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The largest Lafayette Concert Band in recent memory presented its spring concert 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Williams Center for the Arts.
Free and open to the public, the event was sponsored by the music department.
The Concert Band is led by Tom DiGiovanni ’96, also director of Pep Band and Brass Ensemble. The students performed his arrangement of the Star Spangled Banner (1814), attributed to John Stafford Smith; Chester (1957) by William Schuman; 4’33” (1952) by John Cage; Symphony No.1 “The Lord of the Rings,” I. Gandalf (1987) by Johan de Meij; and March of the Cute Little Wood Sprites (1984) by P.D.Q. Bach.
The Concert Band has 45 members, an increase of 15 since the fall semester. The two most exciting pieces in Sunday’s program were Gandalf and 4’33”, according to DiGiovanni.
“Gandalf is the first movement of a much larger work, ‘The Lord of the Rings Symphony,’” he explains. “The piece was inspired by the original book, not the movie. It has a very orchestral feel to it, and the band really got to show its true musicianship.”
4’33” requires the musicians to remain quiet throughout – not a single note is sounded. “Performing” it with a concert band is unheard of – it is usually done with one performer, originally a pianist, notes DiGiovanni.
“The piece opens up a wide array of aesthetic issues, but also demonstrates the music of sound that is around us all the time,” he says. “John Cage says that there is no such thing as absolute silence, and this piece proves him correct whenever it is performed.”
The Concert Band:
flutes — Jennifer Tonkin ’03, Beth Ponder ’04 (also piccolo), Jessica Goldblat ’06, Kristin Pontoski ’03, Janine Tkach ’06, Susan Heinsohn ’03 (also piccolo), and Danielle Wyckoff ’06;
oboe — Nathan Landis ’06;
clarinets — Alyssa Wiley ’05, Abigail Frueh ’04, Magee Perini ’05, Carolyn Waite ’06
Toby Heineck ’06, Katie McFadden ’05, and Jenna Bratz ’06;
alto clarinet — Danielle Seger ’06;
bass clarinet — David Greenberg ’06;
bassoon — Laura Fredley ’06;
alto saxophones — Greg Lapp ’06 and Jon Glick ’05;
tenor sax — Chris Michaud ’03;
baritone sax — Elliot Fried-Boxt ‘06
trumpets — Rob McEwen ’05, Jeremy Deaner ’04, Tom Brennan ’05, and Brian Leap ’06;
French horns — Eli Golden ’04 and Brandon Cochenour ’03;
trombones — Dave Glasser ’06, Brendan O’Regan ’06, Arno Alarcon ’06, Laura Raibeck ’06, and Marc Gittleman ’06;
euphoniums — Dave Mitchell ’05, Jacob Carson ’06, and Lee Mendelsohn ’05;
tuba — Sean Comerford ’06;
string bass — Emily Green ’04;
percussion — Dave Castelletti ’05, Charise Logan ’05, Alison Ahart ’03, Erik Heins ’05,
Erik Person ’06, Brian Regan ’06, and Anja McCartney ’05 (also piano).