Faculty, family and friends of Taylor will soon gather again in Rediger Auditorium for Taylor’s annual Homecoming Collage Concert.
The concert will take place over Homecoming Weekend on Friday, Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m. The free concert will feature music, theatre and dance elements performed by students in the department.
The concert will feature performances from the Taylor University Chorale, Sounds, Wind Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra. The concert will also include a musical segment from “Shrek the Musical” and a choreographed dance piece.
“Audiences tend to enjoy this concert because there's so much variety, so just expect to see a really great representation of the many different artistic forms that our department creates,” Reed Spencer, Music, Theatre and Dance department co-chair, associate professor of music and director of the Chorale and Sounds, said.
The concert is a time to celebrate and see the work of the whole department, Spencer said. The concert will highlight the breadth of art created in the department.
Community and collaboration are highlights of the event, Christopher Bade, professor of music and director of the Wind Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra, said. Seeing each section of the department perform together is a really good way to build community.
The orchestra has begun preparations for the show, Bade said. They will be performing highlights from the How to Train Your Dragon franchise.
“Someone from the orchestra said, ‘Could we do this?” Bade said. “Then when we played it through the first time, the students loved it.”
During their Homecoming performance, the chorale and Sounds will be performing a preview of their upcoming Fall concert. The Homecoming concert will highlight three songs from the upcoming show, themed “Visions and Dreams.”
Each song will tell a biblical story, Spencer said.
“We'll sing a song called ‘John the Revelator,’ and that obviously tells the story of John in Revelation,” Spencer said. “We’ll sing a song called ‘The Conversion of Saul,’ about the vision Saul had … and (we’ll sing) ‘Ezekiel Saw the Wheel.’”
Dance preparations for the concert are underway, Amanda Browning, adjunct professor of dance, said. The concert will feature five dancers accompanied by Sheila Todd on piano, playing “Clair de Lune.”
Browning hopes to reflect the beauty of dance and interpretation of music through movement in the performance.
“(The concert) is an opportunity for the students to show how they can glorify God through technical excellence in their dancing and in their performance,” Browning said.
The concert offers the chance for students in the department to grow. The concert is the first performance of the year for many music students. Many freshmen will be stepping onto the Taylor stage for the first time. It offers an opportunity for students to gain confidence and get a performance under their belts, Spencer said.
It also provides a chance for students to improve at working under pressure. Each group will experience having limited chances to rehearse as the concert will not hold a full rehearsal, giving the students experience in having limited chances to rehearse leading up to a performance, Bade said.
After all, they will all be under deadlines at some point when performing professionally, Bade said.
Earlier in his career, Bade had his own experience under performance pressure. He got a call from the Oklahoma City Symphony with an invitation to play with Reba McEntire and Vince Gill. Upon asking about the rehearsal schedule, he was informed that there would not be a rehearsal.
“I was glad that he trusted me to be able to play,” Bade said. “(But) I was terrified that I'm going to be playing with these two major people. But if you bought a ticket to the show, do you care? No, you expect it's going to be good. So one of the things about a concert like this is we've had limited rehearsal, and we're going to go out and do really well.”
Ultimately, the hope of the department is that people will be enriched by the art as a gift given by the Creator of the universe, whether it is a sacred or secular piece, Bade said.
Taylor’s Music, Theatre and Dance department invites students, faculty and visitors to come enjoy the diverse talents of the students through the Homecoming concert.
“I hope people walk away feeling full and joyful and inspired to keep imagining and dreaming,” Spencer said.
