, providing our dedicated and ever-expanding audience with novel musical performances of all types of wind ensemble literature.

Our founder was Dr. Daniel Cole. In March of 1988 he established the Marylhurst Wind Ensemble as part of Marylhurst University. With his job change away from Marylhurst in 1990, the newly named, Pacific Crest Wind Ensemble was born, along with the motto "Music for Life". The wind symphony’s instrumentation is carefully patterned after the renown Eastman Wind Ensemble.

Under Dr. Cole's direction Pacific Crest continued to grow in musicianship. During the early years at Marylhurst, Dr. Cole brought a retired United States Army Band Director to work to expand the cohesiveness as a performing group. Dr. Cole later invited Guy Woolfenden, Composer and Music Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company in England to work with the group while visiting the United States. The ensemble performed one of his compositions at the annual Oregon Adult Band Festival.

In 1994 Pacific Crest Wind Ensemble adopted a new home at Warner Pacific College. By this time the group was at full strength and active in the community. Concerts were held at Warner Pacific College and in several churches in the Metro area. There were many opportunities for performances in various conference centers in downtown Portland. Performance of joint concerts with area school band programs were held to help raise awareness and financial support for them. Upon the untimely death of the ensembles principal oboe player, the Gerri Clark Memorial Fund was born. It provides free PCWS concert tickets to area school band students, upon the request of their directors.

After ten years of leadership from Dr. Daniel Cole, PCWS experienced it’s first change of the baton. The organization welcomed Robert Murray of the Dallas Brass to the podium in 1998. During Murray's leadership our name was officially changed to Pacific Crest Wind Symphony to reflect the group's regional growth and the increasing range and sophistication of its repertoire. The ensemble began to perform transcriptions of various orchestral, choral, and organ works, along with tackling the more contemporary works written specifically for wind ensembles.

Dr. William Tuttle, previous Director of Bands at Portland State University, graciously accepted the post of musical director and conductor for Pacific Crest in 1999. He served in that position until his retirement in 2006. Under his leadership musical growth expanded further. Rehearsals and concerts were relocated to Portland State University in 2002. We traveled to Newport on the Oregon Coast to play. The organization performed for several summers at the Washington Park Rose Garden Summer Concert Series, one of which featuring Robert McBride narrating "Peter and the Wolf". The group also performed several times for Laurelhurst Park's Summer Concert Series.

Dr. Edward Higgins took the post of Director of Bands at Portland State University after Dr. Tuttle's retirement from PSU and became intrigued with Pacific Crest and it’s musicianship. Under Dr. Higgins' creative leadership, PCWS has continued to grow and expand exponentially in musicianship, and tackled new concepts for performances. For the first time more collaborative types of concerts were created, including: professional singing groups; new concerts with 3 Leg Torso; members of the Northwest School of Dance; The Portland State University Wind Symphony; andrecent guests from the prestigious Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Schlueter and Ron Barron, both former principal brass players.

Over the past several years, under the direction of Dr. Higgins, PCWS has performed in numerous unique locations and for several unique opportunities. These Include the Oregon Zoo in 2007 and the Roseburg Summer Concert Series with 3 Leg Torso in Roseburg, Oregon. PCWS headlined the Oregon Music Educator Conference held in Eugene in January of 2009. In 2009 the organization received a grant from a Multnomah County Arts Commission allowing travel to Portland retirement communities for performance on site. PCWS also performed a concert for the Centennial Celebration of Mt. Tabor Park in the extinct crater.

In 2008 PCWS was on the move again, moving regular season concerts to the Lake Oswego High School Auditorium. The musical growth of PCWS in the last few years, under the direction of Dr. Edward Higgins, has eclipsed imagination. In just 21 years, the group has grown to one of the top performing ensembles in the nation.

Pacific Crest Wind Symphony is a labor of love, and a shining example of it’s motto, Music for Life! Come attend our concerts and we will capture your imagination. Find out what a group of everyday people can do with enough purpose, encouragement, musical skills, and skilled leadership. Ask us what you can do to become a part of our future!