"The UNLV Wind Orchestra always impresses me with their recordings

and VEGAS MAXIMUS is no different, it is exceptional.  Scarlet and

 Silver Jubilee by James Barnes leads off the program; Barnes calls this 

  work a 'Vegas Overture' and that says it all!  Le Sentier by Anthony

    LaBounty is based on the composer’s visit to the French Riviera and

     its picturesque settings.  LaBounty also scored Eric Whitacre’s

      Eternal Flame for voice and wind ensemble, this was written as a

       gift to UNLV and is a setting of the UNLV Alma Mater. Three

        diverse dance pieces are also included: Kokopelli’s Dance (Tanouye), Baron Cimitiere’s Mambo                 (Grantham), and Dances From The Oprichnik (Tchaikovsky/Bourgeois).  The Hungarian Fantasy,             Op. 33 by Carl Maria von Weber needs no introduction to bassoonists.  Janis McKay sparkles in                 the transcription by F. Mark Rogers.  The remaining two works feature the contributions of                        UNLV Instructor of Conducting, Takayoshi Suzuki.  Suzuki conducts Flight (Claude T. Smith)                    and also provides a masterful transcription of Introduction and Aria, "Nessun Dorma” from                         Puccini’s Turandot with a stirring performance by tenor Alphonse Anderson and conductor                        Thomas Leslie."  - Bandworld Magazine, Oct. 2009