Music filled Jarman Auditorium on the evening of Feb. 26 as the Longwood University Wind Symphony took center stage. They were joined by guest conductor, Glenn Nierman, the current President-Elect of the National Association for Music Education as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the International Society for Music Education (ISME). He is also currently a professor and Associate Director of the School of Music at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He was joined by pianist, Lisa Kinzer, who performed for the fourth time with the Wind Symphony and works as a professor and Chair of the Piano Area in the music department at Longwood.
The symphony began with the first piece, “Valdres March,” originally composed by Johannes Hanssen and arranged by Loras J. Schissel. The piece was extremely vibrant and exciting with notes that seemed joyous and jumpy between instruments but flowed evenly. It was during the second piece, “Second Suite in F for Military” that the performers drew to the deep tunes, focusing on the instruments such as tubas, horns and trombones.
It was extremely interesting as it was split into four different sections. The first, the “March,” seemed to echo the personalities of different branches of the military from the navy to the marines, etc. During the second part, “Song Without Words: I’ll Love my Love,” it became more of an elegant and charming song that crescendos strongly into a furtive-sounding melody. The third section, “Song of the Blacksmith,” continued this, and by the conclusion, “Fantasia on the ‘Dargason’” the piece ended with a high note, firmly finishing the song.
It was Nierman, who conducted the third piece, “Chester – Overture for Band” and led the performers into a solemn, calming beginning interrupted quickly by the beating of the drums, and the song turned into an intense piece. It seemed to be reflecting a battle between the high and low notes. They came together at the end, finishing off strongly. The students stood and accepted applause along with their guest conductor before continuing on to “Trauersinfonie,” which was conducted by Dr. Gordon Ring.
There was a brief intermission while the final performance was set up for the piano used. The final piece, “Concerto,” was conducted by its composer as well: Ring. Ring concluded the piece in 2013, and this was the world premiere for the performance. Kinzer accompanied the other performers and opened with an emotional yet intense solo that led into the rest of the performance that seemed to base its center around the dramatic pounding of the drums, ending the first of the four sections with a bang – literally a beating of the drums. The sections were split by “Sonata,” “Song,” “Scherzo” and “Variations.” The final section ended epically with a divine crescendo of all the instruments that echoed throughout the hall and finished off the performance.
There was no introduction or conclusion announced by a performer or conductor throughout the recital, simply the beginning and end of the music in the hall.
