AU Wind Ensemble to host final concert of season
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Mar. 27—ANDERSON — Arabian dances, Scottish folk tunes and Christian hymns are part of the set list for the Anderson University Wind Ensemble concert Thursday at York Performance Hall.
"(The concert focuses on) band literature (music) written in the past 50 years, most of which by composers who are still alive and writing for the ensemble now," said Adam Waller, director for the AU Wind Ensemble and assistant professor of instrumental music education.
Those pieces include "Arabian Dances" by Brian Balmages, who tailored traditional Middle Eastern sounds for wind instruments; "Loch Lomond," Frank Ticheli's arrangement of a Scottish folk song; and "Ascensions" by Jay Bocook, which Waller has a personal connection to.
Bocook wrote the piece after being commissioned by Tab High School Band in Yorktown, Virginia.
Waller said he knows Bocook personally and, though not the director who commissioned the piece, Wright was band director at Tabb HS for 10 years before coming to AU.
"I thought it'd be great to program the piece with that connection to the high school that literally paid the composer to write it," he said.
About five songs make up the set list; the concert will last less than an hour.
Thursday's concert will be the ensemble's last one before May 6 graduation.
The number of concerts varies yearly, but Waller said the group typically hosts four to five concerts every academic year.
The ensemble's been in existence more than 50 years, according to Waller.
He encouraged folks, even those not affiliated with the ensemble or AU, to come enjoy the performance, saying they will be pleasantly surprised by the high quality of the musicians.
Jeffrey Wright, dean of AU's School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, agreed.
"The level of musicianship will be surprisingly high among our students, and the beauty of hearing these instruments performed together just makes for a memorable evening."
Follow Caleb Amick on Twitter @AmickCaleb. Contact him at caleb.amick@heraldbulletin.com or 765-648-4254.
