Southeast's wind symphony performance 'diverts' from holiday theme

For those looking for a concert that will offer a little bit of everything, the Southeast Missouri State University's Wind Symphony "Divergence" concert is the event to be at.

"Divergence" will be the second concert performed this semester by the Wind Symphony. The concert will take place at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 9 in the Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall.

"Divergence" will be unlike a typical concert performed in December around the holidays.

"This time of year when people come out to musical programs, they think it's going to be a lot of holiday music," Director of Bands Dr. Martin Reynolds said. "Well, in fact, there is no holiday music on this program, so if, you know, if they're looking for 'Jingle Bells,' they're going to have to find it somewhere else than here. This concert just doesn't have any of that type of music in it."

Instead, the theme of divergence will consist of the Wind Symphony playing contrasting music styles all in one concert.

There will be three major parts in the symphony's performance, including a quirky march-style tune, highlights from the "Les Miserables" soundtrack and a major piece of symphonic literature called "Carmina Burana," Reynolds said.

The opening number will be the march-style tune. Most marches are symmetrical, but the march performed during "Divergence" will have an irregular beat in it, Reynolds said.

"It's a real clever little, you know, play, musically, on the march style," Reynolds said.

The performance will then drastically transition to highlights from the "Les Miserables" soundtrack, including "I Dreamed a Dream" and "Master of the House."

"It's so relevant because so many people know the Hugh Jackman film that just came out what a year or two ago at the most, plus it's one of the longest reigning stage production musicals in musical history," Reynolds said. "That should be a real surefire kind of hit. It also features some soloists in the music."

Sophomore Allie Movesian will be performing a flute solo in both "Carmina Burana" and highlights from "Les Miserables."

"This is the first time I've had a solo in wind symphony," Movesian said. "It's a really amazing experience just because I'm younger than a lot of the people in it, so it's kind of amazing to be given a solo."

The wind symphony will end the "Divergence" concert with segments of Carl Orff's piece "Carmina Burana."

"Carmina Burana" translated means "Songs from Beuern," which is located in Bavaria, Germany. This is a secular piece and will be the biggest shift in the performance all night, Reynolds said.

"I had several different pieces in mind as possibilities and these are the ones that really kind of gelled together for the group and for the theme of the program," Reynolds said. "They seemed to be a really cool juxtaposition of material. This is really going to be a concert where if you don't like this, you're going to like this. It's going to be something for everyone."

In addition to the wind symphony performing during this concert, the Fox High School band will also perform during the first half of the concert. Fox High School's director of bands, Steve Harms, is a Southeast alumnus.

Reynolds said he likes to bring in a high school band at least once a year to keep in touch with alumni that are in the music field and to recruit students. It also gives high school musicians a unique opportunity.

"I think it's a really amazing experience for them because I know when I was in high school I would've loved to have been able to perform in a college auditorium and perform in front of college musicians, so it's a great learning experience for us and them," Movesian said.

For students enrolled in UI music classes or music appreciation classes who are required to attend concerts and write a report, Reynolds said this would be an excellent concert for that because of the diversity of music that will be played.

"This would be a terrific concert for somebody like that to be able to come out because it would give them a lot of interesting stuff to write about," Reynolds said.

General admission tickets for "Divergence" are available online at RiverCampusEvents.com or at the River Campus Box Office for $10.