The Daily Campus

Issue date: 3/5/08 Section: Focus

Media Credit: Jamie Dee Fish The Sumphonic Band performed five different pieces at von der mehden recital hall last night, including one of which was comisioned for the national band fraternity and sorority Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma.

Last night at von der Mehden recital hall, the UConn symphonic band put on its first concert of the semester. The audience took in a powerful show from different historical eras and musical genres. Regardless of musical preference, the crowd appeared satisfied by the quality and variety of the selections.

The band, under the direction of Dr. David Mills, performed five pieces. The first was "Burning Blue: Fanfare Overture for Winds, Brass and Percussion" by Kenneth Fuchs. This selection had a special significance, as the composer himself was in attendance and explained the background of the piece to the audience.

"The song was composed in 2003 at Langley Air Force Base shortly after the start of the Iraqi war," said Fuchs, "It is an uplifting piece that I hoped would honor the work of our armed forces that protect us."

The inspiration for the piece came from the poem "High Flight," written by John Magee, an American pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force. He wrote the poem for his mother shortly before his death in a mid air collision with another plane.

The band did the piece and its inspiration justice. The brass fanfares took on an inspiring tone, and all present could surely imagine the sensation of flight.

"The piece was incredibly difficult," said Mills. "The brass has a really high range that they need to cover, and they it musically without missing the finesse of the passage."

The next piece was a composition of three more well-known show tunes from the musical "On the Town" by Leonard Bernstein. It was conducted by Jim Shuman, a post-graduate student at UConn who is pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in Music. The first and third movements were fast tempo, jazzy tunes that featured a number of individual players and sections including the clarinets, saxophones, trumpets, and piccolo. In typical Bernstein style, the song had an energetic pulse that made it a real crowd pleaser.

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