The Wind Ensemble invites students to take a break and destress on the first night of finals with their annual spring Pops Concert.
On Monday, May 19 at 5:30 p.m., the Wheeler Stage in the Larita Boren Campus Center will host the Wind Ensemble as they perform music chosen and conducted by fellow students.
Each of the seven pieces in the concert are selected and conducted by a student in the Conducting II class. Seniors Marcus Haynes, Aidan Portwood, Brenna Moan, Heather Risher, Danielle Lilly and juniors Elisha Baker and Angelica Felix will be conducting.
“They pick a five minute piece from movies or musicals,” Elizabeth Shatzer, a sophomore music education major and member of wind ensemble said. “It's just like a way to get people engaged and have fun.”
Last semester’s concert featured music from Pixar movies and Wicked: music that people recognized and loved, Shatzer said.
Since the concert is not as serious and long, it offers the campus a time to blow off steam by spending a half hour enjoying music, Christopher Bade, professor of music and conductor of the Wind Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra said.
“I think we'll get more audience interaction just because they know the songs,” Brooklyn Dickey, a freshman exercise science major and wind ensemble member said. “I think that'll be fun to kind of like go off of their energy also.”
It will be a shorter concert, around 35 minutes in length, with seven five-minute pieces, Bade said.
Since it is a shorter concert, the rehearsal schedule is significantly shorter than the schedule for other wind ensemble concerts, with only about six rehearsals, Bade said. However, the pieces are generally familiar and easier to play, making them easier to learn.
Students should attend not only for a break from the stress of finals, but also to take this opportunity to engage with the arts and support friends.
“I don't think students at colleges, especially here, realize how many free opportunities they have to engage with the arts and with culture,” Bade said. “I don't understand why people don't go to things (for) free right here…The other thing is, support your peers. These are your friends.”
Coming all the way to the concert hall can be intimidating for non-music majors, Bade said. That is why the Wind Ensemble chooses to have the Pops Concert in a common area where students can eat, study and hang out while enjoying good music.
Bade is looking forward to being able to play with the group as the students conduct.
“I get to play in the group,” Bade said. “Instead of standing in front of them, I get to be in them. And it's always a treat to see how…(they) have gained confidence in leading a group of fellow musicians.”
Students, faculty and friends are invited to the Wheeler Stage at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, May 19th to enjoy a time of lively music and a break from studying at the Wind Ensemble Pops Concert.
