| Charles A. Ault reporter |

PSU Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble’s first concert in the Bicknell Family Center for the Arts was a fanfare of music composition and position, last Thursday, Feb. 19.
Trumpeters trumpeted from one balcony of the concert hall, trombonists tromboned from the other and the percussionists got to know the audience by setting up right in the midst of them.
The Symphonic Band opened the evening’s performances with a five-song set, which included the piece “Duke of Marlborough Fanfare,” and was the reason sections of the band were positioned throughout the concert hall.
“I liked the prelude at the beginning where they had the trumpets up here and they had the trombones over there and the percussion in the middle,” said Macy Gerken, sophomore in vocal music education. “It had a really nice sort of surround-sound feeling.”
The Symphonic Band concert, which is open to all PSU students, was directed by Douglas Whitten, professor of music.
The band’s rendition of “Provenance,” a combination of cultural styles, was a big hit with many in the audience, such as Cheyenne Yoakum-Moore.
“I really liked ‘Provenance,’” Yoakum-Moore, freshman in psychology, said. “I liked how it almost reminded me of a score from a movie and that was pretty cool.”
Others favored the band’s last piece “Rumble on the High Plains,” which featured a duel of sorts between percussionists on opposite sides of the stage.
“The last one was my favorite,” said Devin Fitzgerald, sophomore in chemistry. “The competition between the percussions was very nice, they harmonized between the brass and the woodwind and the percussion very well.”
After the band’s set and a brief intermission, the PSU Wind Ensemble took the stage for its half of the concert.
The ensemble opened with “A Festival Prelude” under the direction of Jennifer Whyte, graduate student in music. Craig Fuchs, professor of music, directed the concert’s remaining pieces.
“It was a really good environment and it was really cool to have so many people come out and support the concert and the band,” said Haley Mona, junior in psychology.
Mona added the performance hall was filled with a much larger number of people than previous performances have attracted.
One of the pieces performed by the ensemble was “Armenian Dances,” a work that holds significance for Fuchs.
“The song was originally written as a tribute to Dr. Harry Begian who was band director at the University of Illinois,” Fuchs said. “When I was a senior in high school, I was selected to play in the Missouri all-state band. Our conductor that year was Harry Begian and we performed this song.”
Tom Lawlor, senior in music education and trumpet player, says the concert’s closing piece “Ride!!!” was loud, fast and a crowd pleaser.
“All the songs were a blast,” Lawlor said. “But ‘Ride!!!’ was my favorite one, it was so much fun.”
Lawlor says performing in the arts center was also a blast.
“I can’t wait to perform here again,” he said. “We got to rehearse out here for a couple of weeks before the concert, but there’s nothing like having a crowd out here.”