The Wind and Jazz Ensembles have been very busy bringing musical joy to the campus community in several concerts over the last couple of weeks.
Wednesday, March 12th was the campus celebration of Mardi Gras. Jazz is a staple of Mardi Gras, and the Jazz Ensemble was thrilled to, again, be invited to perform as a part of the festivities. They performed the same music they played at their previous concert (mentioned in my last article) and added a few new tunes as well. Situated in the atrium of Colket, their music filled the building and invited everyone into the rest of the Mardi Gras festivities.
Thursday, March 13th, was the first Wind Ensemble concert of the semester. They were preceded by a horn choir, the Star City Horns. The Star City Horns are a group of French Horn players in the Roanoke Valley who played a few selections. They were very popular with the audience, particularly some of the children in attendance who turned portions of the performance into an interactive event.
The Wind Ensemble played a program of four selections. These were a John Philip Sousa march “The Belle of Chicago,” a very recent piece “Wilderness” by Cait Nishimura, a play on the great player Thelodious Monk with the piece “Melodious Thunk” by David Biedenbender, and the third movement of a piece called “Dances With Winds” by Shelley Hanson “Serbian Dance.” Jazz Ensemble musician Matthew Prince, when asked how he liked the concert, said “I loved Serbian Dance.” Many of the Wind Ensemble musicians agreed with this assessment, finding enjoyment in getting to play different parts than they usually do since it was a flex band arrangement, meaning that many of the parts, such as all the saxophone, were transpositions of other instruments so that it could be played with a smaller band like ours.
The thoughts of the Wind Ensemble members on “Melodious Thunk” were divided, with everyone having strong feelings, whether in the positive or the negative. The band played the other two tunes as well, but there were not as strong feelings for them as there were for “Serbian Dances” and “Melodious Thunk.”
The next concerts are much later in the semester as each ensemble starts its next rehearsal cycle. Be on the lookout for more information!
Kathryn McElfresh
