The University of Mississippi Wind Ensemble will play a free concert in the Ford Center at 7:30 p.m tonight.
Professor of Music and Director of Bands Tim Oliver will serve as the conductor for the concert.
“This concert is a culminating event for a series of rehearsals during which students prepare music individually and collaboratively,” Oliver said. “It serves both a musical and educational purpose. We hope the audience will have an opportunity for an enriching aesthetic experience that stimulates their objective intellect while simultaneously stirring their emotions.”
This is the second concert Oliver has conducted this semester. He shared two features that will make this concert unique.
“First, we are collaborating with Dr. Jos Milton, a member of our voice faculty who will perform with the Wind Ensemble on a piece by Samuel Barber,” Oliver said. “Second, two of the five works on the concert are pieces that the University of Mississippi Wind Ensemble helped to commission. The music we perform at concerts includes standard, contemporary, collaborative and chamber repertoire.”
The concert will consist of five pieces. Three of these will be performed by the whole ensemble, while two will involve only a few of the musicians.
“The styles of music to be performed range from a contemporary, Australian-composed fanfare, a work invoking the nostalgia of childhood memories, to a piece inspired by Cuban and Mexican dances,” Oliver said. “The entire group will perform some pieces, while smaller portions of the group will play other selections. One of the chief characteristics of a wind ensemble is its versatility in both styles and sizes of the ensemble within a single concert.”
Chris Quick will play the trumpet. The junior music education major from Pearl, Miss., has been a participant in the fall wind ensemble for three years and is looking forward to working with Jos Milton, an associate professor of music.
“I am most excited for the small ensemble piece that we are doing with one of the faculty in the English building, Dr. Jos Milton,” Quick said.
This piece is “Knoxville: Summer of 1915” by Samuel Barber. Allison Wray, a sophomore music education major from Pontotoc, Miss., will play the bass clarinet.
“I am most excited for the audience to hear the ‘Knoxville’ piece,” Wray said. “This is the first time since I have been a part of this ensemble that we have had a vocalist accompany our performance. I feel like the audience will be extremely moved by this piece.”
Wray believes she has grown tremendously as a musician through her participation in this ensemble.
“I have learned a great deal in just three semesters of playing for this ensemble that I would not have studied on my own,” Wray said. “Just as any student, we must go and present our findings to others, just in our case we perform it, which is exceedingly valuable to our learning experience.”
DJ Phillips, a senior music education major from Corinth, Miss., will play the euphonium in this concert. Philips is in his second semester with the ensemble and emphasized his gratitude for the opportunity to showcase the hard work that the ensemble has contributed.
“I think events like this are important for performers mainly because it gives us a chance to share the final product of all of the collaborative efforts of each individual in the ensemble to create something impactful and moving,” Phillips said.
Wray believes the concert will have an impact on its performers.
“Our director, Dr. Tim Oliver, has taken the time to select a precise concert order to not only perform, but also to educate his performers,” Wray said. “As an attendant, it is important to soak up any information that is presented, whether the attendant has a background in music or not. Life is short, and the performance that we leave on the table is for the audience’s enjoyment and education.”
Quick, too, said that the concert will benefit the audience.
“This concert is important for not only musicians, but also the general public because it gives listeners the chance to hear different music that they may not listen to regularly,” Quick said.
Phillips echoed these sentiments.
“I believe it’s important for the attendees because they may have never been exposed to music like this before,” Phillips said. “People who haven’t been in the musical world might not know the kind of power music can have, and I believe concerts like this can hopefully provide some insight and spark a curiosity in the listener to broaden their interest in concert band literature.”
Wray emphasized the importance of tonight’s concert for all parties involved.
“The beauty of a live performance is that the concert will never be played that exact same way again,” Wray said. “As performers, audience members and students, we should take this opportunity to enjoy ourselves, because this exact ensemble with these exact same people will probably never play together again.”
