Students showcase their work in ensemble
The Student Chamber Ensembles were held in Ruth Lilly Performance Hall on April 4 at 7 p.m. The ensembles are a final project for the music students, who spend a semester working up to performance night, said Music Faculty Adjunct Larry Powell, the trumpet ensemble’s coach.
“What you see is a semester’s work, with a good repertoire that the students have worked hard on,” Powell said. “We meet two times a week for this performance, once for rehearsal and once for coaching.”
The first performance began with Johann Hermann Schein’s “Intrada,” followed by Samuel Scheidt’s “Canzon,” which was performed by the entire trumpet ensemble, including Powell.
A quintet of brass performers returned to the stage to perform Claude Debusey’s “Girl with the Flaxen Hair,” a piece that had a slower tempo. The next piece to follow was Gioachino Rossini’s “Overture to William Tell.” Rossini’s piece is often recognized from shows such as “Looney Toons” during chase scenes, said Powell.
Powell also talked about the genres of music typically featured in ensembles.
“It’s mostly classical, but we do sometimes put in something unusual, maybe with a rock twist,” he said. “However, we usually play pieces like ‘Overture to William Tell’ so that everyone will recognize them.”
Betty Smith came to the concert to see her grandson, junior music performance major Jacob Smith, perform and was impressed with the song choices.
“I loved it,” Smith said. “I thought they had a good selection and can remember when I played ‘Overture to William Tell’ in my high school band, so seeing my grandson play, it was great.”
The woodwind quintet took the stage after the intermission and performed French composer Guillaume Balay’s “Petite Suite Miniature for Wind Quintet.” The composition has within it four pieces, entitled “Menuet,” “Courte Gavotte,” “Sarabande,” and “Petit Rondeau.”
The composition had heavy influences from the flute and an energetic melody. “Petit Rondeau” sounded similar to a horse’s galloping hooves.
Freshman nursing major Lauren Kehrt talked about how she enjoyed something that was not usually something she would listen to.
“I’m normally not a concert goer when it’s more classical music,” Kehrt said. “But I found this concert very interesting because it is different and I really liked it.”
The entire UIndy trumpet ensemble took the stage for the final two songs. The first of the two, American composer Bill Holcombe’s “Seven Come Eleven,” had a livelier feel that sounded jazzier than the previous pieces. The final piece, from David Uber, an American composer, was a peppy song titled “Festival Fanfare No. 1.”
