One of the University's premier ensembles, the 45-person Wind Ensemble, will perform its perform its February concert Sunday. Typically, in a wind ensemble, there is only one person per part, thus making the music more difficult to perform. There is no one to follow and no one to cover a player's mistakes.
"Everyone has to carry their own load," ensemble director William Pease elaborated. "Everyone has to take ownership of their part." Essentially, the performers -- most of whom are not music majors -- must take their parts and internalize them. It isn't enough to just know how to play it -- the notes almost have to be instinctive, allowing the player to focus on building music around the notes. And with this genre of music, that can be especially hard.
One of the pieces the band is playing, "Fantasies on a Theme by Franz Joseph Hayden" by Norman Dello Joio, is a piano concerto of Hayden's that has been transcribed for a large ensemble. Because it was not originally written for a wind ensemble, this piece is especially unique, as though one is examining the concerto under a magnifying glass, with each part being emphasized and embellished.
The pieces in the upcoming concert cover a wide range of time periods and cultures, including "Near Woodstocktown," by Australian composer Percy Aldridge Grainger.
"I try to challenge the players' awareness of other time periods and cultures," Pease said. By choosing such a wide variety of music, the wind ensemble not only challenges its players to open their mind to other kinds of music, but also challenges the minds and tastes of the 300 to 400 people who attend each concert.
Choosing the music for such an ensemble includes many considerations, including the strengths and weaknesses of the ensemble, according to Pease. Attendees of this concert will be fortunate enough to hear a featured oboe concerto by second-year Meredith Mann, and fourth-year euphonium player Andrew Menatti will also be featured in a piece that contains quite a few technically difficult passages.
In featuring musicians who are not music majors, Pease gives these students an opportunity to explore a side of themselves and their music for which it will be much harder to find an outlet after college.
Even with talented musicians and a range of interesting music, the ensemble still faces a number of difficulties to overcome.
"Time is our number one challenge," Pease said, noting that the ensemble has only had four rehearsals. It certainly says something about the ensemble that they can give consistently excellent performances. Later in the semester when they tour Northern Virginia, the ensemble will be able to add some more rehearsal time, as well as some new music to its repertoire.
Though lack of time presents a serious challenge, a lack of support is also challenging, a circumstance that isn't under the control of the ensemble. It isn't easy to put a lot of effort into a concert that few people come to see. A 300-person audience is a good size, though, and hopefully that sort of turnout will continue.
"I hope everyone comes out to support the ensemble; these musicians have worked very hard," Pease said.
The University Wind Ensemble's concert will be at 3:30 p.m. Sunday in Old Cabell Hall.
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