By Danica Ward
Staff Writer
The College’s Department of Music proudly presented their first show of the academic year on Oct. 12.
Titled “DOPE,” both the Wind Orchestra and Wind Ensemble showcased their craft at 4 p.m. on the Kendall Hall Main Stage. The show lasted a little over an hour, with both music groups playing a set of three pieces with a short intermission in between.
A half hour before the show began, audience members were invited to a pre-show event, where faculty and students engaged in discussion about the show’s musical pieces and their meanings.
The concert began with the Wind Orchestra, conducted by Assistant Director of Bands, Adam Warshafsky. The first piece, titled “In Living Color,” was composed by Katahj Copley in 2021. As noted in the concert’s program, Copley wrote the piece “as an ode for live music, especially music performed on the wind band stage. The piece offers a “kaleidoscope of colors and energy from modern jazz artists,” as stated in the concert’s program.
The orchestra subsequently performed two more pieces: “Reminiscence,” a 2019 piece by Kathryn Salfelder, and “Incantation and Dance,” a 1963 piece by John Barnes Chance.
Both pieces showcased the orchestra’s inimitable ability to stay completely in sync. With compositions that sounded like a movie score, a chaotic nature was harnessed to produce a smooth, melodic set.
Warshafsky ended the set expressing his gratitude, saying it gives him “great pleasure, twice a week, a couple hours each time, to work with [the students], stand in front of them and listen to the incredible sounds and their amazing growth that they’ve had over the course of the semester.”
After a brief intermission, the wind ensemble took the stage. Their more complex set began with “Festive Overture,” a piece by Dmitri Shostakovich, which was chosen as a celebration of legacy on the 50th anniversary of the composer’s passing. Enthusiastically conducted by Dr. Eric M. Laprade, the ensemble seamlessly wavered between wispy and royal-sounding, to staccato and sharp.
The ensemble also chose “Nocturne,” a 2021 piece by Zhou Tian, which evoked a sense of thought and solemnity from the audience. In between these final pieces, Laprade took time to inform the audience about the Joy Project, an initiative created by the College’s Artivism Project “centered on exploring, understanding, and sharing joy through creative, cross-disciplinary practice.”
For herself, orchestra member Riley Freeswick, a freshman Music Education major, defined joy and art through music with expression. She stated, “It’s not everyday I get to perform, but when I do, I don’t just want to be technical. I want to be in the moment and experience every moment.”
Finally, the Wind Ensemble closed out the show with the titular “DOPE,” another work by Copley. Strongly emotive, it acted as a soundtrack of sorts, allowing the audience to listen while also getting lost in their own thoughts. Led by a strong percussion section, “DOPE” crossed multiple genres, even including short piano interludes and a drum solo.
Inspired by and attributed to black musicians from Miles Davis and John Coltrane to Tyler, the Creator and Kendrick Lamar, “DOPE” was split into three sections; Undeniably (the partial score), Unapologetically (the middle section), and Undisputedly (the finale, which culminated in members of the ensemble coming into the audience with their instruments). The three movements were performed attacca, or without pause.
Laprade again thanked the audience for continuously supporting the students, and said that it’s “a privilege, and that’s an understatement, to stand with them and get to perform with them.”
In addition to the department’s weekly Tuesday recitals, their next ticketed event is the Choir Concert, which will be held in Mayo Concert Hall on campus, Oct. 17.
