Musical groups blow audience away

As the house light dimmed and the band tuned to the first clarinet, audience members settled into their seats for an enjoyable night of symphonic music. Melodious sounds drifted about Memorial Hall on Friday during the Chadron State College Wind Symphony and Campus and Community Band concert.
The Campus and Community Band started the concert by delighting listeners with a variety of music from classic English folk songs to a selection from the hit Broadway musical “Wicked.” Students from Music Adjunct Pam Shuler’s Topics in Music History and Literature class presented a brief historical background of each musical piece. Songs performed by the band were “The Immovable Do,” by Percy Grainger; “Highlights from “Wicked,” by Stephen Schwartz; “Ballad for Band,” by Morton Gould; and “English Folk Song Suite,” by Ralph Vaugh Williams.
The 44-member CSC Campus and Community Band is under the direction of assistant music professor Sidney Shuler and Pam Shuler.
“Working with members of the community allows the students to see connections between the community and campus,” Sidney said. “This shows we are closely connected.”
Directly following CSC Campus and Community Band, Sidney conducted the 35-member CSC Wind Symphony. The CSC Wind Symphony is comprised of both music and non-music majors.
“I would 100 percent encourage non-music majors to participate in campus music groups,” Sidney said. “If it (music) is a part of who you are why would you get rid of it?”
The CSC Wind Symphony was privileged to work with world class pianist Brooks Hafey, assistant CSC music professor. Hafey was featured performer in an arrangement of Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major.” Other pieces performed were “Farandol” from L’Arlésienne Suite No. 2,” by Georges Bizet; “Fantasia in G,” by Johann Sebastian Bach; and “Trokia” from Lieutenant Kijé Suite,” by Sergei Prokofiev.