Thursday at 7 p.m., Oklahoma Christian University’s Symphonic Band and Chamber Orchestra will perform in Baugh Auditorium. The performance will feature an appearance from John Fletcher, the programs’ previous director for more than 30 years.
The Symphonic Band will perform pieces from several different composers.
“We have a great and varied lineup of repertoire here,” George Schrader, director of bands at Oklahoma Christian said. “We’re going to open with a great piece by Dmitri Shostakovich. It’s a very short piece of music called ‘The Fire of Eternal Glory,’ written for orchestra but transcribed for wind ensemble.”
Next, the band will play a relatively recent piece from the early 2000s: “Exultate” by Samuel Hazel.
Schrader described “Exultate” as “a fanfare-like piece that will brighten things up after our slower first piece.”
“Rest,” by Frank Ticheli will follow.
“It’s a very beautiful piece of music that was actually originally a choral piece, but was transcribed for an ensemble,” Schrader said. “It’s one of my favorite pieces of his.”
The cornerstone piece of the repertoire is the “William Byrd Suite” arranged by Gordon Jacob.
“William Byrd was an English Renaissance composer,” Schrader said. “He wrote a lot of harpsichord music and was a very prominent composer, one of those famous English composers of history. Gordon Jacob took a lot of his material and reworked it in such a way that he could put it in a wind ensemble.”
Schrader said much of the repertoire planned for the concert has significant importance in his own history, especially the “William Byrd Suite.”
He said it reminds him of when he was a trumpet player in high school. His braces made playing his instrument difficult, so his band director suggested the euphonium: another brass instrument with a larger mouthpiece.
“One of the first pieces we started to learn at that time was the ‘William Byrd Suite’, and I just remember enjoying playing that instrument so much,” Schrader said. “The parts that are in it for the euphonium are just fantastic to play — they were so much fun. That’s the reason why I connect with it. It sort of brings me back to that memory of high school.”
Schrader also said Ticheli’s “Rest” had special significance to him and said he might elaborate at the concert.
“The ensemble is exceptionally strong this year,” Schrader said. “I’m really excited for this group to get on stage for the first time doing a full concert. They’ve improved so much, and I’m excited to demonstrate what their capabilities are at this point.”
The Symphonic Band accepts students from all majors, and Schrader called it “an ensemble for the campus.”
“We have about 40 students in the Symphonic Band,” Schrader added. “They come from all disciplines on campus. We have only a handful of music majors in there. After that, it’s engineers and computer scientists and nurses.”
Schrader said band is a great way to decompress and get away from the pressures of school.
“It’s a great way to sort of escape from your normal everyday activities — your normal everyday studies — and to come in and play some music.”
John Fletcher, the ensemble’s previous director of more than 30 years, will close the concert by conducting John Philip Sousa’s “The Washington Post” march.
“Even with someone like myself who’s been in the education world for roughly 17 years or so now, getting someone up there that has been in there much longer and seeing how they teach and how they conduct is always beneficial,” Schrader said. “I’ve learned a ton from that process, and I’m looking forward to inviting him up there again in the future.”
Benjamin Paden, a computer engineering major, plays clarinet in the Symphonic Band. Paden said the “William Byrd Suite,” movement six is his favorite piece in the concert.
“I like the way it sounds,” Paden said. “Specifically, having all the different instruments meshing together to make bell sounds across a city is amazing.”
Paden described how being in the audience differs from being in the band.
“In the audience, you don’t usually know the music, so you can’t tell what things are supposed to be,” Paden said, “but if you’ve played it enough, you know what it should sound like. You don’t know if that one brass player was supposed to be sticking out or not if you’re in the audience.”
Schrader said, aside from to support fellow students, Oklahoma Christian students should attend the concert as an opportunity to refresh themselves.
“I believe that art has the ability to sort of reset ourselves when you’re constantly studying and doing homework,” Schrader said. “Come listen to some great music, let it refresh you a little bit, and then you can get back out there afterwards to get your work done right.”
The Fall Band Concert has free admission and will take place at 7 p.m. Nov. 13 in Baugh Auditorium.
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