The music department at ETSU presents the Wind Ensemble Concert titled “A Concert of Old and New Classics” on Nov. 17 in the Martha Street Culp Auditorium.
There is usually at least one concert for each ensemble during each semester. Participants in the concert must be enrolled in the course for the instruments that will be played. The students can be enrolled either part time or full time.
“This is what the students have been working on all semester,” said Roxanne Haskill, director of bands for the music department. “This year is special because we have two ensembles performing during the concert.”
The Chamber Winds ensemble will make their debut during this year’s performance. “This ensemble consists of the very best musicians selected from the Wind Ensemble,” Haskill said. “This is a smaller group of players and the Chamber Winds will challenge them. They will be playing more challenging pieces which are very demanding technically.”
The Chamber Winds will open the performance with More Old Wine in New Bottles, which was written by Malcolm Arnold, a well-known British composer. Arnold composed the music for the movie Bridge Over the River Kwai that he won an Oscar for. More Old Wine in New Bottles is a four-movement work based on English folksongs. “These pieces will be very enjoyable to listen to,” said Haskill.
The Wind Ensemble will begin their section of the concert immediately following the Chamber Winds. The Wind Ensemble will begin with Ralph Vaughan Williams’ work Toccata Marziale. Following this piece will be I Wander Deep in Thought by Edvard Grieg and Harvest Hymn by Percy Grainger.
Haskill feels that Grieg and Grainger’s works should be played back to back. “These pieces are very beautiful,” she said. “They compliment each other so well. Grieg was an important influence on Grainger and their connection will be apparent when played like this.”
This concert will also feature a soloist, Onsby Rose, a staff sergeant in the United States Marine Corps. Rose will be performing Concerto for Trombone by Nikolia Rimsky-Korsakov.
The concert will end with the performance of two marches, a British march and an American march. “We will be comparing the two styles,” Haskill said. “We hope to inform the audience as well as entertain them. I feel this will be a very pleasing concert. We have a nice mix of fast and slow works. These pieces are very exciting and important.”
The attendance to these performances is usually high. “We have drawn up to 375 before,” Haskill said. “It usually settles at around 300 which is better than most wind concerts that I have seen. Some of them only draw around 50 to 70 people.”
Haskill said that some universities require their students to attend concerts by having required class in concert etiquette. “These are commonly called ‘clap for credit’ classes,” she said.
ETSU has no such requirement. “This way only people that are really interested can come,” Haskill said. “Some classes give extra credit for students if they attend these concerts but no one is forced to attend.”
Haskill feels that this will be a very pleasing concert for all who attend. “Everyone says we have improved a lot,” she said. “The focus of this concert is sound. It takes a long time to develop ‘the sound’ we have reached. These ensembles’ sound matches some of the best in the country.”
The instruments that will be featured in this concert are the winds, brass and percussion.
“This might get confusing for some people,” Haskill said. “They don’t know that when you have a wind concert percussion will be included but that is internationally understood.”
The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. and will last from one hour to an hour and 15 minutes. Admission is free and the performance is open to the public. “Everyone is welcome and I’m sure they will enjoy it,” Haskill said.

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