Heidelberg University’s Symphonic Band, under the direction of Jonathan Waters, will dedicate its spring concert on Saturday, April 29, to band member Bernadette Wolfe, a freshman music major from Bellevue who was injured in an auto accident April 18.
“It’s times like this when our community comes together, our friends come together and the band family comes together,” Waters said. Wolfe plays oboe in the Symphonic Band and performs with Heidelberg’s Marching band, which Waters also directs.
The theme of the spring concert is “I Lift My Eyes.”
“We lift our eyes to look at nature, in times of trial and heartache, in looking to God for guidance. All of the pieces we perform will be centered around that theme in some way,” Waters explained.
Heidelberg’s Youth Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Elizabeth Tracy, will open the concert with two pieces, “Yorkshire Ballad” and “Sang.”
The Symphonic Band will kick off its program with the three-movement “First Suite in E Flat” by British composer Gustav Holst. The piece is considered the impetus for composers to write specifically for bands. The band will also perform Steven Bryant’s “Dusk,” which captures the reflective calm of dusk illuminated by the images of bright, colorful sunsets.
Other selections on the program include John Mackey’s folksy “Sheltering Sky” and “An American Elegy,” composed by Frank Ticheli as a tribute to the survivors of the Columbine High School tragedy. Ticheli wrote an alma mater for Columbine and then composed a larger piece around it. For their performance, the Symphonic Band will sing Columbine’s alma mater and then play Ticheli’s “Elegy” just 11 days after the 18th anniversary of the tragedy.
The Youth Wind Ensemble will join with the Symphonic Band to close the program with a traditional march, “Americans We” by Henry Fillmore and “Gettysburg.”
For “Gettysburg,” Heidelberg alumnus Dan Corfman, ’87, will guest direct the ensembles. Corfman, the band director at Gibsonburg High School, has been rehearsing with the band throughout this season.
The bands will end with a stirring rendition of “America the Beautiful.”
The concert, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 7 p.m. in Ohl Concert Hall in Brenneman.
For additional information, call the School of Music & Theatre at 419-448-2073.