The Jazz Ensemble and Wind Symphony at Longwood joined together on Tuesday, April 16 for one of the last performances of the year. They began the musical night promptly at 7:30 that evening, filling Jarman Auditorium with a variety of delightful melodies.
Wind Symphony took the stage first with their performance, “A Summer Overture,” led by Dr. Gordon Ring, conductor and instructor of the students in the programs. The song was a mix of high and low notes, but seemed to focus more on bass notes than anything, especially during crescendos in the performance. It was a smooth, yet exciting number; the performers did an excellent job carrying the sound evenly throughout the time. The song ended with a rising bass that led into the final beats
The second song came from the performance “Spiel ich die Unschuld com Lande” and featured Molly Bouffard, senior, singing the role of Adele, a young maid who meets a young man and acts as three different girls. Bouffard did a spectacular job at singing the opera and taking on the role of a flirtatious country girl, an admired queen and an unfaithful countess. She stood out among her accompanying instruments in a red gown as she stood at the front of the stage. The music was fun and vibrant as it bounced from note to note in-sync with Bouffard’s gestures that complimented the role she was singing at the time. Bouffard was also applauded as the Winner of the 2013 Student Soloist Competition.
In Brian Balmage’s “Silence Overwhelmed,” Buster Brown, senior, conducted the symphonies for the melodic, yet dramatic song. There did seem to be a little bit of struggle with some of the notes during the song, but it pulled through overall with an epic crescendo in the middle until it mellowed out and came to a finish with the low tone of the basses.
The “Finale” from “Symphony Number 9” definitely woke up the audience if there was any chance of them drifting. The intensity of the song began from the start with hard bass notes and war-like beats. As the song continued, it smoothed its beats with points where it softened out before crescendos lifted it back to its original intensity. The use of the tubas added plenty of dynamic towards the end of the song. “Finale” was a powerful piece and an excellent ending to the Wind Symphony’s turn on stage.
During intermission, instruments were removed and exchanged as the jazz ensemble prepared for their turn. The piano was brought forward for the ensemble. Jazz Ensemble B, who performed first, was a much smaller group, about a fourth of the amount of wind symphony performers, but arranged themselves with their different instruments which included drums, guitars, and the piano.
Their first song, “Groovin’ Hard”, lived up to its name. With a smooth and mellow sound, the audience seemed tempted to begin swaying back and forth to the music. Director Andrew Brock applauded the seniors in the group before continuing the songs.
“Vamos A Bailar” turned time periods and got a bit more exciting, with more saxophones obviously playing. Members of the audience were actually seen dancing a bit to this one. Eric Engel took to the piano as a soloist. Jazz Ensemble B finished off with a “Frankenstein” piece that focused mainly on the beat of the drum and what also seemed to be the trombones.
From the Count Basie Library, “Basie Straight Ahead” started off Jazz Ensemble A after another quick intermission. Dr. Charles Kinzer, director, started off the first song for the ensemble by snapping along to the beat. The song was lively and expressed the advanced skills of the group, which included possibly one or two more performers than the previous jazz ensemble. The cello also seemed to become more prominent for Jazz Ensemble A.
Their song “When I Fall in Love” was a romantic, smooth ballad with emphasis on the trombones and other bass instruments. Senior Greg Robey performed as a soloist on the saxophone.
Ensemble A’s final performance also went out with a bang, with a fun and vivacious sound in the aptly named “Attitude Dance.” The selection sounded like a song that could be heard during Mardi Gras parties in New Orleans.
As far as preparation for the performance, sophomore member of the Wind Symphony Andrew Bentley commented, “I’ve been here for a year now, and you just do it. These things just become such a part of you. I love performing, but at this point it’s just second nature.”
The concert overall seemed like a fantastic night, filled with different songs from numerous eras. The intermissions gave everyone a chance to stretch their legs between groups and each symphony brought with them a different sound that kept audiences intrigued and captivated at the same time.
“[The overall performance] went very well, we had a solid rehearsal yesterday,” said junior Joe Robson. The “Finale” was his favorite part, “all 20 minutes of it.”
Jazz Ensemble A will be performing in Washington D.C. in May.
