The University of Indianapolis Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Chamber Orchestra showcased their talents at the Ruth Lilly Performance Hall at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 2.
Among the guests for the Symphonic Wind Ensemble were Owen Hartnett on piano, Mark Mozina on accordion, Lacey Waggener on horn, Crystal Barrett and Leonid Sirotkin on oboe, Teri Inveiss on bassoon, Chaz Rhodes on trombone, and Freddie Mendoza on the euphonium.
Dennis McCafferty was a guest for the Chamber Orchestra and played the cello. Conducting the performances were Austin Hartman and Vu Nguyen.
The Chamber Orchestra performed “Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048,” by Johann Sebastian Bach; “Piano Concerto No. 12 in A Major, K. 414,” with Richard Ratliff on piano, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; and “Three Idylls for String Quartet (1906),” by Frank Bridge.
The Symphonic Wind Ensemble performed “Esprit de Corps,” by Robert Jager; “Zion,” by Dan Welcher; “Four Maryland Songs,” by John Stamp, with Mitzi Westra, mezzo-soprano; and “Sasparilla,” by John Mackey, ending the performance.
The “Four Maryland Songs” included “At the Edge of the Choptank River,” “A Maryland Road,” “On Chesapeake Shores: A Fisherman’s Sonnet” and the “Sires of Seventy-Six.”
Community member Brad Markisohn attended the performance and enjoyed the music.
“I thought it was great,” Markisohn said.
Markisohn’s son performed on the french horn with the ensemble during the concert.
“Most of these guys are performance majors . . . so it’s part of their major,” he said.
Markisohn said that he enjoyed all of the pieces played at the concert, but he also had a few favorites.
“I haven’t heard any of these before,” he said. “The first [symphonic wind] ensemble piece that they played I liked a lot. ‘Esprit de Corps’ – I thought that was really good. And actually, the last one they did, I thought that one was pretty cool, too: ‘Sasparilla.’”
Not only did Markisohn enjoy the performance, but he also praised the environment and performance hall that this event was held in.
“I’ve been to several others [venues] like the ISO [Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra] downtown and some stuff at Ball State,” he said. “I think this was very awesome. The acoustics are good.”
He said the performances are always better with a lot of people, but that Ruth Lilly Performance Hall had some of the better facilities he has been to.
Markisohn also said he definitely would come back, even if his son were not playing.
The next student concert is the Mid-semester Choral Concert on Sunday, Oct. 19, at 5 p.m. in the Ruth Lilly Performance Hall at the Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center.
