Windiana at Basilica in Cartago, Costa Rica
Windiana Concert Band continued celebrating its 25th season by touring Costa Rica in conjunction with New Year’s Eve. This was Windiana’s fifteenth tour. The band performed in La Fortuna, Punta Leona, and Cartago. The concert in Cartago took place at the Basilica de Nuestra Senora de los Angeles, which is one of only two basilicas in Costa Rica.
On its international tours, Windiana presents a variety of music from the local country and from the USA. One such composition was the opener for each concert, Patriotica Costarricense, which elicits the same feeling of pride as America, the Beautiful does in the USA. Windiana commissioned Dr. Diego Piedra, a Costa Rica native and orchestra conductor at Valparaiso University, to create the arrangement. The featured tour soloist was saxophonist Dr. Stacy Maugans from Valparaiso University. Guest conductor was Laura Johnson Doebler, a teacher from Dakota Hills Middle School in Minnesota.
Windiana also visited many important cultural, natural, and historical sites in Costa Rica. In performance and while sightseeing, Windiana’s goals include learning about and sharing culture.
Windiana is a professional-level concert band, based in Valparaiso, that performs at least two local concerts per year. Concert tours have included Italy, Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, Costa Rica, and ten times in China. Windiana performed at Carnegie Hall on December 29, 2022. Conductor Jeffrey Scott Doebler serves as director of music education and bands at Valparaiso University, and is the founder of Windiana.
The Windiana Costa Rica tour included Valparaiso University alumni and faculty.
Alumni
Sarah DeRossi
Jeffrey Scott Doebler
Karen Doebler
Phil Hahn
Rebecca Quesada
Michael Schwuchow
Jordan Simko
Faculty
Jeffrey Scott Doebler
Stacy Maugans
Richard Severe
The Windiana Costa Rica tour included several Lutheran Summer Music alumni, as well as current and former staff members.
Sarah DeRossi (former counselor)
Jeffrey Scott Doebler (band and handbell choir conductor)
Laura Johnson Doebler (former dean of students)
William Doebler (alum)
Stacy Maugans (saxophone instructor)
Rebecca Christine Quesada (alum)