Dr. Pollett making announcements before the Concert Band performs their first piece – Photo from Aquinas’ Music Department’s Facebook
Fall Showcase Concert
By Ashlyn Armock, Arts Editor
The Music Department’s Fall Showcase Concert was performed on Sunday, Sept. 28 by a multitude of ensembles: concert band, chamber strings and the jazz band.
The performance began with the concert band, under the direction of Dr. Thomas Pollett. The band’s first piece was “Hounds of Spring” by Alfred Reed, who according to Pollett is one of the biggest names in concert band composition. “He’s written a ton of music and just some really wonderful pieces,” Pollett said. “[Hounds of Spring] is certainly high on that list. This is also one we have wanted to do for quite some time.” Pollett also shared that this piece was based on the poem “Atalanta in Calydon” by Algernon Charles Swinburne.
The next two songs the band performed were “America the Beautiful” by Samuel A. Ward, and “An American in Paris” by George Gershwin.
“My favorite part of the performance was probably when we played An American in Paris.” Ethan Tennant, a member of the band, shared. “With sounds mimicking a moving train and taxi horns during a busy day, it stood out amongst all other music I’ve performed before.”
The second group to perform was chamber strings directed by Joseph Oprea. They performed two pieces: “Concerto for Orchestra No. 4 RV 151, Op. 51, “Sinfonia alla Rustica” and all three of its movements, “I. Presto, II. Adagio, III. Allegro” by Antonia Vivaldi, as well as “Lullaby” by William Hofeldt.
Chamber Strings performing their second piece,“Lullaby” by William Hofeldt – Photo from Aquinas’ Music Department’s Facebook
Then the jazz band played after a short intermission. The first two songs they performed, “Dat Dere” by Bobby Timmons and “Cantaloupe Island” by Herbie Hancock, included many soloists such as Daphne Weber on alto saxophone, Sergio Alejos on tenor saxophone and Evan Newman on trumpet.
The third piece, “A Warm Fuzzy” by Paul Clark, had duetting soloists, Sergio Alejos on tenor saxophone and Kyle Devine on trombone.
“The concert was very fun!” Devine said. “It’s always nice to be able to play music that we spent so long preparing in front of an audience. Personally, the jazz band is always the highlight of any of our concerts, and the music we played had a good variety of tunes so that there was a little something for everybody to enjoy.”
The fourth and final piece the band performed was “Well You Needn’t” by Thelonious Monk. This piece included solos from Sergio Alejos and Shawni Thelen, both tenor saxophone, and from Nashoba Bos on drums.
Overall, the concert successfully showcased the instrumentalist ensembles of Aquinas’ Music Department, and was a great start to the season of concerts this semester. All future concerts and events can be found in the link below:
https://www.aquinas.edu/academics/music/concerts-and-events.html
The Saint 