Concerts at WU

White Concert Hall will host a concert featuring both the Washburn Orchestra and Wind Ensemble. The concert will take place at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 4. It will feature a guest appearance by bass player, James VanDemark, a bass instructor at the Easton School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. VanDemark will be playing with Washburn violin instructor, Diana Seitz. The Orchestra, containing approximately 55 students, will play two classical pieces.

The first classical piece will be “Hungarian March” by Hector Berlioz. The second piece the Orchestra will play is the overture of the opera “Ruslan and Lyudmila” by Mikhail Glinka.

The second half of the concert contains only one piece, to be performed by the Wind Ensemble.  This ensemble is comprised of 49 members. The 49 players will play James Barnes’ Third Symphony.

Barnes, a composer of and instructor at the University of Kansas, was commissioned by the United States Air Force Band to write this piece after the death of his infant daughter.

 “The third movement is his tribute to her,” said Norman. “It’s one of the most beautiful pieces I’ve ever heard.”

Jon Ward, a Washburn student who is a junior in music education, will be playing the trumpet in Barnes’ Third Symphony and described it as “One of the most moving pieces I’ve ever played.” The Orchestra and Wind Ensemble Concert will last approximately an hour and a half, and admission will be free.

Less than one week after the orchestra and wind ensemble concert, another will take place at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 10. The Capital City Marching Band Festival will feature nine high school bands from towns as far away as Kansas City.

The bands will be rated by a team of five judges, but not in a traditional competition style, as it is just a festival . The judges in question will be representatives from universities across the state, including Kansas State University, Fort Hayes University and of course Washburn University. After all nine high school bands have played, the event will end with a performance by the Washburn University Marching Band.

“All profits from the festival will benefit the activities that the [Washburn] bands do,” said Norman.

Examples of activities may include, but are not limited to, commissioning new pieces of music and funding another high school marching band festival that will take place in January.

The admission fee to the Marching Band Festival will be $7 for adults and $4 for children above age six, as well as for students from outside of Washburn. Admission for children six and under is free. The Marching Band Festival will also have free admission for Washburn students who present their Washburn ID.