|
Bands transcend time
Campus Band, Wind Ensemble unite for "Then and Now" concert
 Media Credit: Matt Kasper/Contributing Photographer Jennifer Jozwiak thunders her cymbals during SCSU Campus Band�s �Wind Band Music: Then & Now� concert Saturday.
|
|
SCSU's Campus Band, under direction of Steven Lyons, and Wind Ensemble, under direction of G. Mancho Gonzalez, took the stage Saturday in a concert titled "Then and Now" in the Kimberly A. Ritsche Auditorium. The concert included musical selections from the Renaissance period to modern era.
For both bands, the performance came quickly after break, with only three weeks or so for practice.
Sophomore environmental studies major Julie Quast said the short time for preparation didn't hinder the performance, though.
"It went pretty well," the Campus Band alto saxophonist said. "We only had three rehearsals and we only meet once a week, so I thought it went really well for short time."
Campus Band, which is comprised of any students who wish to continue playing with a group, meets once a week � Thursday night � to prepare musical pieces. The group rehearses for two hours, going over the musical selections as a whole, and practicing individually to work out problems. Anyone can join Campus Band, and there are no audition requirements.
Tom Krueger, a sophomore baritone saxophone player in Campus Band, said that the experience of playing on the same bill of the Wind Ensemble was an experience to remember.
"It was so fun to be able to play with the Wind Ensemble," Krueger, a mass communications and communication studies major, said. "It is nice to see them play music at that high level."
The concert began with the Chamber Winds, a part of Wind Ensemble, taking the stage first. Campus Band followed, playing four pieces. After an intermission, the Chamber Winds played a second piece and Wind Ensemble followed, playing three pieces.
All of the music played fit into the "Then and Now" theme.
"We played some music, one song called 'Yankee Doodle,'" Quast said. "We played the original, then we did a contemporary version of it. It was a different variation, more jazzy than the original 'Yankee Doodle.'"
Wind Ensemble, which practices four days a week and whose members are selected through an audition process, also transcended time by playing music from different musical periods.
"We did a couple of numbers from the 16th Century," Jean Adler, graduate assistant and clarinet section leader for Wind Ensemble, said. "The 'Now' portion was a couple of pieces that were written in 1998."
With such a wide time span on the songs, there was something that everyone in the audience enjoyed.
"I think the audience was really receptive," Quast said. "They seemed to be into the music, tapping their feet to the beat of the music."
The audience members weren't the only ones who enjoyed the experience.
"For myself," Adler said, "I spent most of my life as a bass clarinetist, which is an auxiliary role. One of the pieces was a soloist role. That was a highlight."
But even for seasoned musicians like Campus Band and Wind Ensemble members, the old excitement from playing in front of a group was still there.
"I still get nervous for concerts," Adler said. "It's that little rush of excitement before we go on."
February Music Events:
Feb. 8 � Faculty Jazz Quintet, Radisson Hotel, 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 12 � Faculty Performance, "An Affair to Remember," Ruth Gant Recital Hall, 8 p.m.
Feb. 24 � University Choral Theater Concert, First United Methodist Church, 4 p.m.
Feb. 24 � Student Recital, Ruth Gant Recital Hall, 5 p.m.
Feb. 28 � Musical "Pirates of Penzance" opens, PAC Center Stage, 8 p.m. (Runs through March 3).
Tracy Ust can be reached at: [email protected]
|
|
|
|
Privacy Policy Network Advertising Article Syndication
|
|
