By Abigail Bates
On Feb. 11 – this Saturday – at 7:30 p.m., the Houghton Wind Ensemble (HWE) will perform their first concert of the 2023 spring semester in the Wesley Chapel. Conducted by Dr. Timothy McGarvey alongside two guest ensembles, the Fillmore Senior High Band and Genesee Valley Concert Band, the performance will be free of charge with a focus on community engagement.
“So, for this concert, we have been told that we are also performing with a couple of high schools from the area,” Freshman Sarah Hoppough explains.
The Houghton Wind Ensemble claims a major part of the concert, with sections delegated to each of the guests. In addition, all the ensembles will collaborate together on a piece called “Conzensus”, written by the Dutch composer Jan Van der Roost.
Before going onstage, the ensembles only have one rehearsal together.
According to graduate student Derek Jaques (‘22), “the piece itself is about the concept of consensus and so it’ll be kind of interesting to play that in consensus, if you will, with the high schoolers; sort of all getting to play that together.”
It’ll be a test of their collaboration, and an opportunity to bring high school students on stage with college students who are pursuing higher education in music.
The highlight of the Wind Ensemble Concert is the war piece “Firestorm”, composed by Stephen Bulla and played by the Houghton Wind Ensemble. Bulla composed the piece in 1991 for the United States Army Band, which, for the Houghton Wind Ensemble, is a high energy, technical piece at the center of the performance.
“It’s definitely the showpiece. It’s very, very fast, and it was written about a war,” Hoppough remarks. She plays alto saxophone in the ensemble, and is excited to perform the piece. “It’s pretty difficult,” she adds, “It’s definitely the most difficult one we’re doing, but it’s very worth it.”
All the pieces prepared for the concert Saturday are ones the Houghton Wind Ensemble has been working on since the beginning of the semester.
Jaques emphasizes that, “in all of our Wind Ensemble performances we seek to make music that’s beautiful and that’s honoring to God and ultimately points to Him and glorifies Him, and that’s the main takeaways that we want the audience to have with it and everything that we do.”
All are invited to attend and listen together to the collaboration of the Houghton Wind Ensemble, Fillmore Senior High Band and Genesee Valley Concert Band. ★
