Third culture event

My third event I went to see Shepherd's Wind Ensemble concert. I have always been a big music fan since I played music for over ten years. This was a different type of concert where students got the chance to conduct the wind ensemble. This was a nice change to see and great for the students to gain experience.

The music selection was very interesting to see from every student. Each student got to choose a piece of music and rehearse it with the ensemble. There was a variety of songs; folk, classical, modern, fast, ballads, hymns, world music, chorales, and so on. There was at least one student from every section that conducted in front of the ensemble. I really enjoyed the whole concert and I had a few favorite pieces.

The first one I enjoyed was "On A Hymnsong of Philip Bliss" by David Holsinger. This piece is a hymn and it is one my favorites every time I hear it. It calms me down every time I hear and when the refrain comes in I always hear the words, it is well with my soul. The second was "Prelude and Fugue in g minor" by Johann Sebastian Bach. I'm always a big fan of Bach and when they first started playing this song, I thought I knew it. Then I looked at the program and saw it was by Bach and then it made sense. The third one was "Morning in Madrid" by Bill Calhoun. I never heard of this piece but the Spanish theme behind it was done really well. The conductor had spent a great time preparing the piece for the concert. I saw the way he conducted and how the ensemble responded to him, everybody enjoyed this piece. The last favorite piece from this concert was "Abram's Pursuit" by David Holsinger. Again you could tell the conductor and ensemble were playing the song at a high intensity. I was really impressed with this piece and give props to the ensemble for making this song sound awesome.

The whole concert was great and giving students the chance to conduct is an awesome step for their future. I'm definitely going to see more Wind Ensemble performances in the future.