The University of North Dakota University Band and Wind Ensemble had their first concert of the academic year on the night of October 15 in the Chester Fritz Auditorium. The concert began at 7:30 p.m. and both bands were conducted by Dr. James Popejoy, as well as graduate conductor, Emily Chasowy. Each band presented their own unique repertoire of music that showcased their abilities as an ensemble. They performed pieces from the 1800s all the way up until the modern day. Each one highlighted another unique quality of the band’s abilities.
The program started out with the University Band taking the stage to perform a piece called “Choose Joy” by Randall D. Standridge that was written in 2022. Then they transitioned back in time and played a piece from 1943 called “American Salute,” which was composed by Morton Gould. After this piece, they performed “Out of the Shadows” by Michael Sweeney, which was also conducted by their graduate conductor, Emily Chasowy. The next piece was titled “Symphony No. 4” by Andrew Boysen, Jr. and consisted of four separate movements titled “Fast,” “Smooth and Flowing,” “Scherzo and Trio,” and then “Fast” again. The University Band’s portion of the concert concluded with “Russian Sailors’ Dance” by Reinhold Glière.
After a short intermission during which the stage was rearranged, the Wind Ensemble took the stage to begin their portion of the concert. They began with a piece from 1985 called “Esprit de Corps” by Robert Jager. Then, graduate conductor Emily Chasowy came back out to conduct Gordon Jacob’s “An Original Suite.” This piece consisted of three movements including “March,” “Intermezzo,” and “Finale.” After this, they performed Eric Whitacre’s “October” which was quite a fitting choice for this time of year. After this, they changed their order of the program and performed a piece called “Vesuvius” by Frank Ticheli and which was then followed up by “Kirkpatrick Fanfare,” another piece by Andrew Boysen Jr. The Wind Ensembles portion of the concert concluded with a piece called “Finale from Symphony No. 4” by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Throughout the entire performance, everyone involved carried themselves with a level of poise and confidence that truly reflected the skills that are being taught to these students. These groups, and the people who contribute to them only just came together at the start of the semester and they were able to put on an incredible, well thought-out, and well-rehearsed performance just eight weeks into having started working together. This level of commitment can be seen throughout those involved in the performing arts here at the University of North Dakota and it is something that those who are not involved should have the pleasure to witness.
This concert was just the start of a season full of various performances, so if you missed this one, there will be countless other opportunities to witness the beautiful music that is being made here on campus. One opportunity that is coming up very soon is the UND Concert Choir’s first performance of the year which will take place on October 27. Then on November 20, the UND Jazz Ensemble will have their concert to showcase what they have been working on over the past few months. These are just a few of the upcoming events to look out for, but there are plenty more before, in between, and after these ones as well that you can find through the UND Music page of the UND website. The end of November and beginning of December tend to be a busy time of year for the music department as they are all finishing up their final performances of the year and preparing for the annual Winter WUNDerland event. If any of these sound of interest to you, mark your calendar, grab a friend, and show up for some wonderful music over the next few weeks.
Nora Lee is a Dakota Student General Reporter. She can be reached at [email protected].
