Last Friday, September 26, saw the beginning of Family Weekend, complete with a concert by the Jazz Band, Roanotes, and Concert Choir in the theatre. These groups would like to thank everyone who came out to the concert to support music on campus.
The Jazz Band started the concert promptly at 7:30 pm. Trying out a new form of showmanship, they coordinated a show for their entrance with Elijah Burrel on the drums and Matthew Prince on the bass, jamming as the saxophonists, trumpeters, flautist, pianist, and the rest of the percussionists ambled in. The band enjoyed it and counted the experiment as a success, so audiences can look forward to a new spin on the grand entrance as the year progresses.
The Jazz band played three songs. First was “Manteca,” a Dizzy Gillespie, Walter Gil Fuller, and Luciano Pozo Gonzales piece in an Afro-Cuban style. Next was “Flight of the Foo Birds” by Neal Hefti, a swing piece. The last piece was “Hit the Bricks” by Gordon Goodwin, a funk-style work. Each piece features multiple soloists, and several members of the band got to show off their skills.
Next was the Roanotes, who sang five songs. Unfortunately, as a member of both the jazz band and choir, I cannot say more about this performance as I was unable to watch it, but audience members had high praise.
The concert ended with the Concert Choir. They sang four songs. First was “Hine Ma Tov” by Neil Ginsberg, a Hebrew song with special guest Taryn Ayers on flute. Next was “Bright Morning Star,” a traditional Appalachian folk tune arranged by Fred Squatrito. Third was “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright,” a traditional spiritual arranged by Rollo Dillworth. They ended the concert with the Alma Mater.
The tradition in ending concerts with the Alma Mater is to teach it to the audience in chunks, then have them sing along at the end. To facilitate this, programs had the music to the melody of the Alma Mater printed for audience members to look at while the choir did the final sing-through in four-part harmony. They taught the audience the piece in eight-measure phrases, and by the final sing-through, the audience was very enthusiastic, and the school pride was clearly shown.
For more information or pictures, check out the Instagram page for each group: @rcwindensemble, @the_roanotes, and @roanokechoir.
Kathryn McElfresh
Staff Reporter
